NJ Court Filing Fees Q&A
Jun 24, 2015 | Written by: | Share
To help you better understand some of the court filing fees that you may incur when we submit documents to the court on your behalf (or if you are self-represented and attempting to handle this on your own), below is a Q&A* that explains some frequently misunderstood fees. In addition, the complete fee schedule, effective Feb. 20, 2015, can be found here.
*Excerpt from Notice to the Bar: Filing Fees Additional Clarification of Certain Rule1:43 Fees;Publication of Further Updated Complete Judiciary Fee Schedule, February 20, 2015, NJ State Judiciary:
Question 1: What is the fee for an Answer to a Cross-claim, Answer to a Counterclaim, or Answer to a Third-Party Complaint in the Superior Court?
Answer: Since these Answers are made in response to a new cause of action, there is a fee for filing the responsive pleading to those actions, The fee for each of these document types is $175.00.
Question 2: What is the fee for an Order to Show Cause with a Verified Complaint?
Answer: The fee is $300.00. Of this, $250 is allocated to the Complaint and $50 is allocated to the Order to Show Cause. In cases, where the complaint has been filed, there is a $50 fee for filing an Order to Show Cause.
Question 3: What is the fee to file a Warrant of Satisfaction?
Answer: The fee associated with a Warrant of Satisfaction depends upon whether there is a docketed judgment associated with the matter. The fee to file a Warrant of Satisfaction on a case without a docketed judgment is $35.00. The fee to file a Warrant of Satisfaction on a case that has a docketed judgment is $50.00.
Question 4: What is the appropriate fee for a counterclaim, cross claim, claim for contribution, or third party complaint?
Answer: Since these actions institute a new claim against one or more parties, for fee purposes they are treated similarly to complaints. The fee for counterclaims, cross claims, claims for contribution, or third party complaints is $250 if submitted as an independent, responsive pleading in Civil or in General Equity (including Foreclosure).
When an answer has been filed and the filing party subsequently seeks to file a counterclaim, cross claim, claim for contribution, or third party complaint in Civil or in General Equity, the filing fee is an additional $75, which represents the differential between the already-paid answer fee of $175 and the initial pleading fee of $250. In Special Civil Part (Small Claims section only), the filing fee for a counterclaim is $30.
Question 5: Where do judgment creditors submit applications for wage executions?
Answer: For a docketed judgment filed on a Law Division Civil Part, Chancery Division Family Part, or Chancery Division General Equity matter, the wage application is to be submitted to the vicinage. For a docketed judgment filed on a Special Civil Part matter, the wage application is to be submitted to the Judgment Processing Services Unit of the Superior Court Clerk's Office.
If you need assistance with a NJ civil court matter, the attorneys at Gebhardt & Kiefer, PC are available to help. Contact us at 908-735-5161.