Divorce Fee Waiver in BC

Court Fees Add Up Fast for a Self-Filed Divorce

Filing for divorce in BC Supreme Court is not free. The standard fee breakdown: CA$200 to file your Notice of Family Claim, CA$10 for the Registration of Divorce Proceedings form, and CA$80 to submit the desk order application — CA$290 before you pay a notary or commissioner to swear your affidavits (CA$40 per document at the registry). For someone on income assistance or barely covering rent, that total can be the difference between filing and not filing.

British Columbia has a formal mechanism to waive these registry fees. It is governed by Supreme Court Family Rule 20-5, and it is available to anyone who meets two conditions: financial need and a case that has legal merit.

Who Qualifies Under Rule 20-5

The fee waiver is not limited to people on welfare. The rule sets two branches, and you only need to satisfy one of the financial tests.

Branch 1: You receive provincial income assistance. If you are collecting benefits under the Employment and Assistance Act or the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act, you qualify on the financial branch automatically. Bring your benefit statement as proof.

Branch 2: Paying the fees would cause undue hardship. You do not need to be destitute. The legal standard established by BC courts (following the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in Vilardell v. Dunham) is whether paying the fees would force you to sacrifice basic necessities — food, shelter, clothing, healthcare. If you are working but your income barely covers essential expenses, you can meet this test.

Beyond the financial test, the court also applies a merit screen. Your claim must not be frivolous or unreasonable on its face. For a standard uncontested divorce where you have been separated for a year, this is almost always satisfied — the court is checking that you are not filing a vexatious or abusive claim, not whether your divorce will succeed.

How to Apply

You file an application for a fee waiver. Some registries process it as a paper desk order, while others may require a brief appearance before an associate judge. The package includes:

• Requisition (Form F17): Requesting an order that you not be required to pay fees
• Draft Order to Waive Fees (Form F85): The order you are asking the judge to sign
• Affidavit in Support of Order to Waive Fees (Form F86): A sworn statement detailing your income, employment and education history, expenses, assets and debts, plus evidence of financial hardship

The registry reviews the package and places it before a judge or associate judge. If the judge is satisfied on both the financial and merit branches, they sign the order. From that point forward, you do not pay the government registry fees covered by the order. The separate CA$10 federal Registration of Divorce Proceedings fee is not covered.

Timing Matters

Apply for the fee waiver before you file your Notice of Family Claim. If the waiver is granted first, you avoid paying the CA$200 filing fee entirely. If you pay fees first and then get a waiver approved later, you will not get a refund on fees already paid.

If your financial circumstances change during the proceeding — you get a job, receive an inheritance — the other party can apply to have the fee waiver revoked. In practice, this rarely happens in uncontested divorces.

The Filing Process Guide Walks You Through the Sequence

The British Columbia Divorce Filing Process Guide includes the fee waiver application steps in the correct position within the overall filing timeline, so you apply at the right moment and avoid paying fees you did not need to pay. It also covers the "separation agreement first" strategy that reduces total fees from CA$290 to CA$120 even without a waiver — a useful fallback if you do not qualify for full fee relief.

See more British Columbia guides →