What is an indigency waiver?

The North Carolina court system has made provisions for people who cannot afford to pay court costs to have access to the courts still.

You will be required to fill out (which we will do for you) and sign and notarize a Petition To Proceed As An Indigent. In that form, it will state why you cannot afford to pay.  SSI (Supplemental Security Income) or SNAP (Food Stamps) are guarantees to have your court costs waived, so long as you provide proof that you are receiving those benefits, such as a picture of your EBT card or a letter from the government showing you receive them.

You can also apply based on general inability to pay.  You will have to fill out a financial waiver as well, stating your exact income and current assets.  Our experience has been that if you earn more than $2000 per month, the court always denies the petition.  Also, if you have a lot of assets, the court will deny it as well, though we have not yet discovered a consistent pattern on that.

As you can guess, attempting to get them waived and then having them rejected will slow down the divorce process.

Feel free to give us a call at 704-DIVORCE (704-348-6723) and let us know about your individual situation, and we can help you decide if it is worth the risk to file the petition.