Section 68637 Of Article 6. Waiver Of Court Fees And Costs From California Government Code >> Title 8. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 6.
68637
. (a) This section applies only to waivers of trial court
fees.
(b) (1) If a party whose trial court fees and costs were initially
waived is a prevailing party within the meaning of Section 1032 of
the Code of Civil Procedure, the judgment or dismissal entered in
favor of the party whose fees and costs were initially waived shall
include an order requiring that the party against whom judgment or
dismissal has been entered pay to the court the waived fees and
costs. The court may refuse to enter a partial or full satisfaction
of a judgment until an accompanying order requiring payment of waived
fees and costs has been satisfied.
(2) A party petitioning the court to enter satisfaction of
judgment shall declare, under penalty of perjury, that any order
requiring payment of waived fees and costs has been satisfied.
(3) This subdivision does not apply to any of the following:
(A) Unlawful detainer cases.
(B) Family law matters, for which recovery of fees is subject to
subdivisions (d) and (e).
(C) Cases in which the judgment or dismissal is entered against a
party whose fees and costs were initially waived.
(c) If a party in a civil case whose trial court fees and costs
were initially waived recovers ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more
in value by way of settlement, compromise, arbitration award,
mediation settlement, or other recovery, the waived fees and costs
shall be paid to the court out of the settlement, compromise, award,
or other recovery.
(1) The court shall have a lien on any settlement, compromise,
award, or other recovery in the amount of all the court fees and
costs initially waived.
(2) The waived fees and costs shall first be paid to the court
before the party whose fees and costs were initially waived receives
anything of value under the settlement, compromise, award, or other
recovery.
(3) Notice of the lien shall be given to the parties under rules
and on forms adopted by the Judicial Council, and the Judicial
Council shall provide by rule the procedures by which a party subject
to a lien may determine the amount of the lien.
(4) The court may refuse to enter a petition for dismissal in the
case until the lien is satisfied. A party filing a petition for
dismissal shall declare, under penalty of perjury, that the lien has
been paid, or that any settlement, compromise, award, or other
recovery has a value of less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(5) In a case in which an initial waiver of fees and costs was
granted, or if a petition to dismiss the case is filed without the
declaration, the court may issue an order to show cause why the lien
should not be enforced and why the court should not enter a judgment
making the parties jointly and severally liable to the court for
initially waived fees and costs.
(d) If a judgment or an order to pay support is entered in a
family law case, the trial court shall consider, based on the
information in the court file, whether a party who did not receive a
fee waiver has the ability to pay all or part of the other party's
waived fees. Any order for the payment of the other party's waived
fees shall be made payable only after all current support and all
accrued arrears owed by the party who did not receive the fee waiver
have been paid. If the court orders payment of the other party's
waived fees, and the party required to pay is not present in court at
the time judgment is entered, the party required to pay shall be
given notice and an opportunity for a hearing to request that the
court set aside the order to pay fees. A request for a hearing shall
be made in writing within 30 days after service of the notice of the
court order. If a request for hearing is made, the order for payment
of initially waived fees shall not be enforced until after the
hearing.
(e) If a judgment is entered in a family law case, the trial court
shall consider, based on the information in the court file, whether
a party's circumstances have changed so that it is reasonable to
require a party who received an initial fee waiver to pay all or part
of the fees that were initially waived. In making this
determination, the court shall use the criteria for eligibility set
forth in Section 68632. In considering whether a child or spousal
support order constitutes a change of circumstances allowing the
party to pay fees, the court also shall consider the likelihood that
the support obligor will remit the payments ordered by the court. If
a support order is the primary basis for the court's finding of
changed circumstances, the court shall order the support obligor to
pay the previously waived fees subject to the provisions of
subdivision (d). When the court orders the party to pay all or part
of the fees that were initially waived, the party required to pay
shall be given notice and an opportunity for a hearing to request
that the court set aside the order to pay fees. A request for a
hearing shall be made in writing within 30 days after service of the
notice of the court order. If a request for hearing is made, the
order for payment of initially waived fees shall not be enforced
until after the hearing.