All guides
Fines and payment plans
- How to pay a court fineFind the case number and the due date, pay the clerk the way that court accepts, and keep the receipt until the case shows paid.
- ToolCourt fine payment plan calculatorPut in what you owe and what you can pay each month. See how long the plan runs and what the last payment is.
- What happens if you cannot pay a court fineThe Constitution bars jailing someone only because they are too poor to pay. What it requires of a court, and what to ask for.
Fees and judgments
- How long a civil judgment lastsLonger than most debts: many states allow a judgment to be enforced for ten years or more, and renewed. What federal law sets, and what to check in your state.
- Judgment liens on a home or other propertyA lien is a claim on property for the judgment amount. How one attaches, what a homestead exemption protects, and how a lien is released.
- How to ask a court to waive its feesCourts can let a person who cannot afford the filing fee proceed without paying it. In federal court it is called in forma pauperis.
- Default judgments: when you miss the deadline to answerIf you do not answer a lawsuit in time, the court can decide it without you. How the deadline works, and how a default can be set aside.
Court records
- How to look up a court caseState cases through the county clerk or the state's online portal; federal cases through PACER, at 10 cents a page with a $3 cap per document.
- Are court records public?Mostly, by a long common-law tradition the Supreme Court has recognized. Why a freedom of information request is usually the wrong tool for them.