Understand Legal Fees - Singapore Courts

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Forms and fees

Understand legal fees

Find out the types of fees that may be involved for court proceedings in the Singapore courts.

What are legal fees

Legal fees refer to any payment that may be made for legal matters. Legal fees include:

Court fees.
Hearing fees.
Lawyer fees.
(For appeal cases) Security for costs of appeal.
Fees for other court services.

Court fees

Court fees refer to payments made to the court at various stages of the proceedings. These fees are usually paid when documents are filed.

Civil and family cases

You will need to pay fees for filing:

An application to the court.
Any documents related to court proceedings.

Most of these fees are prescribed by law and can be found in legislation such as:

(For most civil cases) Fourth Schedule of the Rules of Court 2021 or Appendix B of the Rules of Court 2014.
(For non-probate family cases) Fifth Schedule of the Family Justice Rules 2014 and the Third Schedule of the Family Justice (General) Rules 2024.
(For probate family cases) Fifth Schedule of the Family Justice Rules 2014 and Third Schedule of the Family Justice (Probate and Other Matters) Rules 2024.

Certain types of proceedings may also have specific fees defined in other legislation. Refer to the respective self-help guides for more information.

Note: For eLitigation applications, there are also transmission and processing fees in addition to the document filing fees. View the list of fees.

Criminal cases

Court fees are payable when filing an application or requesting a document related to criminal proceedings. This includes Magistrate's Complaints and criminal appeals.

Most of these fees are prescribed by the law, and can be found in legislation such as the:

Fees (State Courts — Criminal Jurisdiction) Order.
Criminal Procedure Code (Prescribed Fees) Regulations.
Family Justice Rules.

Hearing fees

Hearing fees are paid to the court for the hearing.

Criminal cases

For criminal cases, there are no hearing fees.

Civil cases

For civil cases, the hearing feesdepend on which court the case is heard in.

Tribunals

Refer to the following for the hearing fees for the respective tribunals.

Small Claims Tribunals	There are no hearing fees for small claims.
Employment Claims Tribunals	View the hearing fees for employment claims.
Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals	View the hearing fees for neighbour dispute claims.

District or Magistrate's CourtThe fees depend on the type of hearing.

Open court hearing before a district judge or magistrate

There are no hearing fees payable for the first day.

After the first day, the following fees are payable for the whole or part of each day of hearing:

District Court: $500
Magistrate's Court: $250

Hearing before a State Courts Registrar for examination of witnesses

The following fees are payable:

District Court	Magistrate's Court
On every appointment for the examination of a witness	$50	$50
On every witness sworn or examined, for each hour or part thereof	$100	$50

General Division of the High CourtThe fees depend on the type of hearing.

Hearing before a judge in the General Division of the High Court

The hearing fees depend on the number of hearing days and the value of the claim.

Number of hearing days	Value of claim is up to $1 million	Value of claim is more than $1 million
1st to 3rd day	No charge	No charge
4th day	$6,000 per day or part thereof	$9,000 per day or part thereof
5th day	$2,000 per day or part thereof	$3,000 per day or part thereof
6th to 10th day	$3,000 per day or part thereof	$5,000 per day or part thereof
11th day onwards	$5,000 per day or part thereof	$7,000 per day or part thereof

Hearing before a registrar in the General Division of the High Court for assessment of damages, taking of accounts, making of inquiries and references under Order 70, Rule 40 of the Rules of Court 2014 or Order 33, Rule 42 of the Rules of Court 2021.

The hearing fees depend on the number of hearing days.

Number of hearing days	Hearing fees per day
1st to 3rd day	No charge
4th day onwards or part thereof (including the number of days taken for the determination of liability before a judge in the General Division) onwards, or part thereof	$1,000

Hearing before a registrar in the General Division of the High Court for examination of witnesses

The following fees are payable:

Value of claim is up to $1 million	Value of claim is more than $1 million
On every appointment for the examination of a witness	$100	$200
On every witness sworn or examined, for each hour or part thereof	$250	$500

Appellate Division of the High Court and the Court of Appeal

There are no hearing fees payable for the first day.

After the first day, the following fees are payable for the whole or part of each day of hearing:

If the value of the claim is up to $1 million: $4,000
If the value of the claim is more than $1 million: $6,000

Family cases

Most cases in the Family Justice Courts do not require hearing fees.

For non-probate family proceedings

For cases governed by the Family Justice Rules 2014 (cases commenced before 15 October 2024), there are no hearing fees for cases under the following legislation (listed in Rule 991 of the Family Justice Rules 2014):

Adoption of Children Act.
Guardianship of Infants Act.
Maintenance of Parents Act.
Mental Capacity Act.
Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.
Status of Children (Assisted Reproduction Technology) Act.
Vulnerable Adults Act.
Women's Charter.

For cases governed by the Family Justice Rules 2024 (cases commenced on or after 15 October 2024), there are no hearing fees for cases under the following legislation (listed in Part 2, Rule 5 of the Family Justice (General) Rules 2024):

Adoption of Children Act.
Children and Young Persons Act.
Guardianship of Infants Act.
Maintenance of Parents Act.
Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act.
Mental Capacity Act.
Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.
Status of Children (Assisted Reproduction Technology) Act.
Vulnerable Adults Act.
Women's Charter.

For probate family proceedings

Inheritance (Family Provision) Act.

Applicable hearing fees

The following hearing fees only apply to cases that are not under any of the legislation listed above. These include probate and administration cases.

Hearing before a judge of the Family Division of the High Court

The hearing fees depend on the number of hearing days and the value of the claim.

Number of hearing days	Value is below or equivalent to $1 million	Value exceeding $1 million
1st to 3rd day	Free	Free
4th day	$6,000 per day or part thereof	$9,000 per day or part thereof
5th day	$2,000 per day or part thereof	$3,000 per day or part thereof
6th to 10th day	$3,000 per day or part thereof	$5,000 per day or part thereof
11th day onwards	$5,000 per day or part thereof	$7,000 per day or part thereof

Hearing before a judge of the Family Court

There are no hearing fees payable for the first day.

After the first day, you will need to pay $500 for the whole or part of each day of hearing.

Hearing before a registrar for assessment of damages, taking of accounts and making of inquiries

The hearing fees depend on the number of hearing days (which include the number of days taken for the determination of liability before a judge in the Family Division of the High Court).

Number of hearing days	Hearing fees per day
1st to 3rd day	No charge
4th day onwards	$1,000

Hearing before a registrar for examination of witnesses

The following fees are payable:

Family Division of the High Court cases	Family Court cases
On every appointment for the examination of a witness	Value of claim not exceeding $1 million: $100 Value of claim exceeding $1 million: $200	$50
On every witness sworn or examined, for each hour or part thereof	Value of claim not exceeding $1 million: $250 Value of claim exceeding $1 million: $500	$50 (for proceedings under the Family Justice (General) Rules 2024. $100 (for proceedings under the Family Justice (Probate and Other Matters) Rules 2024.

Lawyer fees

If you engage a lawyer for your case, you will need to pay the lawyer to give you legal advice, represent you in court, or help you prepare and submit documents required for your case. Contact a lawyer directly to find out their fees.

The courts are not able to provide legal advice or recommend lawyers. If you have difficulty affording the lawyer's fees, find out more about how to seek legal help.

(For appeal cases) Security for costs of appeal

Some appeal cases may require the appellant to provide security for the respondent's costs of the appeal. The amount of security required is prescribed in the Rules of Court and the Family Justice Rules. Security may also be required where a party files an application to the appellate court.

Fees for other court services

There are other fees payable depending on the services you require. These services include:

Commissioner for Oaths services.
Translation services.
Interpretation services.

Find out more about other court services.

Related questions

Can the court waive or refund the court fees?

In limited circumstances and upon application, the court has the power to waive, defer the payment of or refund all or part of the court fees for civil cases, or order that the whole or any part of the court fees be paid by any party or be apportioned among all or any of the parties in accordance with Order 25, Rules 3 to 4 of the Rules of Court 2021 or Order 91, Rules 3 to 5 of the Rules of Court 2014. For criminal proceedings, the court may, if it thinks fit, waive payment of the prescribed fees for copies of court records in accordance with Section 426(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code. For family proceedings, the court may waive, defer the payment of, or refund the whole or any part of the court fees in accordance with Part 25, Rule 3 of the Family Justice (General) Rules 2024 and Part 17, Rule 3 of the Family Justice (Probate) Rules 2024.

A party seeking refund of court fees must apply within the timeline set out in the specific rule under which the refund application is being made.

Refund of document fees

A filing party may apply to the Registrar for a refund of any fee which has been paid for any unused document. The Request for Refund of Filing Fees must be made within 3 months after the date of the payment of the fee to be refunded and is subject to the Registrar’s approval. A separate Request for Refund of Filing Fees must be filed for each unused document in respect of which a refund is sought.

For Supreme Court cases under the Rules of Court 2014, the Appellate Division of the High Court or the Court of Appeal may, on the application of a party to an appeal, order a refund of any part of any fee which has been paid on the filing of the core bundle or supplemental core bundle or any bundle of documents that the Appellate Division or the Court of Appeal has given leave to file, if the court is satisfied that the documents comprised in that bundle were necessary for the just, expeditious and economical disposal of the appeal.

(For Supreme Court cases) Exemption of fees for criminal proceedings

Where the Registrar is satisfied that any cause or matter relates to or is predicated upon criminal proceedings that affect the life or liberty of a party, the Registrar may, on the application of that party, issue a certificate of exemption from any fee payable, or any required or authorised security for costs (Order 25, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court 2021 or Order 91, Rule 6 of the Rules of Court 2014). If any fees were paid before the certificate was issued, the Registrar may refund any fee or part thereof which has been paid.

A party seeking the certificate of exemption must apply by way of a letter addressed to the Registrar stating the grounds (reasons) on which the application is made, together with all the necessary supporting documents.

Can the court refund the hearing fees?

Court hearing fees are fully refundable if the Registrar is notified in writing that the matter has been settled or discontinued not later than 14 days before the first scheduled hearing date (Order 25, Rule 3(4) of the Rules of Court 2021 or Order 90A, Rule 1(4) of the Rules of Court 2014).

In other instances, such as if you did not use all the days allocated for the hearing, the Registrar may refund a discretionary amount. You must apply to the court for a refund by filing a Request for Refund of Hearing Fees via eLitigation within 1 month from the date of settlement, discontinuance or withdrawal, or from the last hearing date, whichever is later (Order 25, Rule 3(3)(a) of the Rules of Court 2021 or Order 90A, Rule 1(4)(b) and 1(5) of the Rules of Court 2014).

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