Dear Colleagues:
In a case where my client, the plaintiff, filed a complaint for divorce based on irreconcilable differences, and the defendant filed a counterclaim also based on irreconcilable differences, I recently attempted to file an Appearance with regard to the counterclaim.
We received the document back filed, but somebody from the court wrote on it "Answer to cc" and billed our Superior Court account $175.00 rather than the $50.00 fee for an appearance.
The statutory authority for the charge of filing fees in Chancery Division of Superior Court is found in N.J.S.A. 22A:2-12 specifically states: "Upon the filing of the first paper in any action or proceeding in the Chancery Division of the Superior Court ... (emphasis added). Doesn't this show that it was the Legislature's intent to assess a fee to each litigant when the litigant files his or her first pleading? If so, the filing of a successive pleading (such as an answer to a counterclaim or an appearance to a counterclaim) should not result in the charging of an additional filing fee as the litigant has already paid his or her "entrance" fee to be involved in the litigation.
In addition, N.J.S.A. 2B:1-7(a) authorizes the Court to revise or supplement a fee which N.J.S.A. 22A:2-12 authorizes. I submit that an answer or appearance filed in response to a counterclaim is not a revision or supplementation of fees payable to the court but rather an entirely new fee that was never charged prior to the rule change to court rule 1:43.
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Robert Goldstein Esq.
Manalapan NJ
(732)972-1600
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