This page details State Bar policies for the refund of fees associated with:
Applicants must be registered prior to submitting any application. The registration form may be filed simultaneously with the application; however, the application and fees will be returned if the registration is not approved within 10 days of receipt.
The transfer of fees from one examination to another is prohibited.
In order to process a refund according to the schedule, the State Bar’s Office of Admissions must receive a withdrawal request through the Admissions Applicant Portal no later than the established deadlines. Stopping payment on a check, dishonoring a check, or disputing a credit card charge does not constitute withdrawing from an exam.
For applicants registered for the October 2020 bar exam, please refer to the FAQs and your email for refund information. Some of these usual policies have been changed in light of the unique circumstances.
Refunds will not be considered for:
Withdrawal of applications for determination of moral character and requests for refunds received within 30 days of the online submission date, for online applications, or the received date, for paper form applications, will be honored with a 60 percent refund of all fees paid in conjunction with the application.
Applicants for registration found to be ineligible due to a lack of pre-legal education will qualify for a 100 percent refund of all fees paid in conjunction with registration.
Registrations that are not brought to a complete and approved status within 60 days of receipt will be deemed abandoned. A registration will be deemed approved when the requisite fees, signature, properly executed declaration, and all required documentation verifying eligibility have been provided.
First-Year Law Students’ Exam and Bar Exam applications not brought to a complete and filed status by the final filing deadline will be deemed abandoned. This includes: (1) applications not signed, (2) application declarations not received, (3) application fees not received or incomplete, (4) applications incomplete, and (5) approved registrations not on file. Applications with fee payments found to be invalid after the final filing deadline will be abandoned.
First-Year Law Students’ Exam and Bar Exam applications without eligibility determinations by the final eligibility deadline will be deemed abandoned.
Moral character determination applications that are not brought to a complete and filed status within 60 days of the online submittal date, for online applications, or the received date, for paper form applications, will be deemed abandoned. This includes the lack of requisite fees, signature, or required information/documentation. Once the moral character determination application is in filed status, if the applicant receives notice to provide information, but does not provide such information within 90 days of the request, the application will be abandoned.
No refund of fees will be paid in the event a registration or application is deemed abandoned. If the registration or application has an outstanding balance at the time of the abandonment, the outstanding balance must be paid before any future registration or application is processed.
If an applicant qualifies for a refund in accordance with this Refund of Fees Policy for a registration or application, but has an outstanding balance due for subject registration, application, or other transactions, the net refund will be the qualifying refund amount minus the corresponding portion of the fees owed or balance due for other transactions.