Probate e-filing FAQ's
Electronic filing of court documents occurs through an electronic filing service provider (EFSP). The user creates an account and the efiling system manages the flow of the documents and fees to and from the court. The filer will submit the documents, the court will accept or reject the documents, and the documents are returned to the filer through the electronic filing portal.
Self-represented litigants are not required to file documents electronically at the time; however, are encouraged to do so.
Litigants represented by attorneys must e-file as of September 5th, 2023 in all Probate cases.
See Local Rule 7.2
Some documents may be exempt from e-filing. For a list of all efiling eligible documents. Go to e-filing Document Finder
Documents that are exempt from e-filing can be submitted for filing in the Clerk’s Office between office hours of 8:30 a.m. and 2:00p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding Holidays or by mail (visit our Locations page for courthouse addresses).
Fax filing will not be available after e-filing is implemented on September 5th, 2023.
You may use any EFSP that is listed on the Court’s Probate e-filing Service Provider webpage.
Yes. All courts accepting e-filed documents are mandated to use independent EFSP’s in accordance with CRC 2.259(e).
Yes. The Court’s e-filing transaction fee and the EFSP’s service fee are collected by the EFSP when the filing is submitted.
Yes, absent fee waiver fees are applicable for all filings, including filings from court appointed attorneys.
Documents can be e-filed 24 hours a day. Any e-filing received by the Court before midnight will be deemed received or filed on the same business day if accepted. Any electronic filing submitted after midnight will be deemed received or filed as of the next business day if accepted. Any document received electronically on a non-court day, is deemed to have been effectively filed on the next court day if accepted. Pursuant to Local Rule 7.2
The following documents may not be e-filed.
- Originals of the following documents
- Willa and codicils
- Surety bonds and undertakings
- Letters of Administration
- Letters of Testamentary
- Letters of Guardianship
- Letters of Conservatorship
- Affidavit Re Real Property of Small Value (form DE- 305)
- Affidavit or Declaration under Probate code section 13101
- Bank statements for Probate accounting except as provided in probate code section 2620 (c)(1)
- Final escrow closing statements.
B. Subpoenaed documents.
C. Any other document required by law to contain an original signature or to be filed in its original form.
Processing time will depend on the type of document filed. Processing office hours are 8:30-4:00pm Monday-Friday excluding holidays. The court strives to review and process all documents submitted via e-filing within three business days.
Typical reasons that your filing would be rejected by the court are as follows:
- Multiple filing documents are submitted as a single filing code (for example, the cover sheet should be a separate pdf)
- Incorrect filing code is selected.
- Incorrect court location selected.
- Incorrect case type selected.
- Incorrect payment account option selected (i.e., fee waiver)
- The party’s name does not match the party’s name listed on the document for initial documents.
- Party’s address does match the party’s address listed on the document for initial documents.
- Missing required documents
Any document Rejected will include the reason for the rejection of the document. If your document is rejected, you must correct and resubmit the document.
The requirements for e-filing are described in the e-filing Technical Requirements on the court’s family law e-filing webpage.
The filer may not establish a document’s security level. The document security level is established by the court.
Yes, the initiating document and fee waiver application will be processed at the same time.
These documents may be submitted in the same transaction.
Motions must first be scheduled using Court Reservation System (CRS) in the Court’s eCourt Public Portal. Upon obtaining the reservation the motion can be e-filed. The CRS reservation receipt must be included when e-filing a motion. If submitted without a reservation receipt, the e-filing will be rejected. For self-represented litigants the above is not required but encouraged.
You may complete a Name Search using the eCourt Public Portal.