California Judicial Council Forms: Complete, File, and Serve

California Judicial Council forms are the standardized documents the state’s courts use for almost every kind of case, and you can find every current one at courts.ca.gov/forms-rules. To move your case forward, you need to pick the right form for what you’re doing, fill it out correctly, file it at the proper Superior Court with the fee (or a fee waiver), and serve copies on the other parties.

Where to Find the Right Form

The official source is the Forms and Rules section of the California Courts website at courts.ca.gov/forms-rules. You can search by form number, form name, or topic. Most forms are fillable PDFs you can complete on your computer, and any form can be printed and filled in by hand instead.¹

If you’re not sure which forms your case needs, use a court self-help center. Every county has one, and they give free legal information and help you identify the correct forms. You can get help in person, by phone, or online at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov.²

One more thing to check before you file: many county Superior Courts publish their own local forms in addition to the statewide ones, and certain filings require both. Look at your local court’s website so you’re not missing a required local document.³

How Form Numbers Work

Every Judicial Council form has a letter-and-number identifier. The letters tell you the subject area: FL for Family Law, CM for Civil, NC for Name Change, CR for Criminal, and so on. The number distinguishes the specific document. FL-100 is the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. CM-010 is the Civil Case Cover Sheet. If someone tells you to file a form by number, you can search that number directly on the courts site.¹

When you’ve been served with court papers, the form number appears in the top corner of the first page. You can look it up on the self-help site to see what the document is and how to respond.²

Mandatory vs. Optional Forms

Judicial Council forms come in two flavors, and the difference matters.

Mandatory forms must be used. Government Code section 68511 lets the Judicial Council prescribe certain forms for mandatory use, and when a form is mandatory, you can’t swap in your own drafted document or a local court form. The civil Summons (SUM-100) is a common example. Show up with a self-drafted summons and the clerk will not accept it.⁴

Optional forms are approved rather than prescribed. You can use one, or you can draft your own pleading or use a local court’s version. If you choose the Judicial Council’s optional form, every court has to accept it for filing in the appropriate case type.⁵

Here’s the wrinkle: many local courts adopt rules that make certain otherwise-optional forms mandatory in their county. A form that’s optional statewide might be required in your courthouse. Check your local rules before deciding to skip an optional form.⁵

You can tell which is which by looking at the lower-left corner of the first page. Mandatory forms are labeled “Form Adopted for Mandatory Use” or “Mandatory Form.” Some carry “Form Adopted for Alternative Mandatory Use,” meaning more than one mandatory option exists for the same filing. Optional forms say “Form Approved for Optional Use.”⁴

Filling the Form Out Correctly

A carelessly completed form is the fastest way to delay your case. Clerks review filings for procedural compliance, and defective ones get returned.

Legibility

Every filed form must be as legible as a printed document. Fill it out by hand in dark ink and write clearly, or type into the PDF fields on your computer and check boxes electronically.⁶

Required Information

Every form asks for the same header information: the full name of the court, the parties’ names, and the case number if one has been assigned. Fill in every applicable field and check every required box. Blank fields are one of the most common reasons clerks return filings. If a field truly doesn’t apply, write “N/A” instead of leaving it empty.

Date and sign where indicated. The signature has to come from the person whose declaration or consent the form represents. If the form references attachments, declarations, or exhibits, include every one of those documents when you file.

Redacting Personal Information

California Rule of Court 1.201 requires you to redact certain personal identifiers from anything filed in the court’s public file, whether on paper or electronically. Two categories are covered:

Social security numbers: include only the last four digits if the number is required at all.
Financial account numbers: include only the last four digits if the number is required at all.

Redaction is your responsibility, not the clerk’s. The clerk’s office will not check your filing for compliance, so if you file a document with a full social security number or bank account number, it becomes part of the public record. When a case actually requires the complete numbers, you can ask the court to let you file a separate confidential reference list on form MC-120, which links the redacted numbers to their full versions in a sealed document.⁷

What a Clerk Cannot Reject You For

Rule 1.42 of the California Rules of Court lists specific reasons a clerk may not use to reject a Judicial Council form. Under that rule, a court cannot reject your form because:

It lacks the preprinted name and address of that court
It lacks the clerk’s name
It has another court’s name that you have legibly crossed out and corrected
It doesn’t include a local form number
It was printed by a third-party publisher
It has been obviously modified to correct a code section number or comply with current law
It isn’t the latest version of the form

That last one is worth remembering. If you accidentally use a slightly outdated version, the court must accept it anyway. Knowing this rule gives you grounds to push back if a rejection looks improper.⁸

Filing Your Forms

At the Clerk’s Office

Bring the completed original plus enough copies for yourself and every other party in the case. The clerk stamps the original and all copies with the filed date, keeps the original for the court file, and hands back the stamped copies, which are called conformed copies. If you file by mail, include a self-addressed stamped envelope with enough postage so the clerk can return your conformed copies.

Electronic Filing

Many California Superior Courts offer electronic filing. If you have an attorney, e-filing may be required under local rules. For self-represented litigants, e-filing is voluntary, and you always have the right to file on paper instead.⁹

Filing Fees

Most filings require a fee at the time of submission. The amount depends on case type and value. Statewide civil fees for 2026 include:

Unlimited civil case (over $35,000): $435 to file a complaint or first paper
Limited civil case ($10,001–$35,000): $370
Limited civil case ($10,000 or less): $225

Fees in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties run slightly higher because of local courthouse construction surcharges.¹⁰

Fee Waivers

If you can’t afford the fees, ask the court to waive them by submitting a Request to Waive Court Fees (form FW-001) with your filing. You may qualify if you receive public benefits such as Medi-Cal, CalFresh, SSI, CalWORKs, or county general assistance. You can also qualify based on low income or an inability to pay for basic household needs and court fees at the same time. A waiver covers more than the initial filing fee. It can also cover costs like service fees and court reporter fees.¹¹

Serving the Other Parties

Filing with the court is only half the job. You also have to legally deliver copies to every other party in the case, a step called service. California is strict about who can serve documents and how. In general, you can’t serve papers yourself. Someone else who is at least 18 and not a party to the case has to do it.

Once service is done, the person who served the documents fills out a proof of service form. For documents served by first-class mail (other than a summons), the standard form is POS-030, Proof of Service by First-Class Mail — Civil. For personal delivery, it’s POS-020. The completed proof of service is filed with the court so there is a record that every party received the documents.¹²

Skip this step or do it wrong and your case stalls. A judge will not act on your filing until the other side has been properly served, and you carry the burden of proving service happened correctly.

Common Mistakes That Get Filings Bounced

Certain errors show up over and over at filing windows. Knowing them saves a wasted trip to the courthouse:

Using a self-drafted document when a mandatory Judicial Council form exists for that filing
Forgetting to sign and date a form, or having the wrong person sign it
Leaving required fields blank without writing “N/A” where appropriate
Filing a document with full social security or financial account numbers still visible
Referencing exhibits or declarations in the form but not including them with your filing
Filing in a Superior Court that doesn’t have jurisdiction over your case (it must be filed in the correct county)
Arriving without payment or a completed FW-001 fee waiver request

If the clerk does reject your filing, ask exactly what needs correcting. Most problems can be fixed and refiled the same day.

1
Judicial Branch of California. Forms and Rules
2
Judicial Branch of California. Self-Help Guide to the California Courts
3
Judicial Branch of California. Find and Fill Out Court Forms
4
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 1.31 – Mandatory Forms
5
Judicial Branch of California. Using Forms
6
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 1.43 – Legibility
7
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 1.201 – Protection of Privacy
8
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 1.42 – Forms Not to Be Rejected
9
California Courts Newsroom. California Supreme Court Adopts Amendments to E-Filing Rules
10
Judicial Branch of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
11
Judicial Branch of California. Information Sheet on Waiver of Superior Court Fees and Costs, Form FW-001-INFO
12
Judicial Branch of California. Proof of Service by First-Class Mail — Civil, Form POS-030