Probate and Family Court Uniform Practices  Uniform Probate Court Practice XXXIII: Standards for computer generated forms

This Uniform Practice governs the use of computer-generated forms by counsel and parties.

For the purposes of this Uniform Practice XXXIII, the “official form” shall be defined as either: (i) the paper form promulgated and distributed by the Administrative Office of the Probate and Family Court or (ii) the electronic form most recently posted on the Massachusetts Judiciary web site, www. mass.gov/courts and approved by the Administrative Office of the Probate and Family Court.

The use of computer-generated forms is hereby permitted, except where the Court blank (“official form”) is a multi-part form, such as the G.L. c. 209A Complaint For Protection From Abuse form.

A. Paper. 8 ½ x 11 inch, acid free paper shall be used for all computer-generated forms. Acid free paper is specified to ensure archival quality and permanence.

B. Paper and Ink Color. A computer-generated form shall be printed with black ink on white paper except for forms CJ-D 301 S Financial Statement (short form) and CJ-D 301 L Financial Statement (long form), which shall be printed with black ink on pink colored paper, and form CJ-D 304 Child Support Guidelines Worksheet shall be printed with black ink on light-blue colored paper.

C. Printing. All computer-generated forms shall be printed with “letter quality” or “near letter quality” output. “Draft” quality output is not acceptable.

The Register of Probate may reject any form that fails to comply with these standards. In the event that a Register deems a submitted form to be outside these standards, such determination may be reviewed by the Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court at the request of the submitting counsel or party. It is the responsibility of the submitting party to ensure that the form adheres to the above standards. If the form is rejected, the submitting party shall forfeit the filing fee. The submitting party’s attorney shall not be allowed to pass this cost on to his/her client, but shall bear the financial burden personally. Accordingly, the submitting party’s attorney shall either reimburse the client for the forfeited fee or the attorney shall personally pay the filing fee when he/she refiles the form.

(Dec. 2008) The December 2008 amendment to Uniform Practice XXXIII requires that form CJ-D 304 Child Support Guidelines Worksheet be printed with black ink on light-blue colored paper. The change was necessitated by the amendments to the Child Support Guidelines effective January 1, 2009.