St. Louis County Circuit Court Document Format Requirements

CRITICAL

Municipal divisions may hold hearings outside their boundaries in another St. Louis County municipality only if the municipalities enter into a written cooperative agreement about courtroom operations.

A Municipal Divisions may hold hearings of Municipal Court violations outside the boundaries of the municipality and inside the boundaries of another municipality within St. Louis County if the municipalities enter into a written cooperative agreement regarding the operations of the courtroom to be utilized.

CRITICAL

The written Waiver of Counsel must be substantially in the form of Form 37.C.

Utilize a written “Waiver of Counsel” substantially in the form of Form 37.C. Supreme Court Rule 37.58(d).

CRITICAL

Each interrogatory question must be clear and concise and leave appropriate space below it for an answer.

Any party propounding interrogatories in a civil action, shall set forth each question in clear and concise language leaving an appropriate space below each question for an answer to be inserted.

CRITICAL

A jury trial request must be made in writing.

A jury trial request shall be made in writing

CRITICAL

The Notice of Rights must use a form approved by or substantially similar to one approved by the Supreme Court.

Provide a “Notice of Rights,” in a form approved by or substantially similar to that approved by the Supreme Court, to all defendants.

CRITICAL

Answers must be typewritten in the spaces provided; an answer too long for the space must be attached as a clearly identified appendix.

The answers to interrogatories shall be typewritten in the spaces provided. In the event an answer is too lengthy to place in the space provided, it shall be attached as an appendix and clearly identified.

CRITICAL

Interrogatories must state the question, include the asking person's verified answer, provide space for the other person's verified answer, and use gender-neutral and party-neutral wording.

(2) Form. Each interrogatory by either the petitioner or respondent to the other shall be in the following form: (a) the question shall be first stated, (b) followed by the verified answer to the question by the person asking the question if the question were asked of them, and (c) a space provided for the verified answer of the person of whom the question is being asked. All questions shall be prepared is such a form as to make them gender neutral and party neutral.

CRITICAL

A judgment must use a court-provided form unless the trial judge authorizes another form.

Judgment shall be entered on a form provided by the court unless the trial judge authorizes use of another form.

CRITICAL

Applications for trial de novo in civil and small claims cases must be filed in writing with the appropriate clerk within ten days after judgment.

All applications for trial de novo in civil and small claims cases shall be filed in writing with the appropriate clerk within ten (10) days after the date of judgment.

CRITICAL

Vouchers must be numbered and submitted in one electronic file, in consecutive order matching the settlement’s listing of disbursements.

Such vouchers must be numbered and submitted as one electronic file in consecutive order consistent with the listing of disbursements on the settlement.

CRITICAL

Judgments must use court-provided forms unless the judicial officer authorizes another form.

Judgments shall be entered on forms provided by the court unless the judicial officer authorizes another form.

CRITICAL

A video or voice recording used as evidence must have a typewritten transcript at its proposed use, be marked as a duplicate exhibit, and be forwarded to the appellate court for an appeal.

Any video or voice recording to be used in Court as evidence shall be accompanied by a typewritten transcript of same at the time of its proposed use to facilitate making of objections and rulings thereon, to be marked as duplicate exhibits and to be forwarded to the appellate court for its use as any other exhibit at the time of an appeal.

CRITICAL

Margins

top 1 in, left 1 in

Pleadings and motions must be typewritten and double-spaced, use the specified paper size or a size prescribed by Supreme Court Rule, have top and left margins of at least one inch, and use at least 12-point font.

All Pleadings and motions intended for filing in any case shall be typewritten with each line, double-spaced. The document shall be sized 8 ½” x 11”, or such other size as may be prescribed by Supreme Court Rule, with a top and left-hand margin of at least one inch. The font size shall not be less than size 12

CRITICAL

Objections must be placed where answers would go and state their grounds in detail; an objection lacking detailed grounds may be summarily overruled.

Objections to certain interrogatories shall be inserted in the place provided for the answers and the grounds therefore shall be stated in detail. Failure to state the grounds for an objection in detail may result in the objection being summarily overruled.

CRITICAL

Income and Expense and Property Statements must be completed under oath on the court-approved form, typed in substantially the same format, electronically filed, and served on the other parties.

Income and Expense and Property Statements shall be completed, under oath on the form approved by the court and available from the Office of the Circuit Clerk, typed in substantially the same format, and shall be electronically filed with the court and served on the other parties as provided herein.

CRITICAL

A settlement amendment or correction must use the Settlement Corrections Submission form, identify the requested changes, include only the affected settlement pages, and not attach an entirely new settlement.

Every amendment to or correction of a settlement shall be accompanied by a Settlement Corrections Submission form and shall specifically identify the correction(s) or amendment(s) requested. When a correction or an amendment is filed, the attorney shall use the Settlement Corrections Submission form and shall attach only those pages of the settlement containing the correction(s) or amendment(s). An entirely new settlement shall not be attached to the Settlement Corrections Submission form when amendment or correction is requested.

CRITICAL

Each verification of account must be e-filed as a separate document, not as an attachment to the settlement.

Verification of Accounts. All verification of accounts shall be e-filed as a separate document and not as an attachment to the settlement.

CRITICAL

Any document created by an attorney must be in portrait orientation.

the orientation shall be portrait on any document created by an attorney.

CRITICAL

Each real estate parcel’s legal description must be typewritten on a separate sheet of paper.

In all cases involving disposition of real estate, the legal description of each parcel of real estate shall be typewritten upon a separate sheet of paper, marked as an exhibit and offered in evidence with all rights of cross-examination or explanation covering such exhibits being reserved by the parties.

WARNING

The required jury-trial-request wording in the first pleading’s heading must be printed in bold.

the heading of the first pleading requesting the jury trial shall state in bold print “Jury Trial Request.”

WARNING

Probate Division forms are preferred; attorneys and registered users must use an applicable promulgated form or a substantially similar form.

(D) Forms Promulgated by the Probate Division. Forms promulgated by the probate division are preferred and found online at https://stlcountycourts.com/forms/probate-forms/. Attorneys and registered users shall use the forms promulgated by the probate division that are applicable to the matter being filed in the probate division or forms substantially similar to those promulgated.

WARNING

Small claims cases must be filed using the appropriate form.

All small claims cases shall be filed on the appropriate form in the designated office of the Circuit Clerk and shall be scanned into the electronic system or filed electronically.

WARNING

An adversary matter must use the original estate or related action’s case name and include the designation “adversary matter” or ADV.

It will have the same case name as the original estate or other related action but will also contain the designation “adversary matter” or ADV.

WARNING

Petitions to approve the settlement, notices or waivers from interested persons, and the final settlement or statement and proposed order of distribution should be submitted as additional documents rather than attachments to the final settlement.

Petitions to Approve the Settlement, Notices or Waivers from all interested persons, and the Final Settlement/Statement and Proposed Order of Distribution should all be submitted as additional documents and not as attachments to the Final Settlement.

WARNING

Requests for production must be prepared in gender-neutral and party-neutral form.

All requests shall be prepared in such a form as to make them gender neutral and party neutral.

WARNING

Applies to

Pleading writing or document created for filing in probate division

Margins

top 1 in, bottom 1 in, left 1 in, right 1 in

Documents created for filing in the Probate Division must follow the stated typewriting, page size, orientation, margin, numbering, font, and spacing requirements, subject to the stated exception for attached documents not created for filing.

(E) Size – Type – Font. Any pleading, writing, or document created for the purpose of filing in the probate division shall: 1. All e-filed pleadings must be typewritten; 2. Be on paper of size 8 ½ x 11 inches; 3. Have portrait orientation; 4. Have a left, right, top, and bottom margin of not less than one inch. Page numbers may appear in the bottom margin, but no other text may appear in the margin; 5. Have all pages consecutively numbered; 6. Use characters that are not smaller than 12 point, Times New Roman font; 7. Be double-spaced, except that the certificate of service and signature block may be single spaced. (F) Exception. A writing or document that has not been created for the purpose of filing in the probate division and is attached to a pleading at the time it is filed shall not be subject to the size-type- font requirements of subsection (E).

WARNING

Exhibits should be marked for identification before trial.

Exhibits should be marked for identification prior to trial.

WARNING

A financial statement may not state “varies” or “TBD” for amounts without approval from a family court judicial officer.

The amounts stated in the financial statement shall not state “varies” or “TBD” without approval of a family court judicial officer.

WARNING

Property schedules must be typewritten.

typewritten schedules of all property which they claim has a value of at least one hundred dollars ($100).

WARNING

Documents should be filed separately or as attachments according to the probate division’s checklists.

The probate division has designated documents that should be filed as separate documents and documents that should be filed as attachments to a document. The designations are set out in checklists of filing requirements included in the various packets of forms located on the division’s website at: https://stlcountycourts.com/forms/probate-forms/