San Francisco Superior Court

San Francisco Superior Court

File & ServeXpress has been providing electronic filing and service in San Francisco Superior Court cases since 1998.

San Francisco Superior Court has mandated electronic filing for original filings in over 20 General Civil case types. File & ServeXpress provides eFiling and eService in Asbestos, Civil, Criminal, Complex, Family, Probate, and Unlawful Detainer case types in the San Francisco Superior Court. For more information, visit the Court’s eFiling Information page.

FSX offers training and customer support to assist in this electronic filing expansion project. On this page you can access printable training guides, video training services, or register for scheduled webinar training sessions.

California CARE Court

Updated October 3, 2023

File & ServeXpress is now offering eFiling in the new California CARE Act Court. The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act authorizes specified adult persons to petition a civil court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan that may include treatment, housing resources, and other services for persons with untreated schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

For more information, visit the Court’s Information page or our CARE Court Resources page.

Domestic Violence & Parentage Expansion

Updated January 3, 2023

Effective January 3, 2023, eFiling of new and subsequent filings in all Domestic Violence (FDV) and Parentage (FPT) case types in the Unified Family Court is available through File & ServeXpress. 

eFiling into these case types will become mandatory for all filers on July 1, 2023. For more information about this expansion to the San Francisco Superior Court’s eFiling program, click here to view the Court’s recent press release.

Documents & Guides

Case Expansion Overview
San Francisco Superior Court Case Expansion
Case Initiation Guide
Registration Guide
Court Press Release

frequently asked questions

The following Probate documents must be submitted in original form for filing in the Clerk’s Office. Please refer to Local Rule 14.60 E.
  • Letters of Administration
  • Letters Testamentary
  • Original wills
  • Certified copies of Death Certificates with Affidavits pursuant to Probate Code 13100, et seq.
  • Certified copies of Birth Certificates
  • Certified copy of Spousal Property order
  • Certified copy of Letters when required for final distribution
  • Inventory and Appraisal
  • Confidential Statement of Birth Date and Driver’s License Number
  • Confidential Documents
Yes, you will need a File & Serve account to file your documents and to receive the filings in your case.  You can register your firm here.  There are also third-party filing companies, approved by the court, who can file documents on your behalf.  A list of those third-party filing companies can be found on the Court’s website here.  If you use a third-party filing company, you will still need an account so that they can file documents on your behalf.
After the Complaint is accepted, your documents will be available for download on File & ServeXpress.
After the Court accepts your electronically submitted Complaint or Petition, you will receive a receipt acknowledging your transaction with the new case number. However, your new case will not appear on File & ServeXpress until the next business day after it is accepted. You can also find your new case number via a plaintiff name search on the Court’s Register of Actions. Until your Complaint or Petition is accepted, however, you will need your transaction ID number if you are attempting to contact the Court regarding your Complaint or Petition.

For clients seeking information from the court regarding new case filings, please email sfefiling@sftc.org. If inquiring about the status of your new/originating case filing(s), please be sure to include your transaction ID.
File & ServeXpress will continue to advance statutory filing fees and invoice your firm monthly.

If you are unable to find your San Francisco Family Law dissolution case online, please contact Client Support at 888-529-7587. Our Client Support staff will request the case from the court for overnight delivery. Please note that only the dissolution case class (case number prefixes beginning with “FDI”) are subject to electronic filing. We cannot add cases with the prefixes of “FDV”, “FMS” or “FPT.

Because the family law cases are secure, images of conformed copies cannot be posted on the Court’s public website. File stamped copies will be available on File & ServeXpress, in your submitted transaction, after the Court accepts the transaction.
Please contact File & ServeXpress Client Support at 888-529-7587. Help is available 24/7.
The primary cause for rejections in San Francisco are run-on documents. If you are submitting a civil coversheet, a complaint, and a summons, they should be filed as three separate documents within the same transaction. Combining all three as a single document will cause your transaction to be rejected.

Upcoming Training sessions

Request a training session by contacting support@fileandserve.com.