The San Bernardino Superior Court’s electronic filing (“eFiling”) requirements for probate case types are issued pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6, California Rules of Court, rules 2.250, et seq., and Superior Court of San Bernardino County, Local Rules, rule 1800.
Documents that fail to comply with these requirements or are deemed unacceptable for eFiling will be rejected.
PARTICIPATION
Effective June 16, 2025, by General Order entitled Electronic Filing and Service in Cases and by Local Rules, rule 1810.B., the court adopted mandatory electronic filing and service in Probate case types. A party may seek a court-ordered exemption from mandatory electronic filing and service due to undue hardship, significant prejudice, or other good cause. Self-represented parties are exempt from mandatory electronic filing and service requirements but are encouraged and permitted to file documents through an approved Electronic Filing Service Provider (“EFSP”).
REQUIREMENTS FOR eFILING
eFilers must establish an account with an approved EFSP prior to eFiling with the court. To view the list of approved EFSPs and to create an account, visit http://www.odysseyefileca.com/service-providers.htm.
eFilers must comply with California Rules of Court, rules 2.250-2.261. All documents eFiled must be submitted in PDF format using Adobe Acrobat version 7 or higher, and must be in a text searchable (i.e., optical character recognition (OCR)). The court cannot accept documents that do not meet the required formatting. The court also cannot accept documents with certain characteristics including, but not limited to: forms with fillable fields, a negative image, or an image that is saved as an object on the filed document. When using Judicial Council fillable forms, fields must be inactivated and no longer fillable before submission.
eFilers must maintain originals of all documents that are eFiled with the court, including but not limited to documents containing signatures pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 2.257.
Electronic signatures on eFiled documents must comply with the requirements of Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6(e)(2) and California Rules of Court, rule 2.257.
Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 1.201(a), unless otherwise required by law, only the last four digits of a social security or financial account number may be reflected in court filings. Exclusion or redaction to satisfy this rule is the responsibility of the eFiler, not the Clerk of the Court. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1.201(b).) Failure to comply with this requirement may result in monetary sanctions, pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 2.30(b).
To maintain confidentiality and ensure all redactions are appropriately applied, it is important that the submitting party remove all metadata. Metadata is hidden information embedded within a document that may reveal a document's revision history, earlier drafts, information about the document’s author, file name, file path, date of creation, etc. This information is still available and accessible even if the document was converted to a PDF. It is the submitting party’s responsibility to familiarize themselves with metadata and how to properly remove it.
Any document received electronically by the court between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59:59 p.m. is deemed to have been filed on that court day if accepted for filing. Any document received electronically on a non-court day is deemed to have been filed on the next court day if accepted for filing. A document is “received electronically” on the date and time a confirmation of the court’s receipt of the electronic transmission is created.
If notice is required or permitted under the Probate Code, the rules of electronic service shall be determined by the nature of the proceedings. In uncontested Probate proceedings, electronic service is governed by the Probate Code section 1215(c) which requires express consent. In contested Probate proceedings , electronic service is governed by California Rules of Court, rule 7.802, which provides that the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6, and California Rules of Court, rule 2.251 apply.
MAXIMUM FILE SIZE
There is a 25 MB document limit and a 50 MB file limit for eFile submissions. No single document can be larger than 25 MB and no group of documents can be larger than 50 MB on a single eFile submission. Contact your EFSP for assistance in optimizing your files. If your document meets these guidelines but exceeds the single-document size limit, you can upload it in multiple sets using the same document filing name for each set. Before submitting your filing, be sure to indicate the set number or page range in the 'Filing Description' and 'Document Description' sections for each submitted document. (Examples: Set 1 of 4; Pages 1-499; Set 2, Pages 500-999).
Contact your EFSP for assistance in optimizing your files.
COLOR SCANNED DOCUMENTS
Where submissions need to be scanned in color, they should be scanned separately from those documents that can be scanned in black and white. Color scanning resolution should be set at 300 dpi to ensure effective upload and adequate capacity for storage. This setting can be adjusted through scanner settings menu, under scan resolution.
LETTERS
eFiled letters must contain a signature of the appointed individual(s) in the affirmation section of the applicable form. The signature may be electronic, as defined in California Rules of Court, rule 2.257. Letters must be submitted after the hearing date, with the exception of petitions submitted on an ex parte basis.
EXHIBITS & ELECTRONIC BOOKMARKS
Electronic exhibits must meet the requirements in California Rules of Court, rule 2.256(b). Unless submitted by a self-represented party, electronic exhibits must include electronic bookmarks with links to the first page of each exhibit and titles that identify the exhibit number or letter and briefly describe the exhibit. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1110(f)(4).)
The court encourages the use of electronic bookmarks in electronic documents for each heading, subheading, and document components, such as table of contents, table of authorities, declarations, and proof of service, if included.
PROPOSED ORDERS
Proposed orders or proposed letters should be eFiled as a separate document and submitted as a “lodged” document. Proof of service of a proposed order should not be attached to the proposed order. Instead, the proof of service should be submitted electronically as a separate document. An order will not appear on the court’s website as filed until the Judge has signed it. At this time, only requires the eFiler to electronically file a proposed order in a PDF format; an editable word-processing format be submitted pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 3.1312(c)(2) is not required.
DOCUMENTS INELIGIBLE FOR eFILING
See the Probate Ineligible List.
ELECTRONIC SERVICE
Self-represented parties and parties to uncontested Probate proceedings must affirmatively consent to electronic service by filing and serving a Consent to Electronic Service and Notice of Electronic Service Address (Judicial Council Form EFS-005-CV). Due to system limitations, this consent to electronic service cannot be provided through an Electronic Filing Service Provider (EFSP). The act of electronic filing does not count as express consent. A self-represented party or a party to an uncontested Probate proceeding may withdraw consent at any time by completing and filing a Withdrawal of Consent to Electronic Service (Judicial Council Form EFS-006) with the Court.
Each party required to serve and accept service of documents electronically must include a valid email address on the first document that party files electronically in the case. A party whose email address changes while their case is pending must promptly notify the Court and all parties by electronically filing a Notice of Change of Electronic Service Address (Judicial Council Form EFS-010).
PUBLIC ACCESS TO eFILED DOCUMENTS
Documents uploaded to an EFSP to be filed with the court may be immediately accessible to the press and members of the public, even though the documents have not been, and may never be, received or accepted for filing by the court and recorded on its register of actions. Case information or documents assigned to filing codes with document security designated as confidential will not be made available to the public. No case information or case documents are available to the public or the press if the entire case is deemed confidential or sealed. It is the sole responsibility of the eFiler to properly assign the filing code, and thereby the document security level for all eFiled documents. Documents to be filed under seal or conditionally under seal may not be eFiled. (See California Rules of Court, rules 2.550 et seq. for procedures for filing records under seal). The court does not audit or review eFiled documents to determine whether they should be excluded from public access and is not responsible or liable for any improperly designated eFiled documents.