Fillable Forms
Judicial Council forms can be located at the California Courts website at
http://www.courts.ca.gov/forms.htm.
San Bernardino local forms can be located at the San Bernardino Court website at
http://www.sb-court.org/FormsandRules/SanBernardinoCountyForms.aspx
What is a Fillable Form?
A fillable form has fields in which you can type your answers. The box for the field
appears when you click next to the place where you want to enter text.
It may also have boxes you can check.
How to Download Forms
The forms and instructions on the California Courts website are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
format. If you already have Adobe Reader installed on your computer, you can
download forms and instructions and print them out. If you have viewed a Judicial
Council form on your computer, you probably have the software you need.
If you do not have Adobe Reader on your computer, you can download Adobe Reader
on your computer for free. To download go to http://get.adobe.com/reader/. (To use
the fillable forms, you need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader versions 7 or higher.)
Once Adobe Acrobat is installed, you can search for the form you need and then
download it by clicking on the form number. The form will appear on your screen. You
can type in your answers it and then print it out. Many of the forms you may also be
able to save on your own computer, too.
Getting Started
Search for a form
Under “Forms & Rules” choose “Browse All Forms”. The forms have been grouped into
subject categories. If you choose a particular category and can’t find the form, then you
need to broaden your search to “All Forms Listed by Name” or “All Forms Listed by
Number”.
A helpful tool when looking for a form is using the search feature. Once you have
brought up all the forms (or a group of forms), select Edit on your toolbar, then “Find on
This Page”. Type your form number or form name in the search box and select ENTER.
Once you have the form you need, right-click on the form number (underlined)
Enter text in a field
Using your mouse, move the arrow or “little hand” to the place where you want to start
typing and right-click. You will see the field turn yellow (see below). Start typing. To
go to the next line in a field that has several lines, press the ENTER key. This will take
you to the beginning of the next line. Alternatively, you can move your cursor to the
next box to fill in or use the TAB key.
Checking a checkbox
Put the arrow over the checkbox and right-click. If you use the TAB key to highlight a
checkbox, you check the box by pressing the space bar.
Going to the next field
Either use your mouse to go the next area where you wish to enter text and right-click
or press the TAB key on your keyboard. Using your TAB key will take you through each
field on the form this may be helpful in making sure you completed the form completely
if you are unfamiliar with the form.
Going back to a field you have already filled in
Using your mouse, go to the field and right-click where you want to type.
NOTE: You cannot add more text to a field once it is full. If you need to enter
more information, check the form you are filling out to see if you can attach additional
pages. You may be able to add more text on a Form MC-020, Additional Page or MC025, Attachment to Judicial Council Form. In some cases, you may be able to just handwrite on your form after you print it out.
Printing a form
Click on the “Print This Form” button at the end of the form. When the Print box
pops up, click OK, and your form should print.
Saving a form after filling it out
You can save a filled-out form if you have Adobe Reader 7.0 or higher. Click on the
“Save This Form” button at the end of the form. You are saving a copy of the form
on your own computer.
Deleting the information on a form after you are done
You can select the “Clear This Form” button at the end of the form to remove your
information from the screen. If you are using a shared computer or a public computer,
you may want to clear your form of personal information. Alternatively, you can simply
exit (right-click “x” at top right of screen) from the form.
Common problems with fillable forms
When printing the form, the highlighting around a field sometimes prints. To
make it go away, click your mouse somewhere outside the field. Make sure you
don’t click into another field.
When your form prints smaller than the space available on your paper, you can
make the form bigger by changing the setting in the Print box. Check the
section that says Copies and Adjustments. Make sure that the options
shrink oversized pages to paper size and expand small pages to paper
size are unchecked.
When you only see a blank window when trying to open a form, there are many
possible reasons. Here are things to try:

Check to see if you are using Adobe Reader version 7 or above. Open
your Adobe Reader program and click on “Help”, then click on “About
Adobe Reader”. A box will appear that will show which version of Adobe
Reader you have. If you aren’t using Adobe Reader version 7 or above
you can download a new version for free.