Filing Requirements in King County Superior Court

It is essential that your documents are formatted properly and meet King County Superior Court’s filing requirements to ensure they are accepted and processed without delay.

Two of the formatting requirements are: including a 3-inch top margin and the case caption on the first page. The Clerk's Office will reject documents without a 3-inch top margin and/or a case caption. See more information below.

Important Note: If your document(s) do not meet these formatting requirements, please include a GR 14 Coversheet as page number 1 of your document. You can find the GR 14 coversheet on the Forms page.  

3-Inch Top Margin Requirement 

All documents filed with the court must include a blank space at the top of the first page:

• Leave a 3-inch blank margin at the top of the first page of every document.
• Do not place any text, headers, footers, or page numbers in this space.
• This margin is reserved for the Clerk’s filing stamp and official use.

Case Caption Requirement

The first page of your document must also include the case caption.

• The case caption is the name of the case (for example, "John Doe vs. Jane Doe" or "In re John Doe").
• The case caption should be directly below the 3-inch blank margin.
• The case caption must include the parties involved and match the party names as they appear in the original case (for example, "John Doe vs. Jane Doe" or "In re John Doe").
• If you do not know the case caption, you can search for the case in the KC Script Portal and locate the case caption at the bottom of the screen under Case Name.

If your margin is too small or your document is missing the case caption, your filing will be rejected and returned to you for correction.