eFiling Tutorial - Broward County Guardianship Association

Florida Courts eFiling Portal
Florida Courts eFiling Portal
17 th Judicial Circuit Smart Forms

System Requirements
User Registration
Administrator Management
Submitting your filing
Notifications
Smart forms
Support

Internet Connection and Browser
• Firefox and Internet Explorer work fine
Scanner: any relatively recent model
• Recommended: self-feedingfeeding one
Adobe Reader and/or MS Word
• Recommended: Adobe Pro
Microsoft Word
• Needed if you do not have Adobe Pro

Visit www.myflcourtaccess.com to register an
account.
Currently, only Florida Bar registered attorneys
can register to use the portal
◦ Judges, Paralegals, Self-represented litigants
addressed by sub-committee of efiling authority
You can associate three email addresses with
one account.
Create an inbox rule in outlook so you
don’t miss any notifications!

Probate, Trust, Guardianship, Mental Health
(including involuntary commitment cases)
More than one ‘lead document’ on a single
case
All supporting documentation, exhibits must
be included in the file you upload as the lead
document.

No follow up filing for Broward except for the
following original i documents:
◦ Last Will and Testament for estate cases;
◦ Last Will and Testament deposited with the Clerk;
◦ Pre-need Guardian Declarations;
◦ Bonds;
◦ Death certificates;
◦ Returns of service;
◦ Documents ordered by the Court; and
◦ Oi Original i ldocuments required dby law or rule of
procedure to be filed with the Clerk (17 th Judicial
Circuit Administrative Order Number 2011-26-PRC ).

You have two options for eFiling: Existing Case or New
Case
Broward County is not supporting Simple E-
Filing so you will not find Broward in the county
drop down menu.

Choose the Court
type and select case
type.
The sub types will
relate to the case
type you select.

You will be prompted to enter a case number for existing cases.
The Portal will pull case and party information and populate this
page immediately.
Case number format is CaSe SeNsItIvE!

For New Cases:
You must add parties.
The system will indicate
which parties are required.
The parties will auto populate on existing cases. Do not
enter parties on existing cases, even if the party you
are filing on behalf of does not appear in the list.

Select the Role of your Party.
◦ “Primary Party”: ward, decedent, d etc.
◦ “Filed on behalf of”: the payor (used by the Portal in the
event a refund must be issued)
You may also search registered filers and add them
as parties.

You can serve parties via the Portal. Just select electronic under
service options and they will receive an email with the PDF document
attached.

Select Add Document

Choose Document Group ‘All’ and then find the pleading you
are filing. You can press a key to jump to that letter of the alphabet.
Upload your document.
Acceptable document
formats are PDF and
MS Word.

The document
will appear in the
list. You can add
more lead
documents to
this case by
selecting Add
Document again.
Attachments, supporting documentation and proposed orders
, pp g p p
Must be included in the same file. Please make sure to create
PDFs as pages rather than “run-on” documents.

Adobe Pro Required
Merge multiple PDF files on your computer into one
without printing and scanning
Demo!
Open the first PDF that you want to include and select
‘File.’ From that menu, select ‘Create PDF.’ From that
menu, select ‘From multiple files.’
You will be prompted to select the additional PDF files that
you want to include, i.e. supporting attachments, exhibits
and proposed orders, letters.
You can arrange the order of the documents by selecting
the document and either drag/drop or move it up and
down in the list with the buttons.
Don’t forget to check off the box marked ‘Include all open
PDFs’

Enter Payment Information. You can save credit card information.
Acceptable Payment Types: Mastercard, Amex, Discover, ACH.
No VISA.
Review the filing and Submit.
You can verify the file name(s) of your document(s) at the bottom of
the review page prior to submitting the filing.

You will receive two emails.
◦ The first will indicate successful transmission of your
document to the Portal/Clerk.
◦ The second will notify you of the Clerk’s action, i.e.
acceptance or rejection.
Your filing log will be updated.
You will be able to view the document from your
filing log the following business day.
If you do not receive notification of the
acceptance or rejection within 24 hours of
submission, send an email to
efiling@browardclerk.org fl l with the reference
number of your filing in the subject line.

Documents submitted for more than one case.
Case style referenced incorrect jurisdiction.
i
Documents filed as new case relate to an existing
case.
The case/cause number on the document was
incorrect.
Cover letter preceded lead document.
The document cannot be eFiled.
Resubmit unsigned, proposed order as an
attachment with a letter or motion as lead
document.

Rejected at request of filer.
Scanning requirements not met: 8.5” x 11”,
scanned right-side id up, 300 dpi resolution,
and in sequence.
Social security or bank account number
included more than last 4 digits.

Documents were not signed with “/s/John
Doe” or by hand and scanned.
Additional i case parties were added.
d
Filing requires Probate and Guardianship
Smart Form available at
www.17th.flcourts.org/court.
Confidential documents submitted without
proper notice.
Fee waiver rejected.

Submit request to the Clerk’s office for true
and certified copies
◦ Enhancement request

Initial Guardianship Plan
Simplified Annual Accounting
Employee Statement With A Fiduciary Obligation To A
Ward
Annual Guardianship Investigation Checklist - Non
Professional
Annual Guardianship Investigation Checklist -
Professional
Professional Guardianship Checklist - Additional i Appointments
Petition For Order Authorizing Payment Of Attorney's
Fee And Expenses
Petition For Order Authorizing Payment Of
Compensation And Expenses Of Guardian
Other forms will be added as they are developed.

Coming soon!
◦ Annual Plan
◦ Application for Appointment as Guardian
◦ Corporate Guardian Disclosure Statement
◦ Initial Inventory
◦ Annual Accounting

Access via 17 th Judicial Circuit Website
(Probate eFiling)
Select form from list presented
Financial forms will calculate
Fill in all fields
◦ Case number format PRCYYNNNNNNN no P-RC-YY-
NNNNNNN
◦ Division is a number entry
• Grossman 60
• Greene 61
• Speiser 62

After you finish, review the form for errors (mistakes must be
Corrected at this level) and then press ‘Save.’ This will submit
your data to the Court.
Step One

You will see a prompt indicating document was saved successfully.
Alternatively, the form will prompt you to correct errors or omissions.
Step Two
After you save the document, press PDF to create the PDF form.
Once the PDF is created, you must refresh the web form to create
a new form or change an entry.

A PDF of the form will open up in your browser. Use the menu
to save and print the form.

The bar code on the lower right corner of the first page is
used by the Court to identify and activate the previously
stored data.

The use of “/s/John Doe” is still supported.
Can also sign, scan & upload.
Must maintain originals minimum of one (1)
year after final disposition i i and time for
appeal of the case.
No eFiling certification clause necessary.

Registration issues or technical problems with
Florida Courts ePortal: send an email to
support@myflcourtaccess.com
Did not receive notification of clerk action: send
an email to efiling@browardclerk.org with your
reference number in the subject line
Questions about clerk action: contact Allison
Woodham at 954-831-7331
Smart Form or general questions: send an email
efileinfo@17th.flcourts.org or call Christin
Gallardo at 954-831-6340

www.17th.flcourts.org Probate eFiling web
page
www.browardclerk.org
www.myflcourtaccess.com Filer
documentation link at bottom of page

The 17
th Judicial Circuit and Broward Clerk of Court
thank you for your continued support of our eFiling efforts.