Me. R. Prob. P. 92.7

As amended through November 25, 2024

Rule 92.7 - Format of Documents

(a) Automatic rejection. An electronically filed document will be automatically rejected by the electronic filing system without acknowledgement of receipt if it:

(1) Is not created, saved in, or converted to TIFF, PDF, or PDF/A;

(2) Is larger than 10 MB, unless it is filed in segments no larger than 10 MB; or

(3) Contains a virus detected by the Electronic Filing System.

(b) Review by court staff. An electronically filed document that has not been rejected by the electronic filing system pursuant to (a) will be accepted by court staff as provided in Rule 92.5(e) only if:

(1) It has been formatted as required by the applicable rules of procedure and is clearly legible in the electronic format in which it is filed; and

(2) Any password protection or other security device has been removed.

(c) Nonelectronically filed documents. A nonelectronically filed document must be clearly legible, with all text visible and dark enough to be readable on a scanned image.

Me. R. Prob. P. 92.7

Adopted April 13, 2012, effective 5/1/2012.

Advisory Committee Note - November 2011

Rule 92.7 addresses the required formatting for electronically and nonelectronically filed documents. The court-authorized service provider for the pilot program is Icon Software Corporation hosting through www.maineprobate.net. The service provider requires that documents which are uploaded to the site meet certain technological requirements.

Subdivision (a) mandates that uploaded documents be free of viruses, no larger than 10 MB, and in either a PDF, PDF/A, or a TIFF format. Encouraging use of the open standard PDF format ensures that electronically filed documents will retain maximum search functionality and electronic filers will have ready access to conversion programs. Screening for compliance with subdivision (a) will be accomplished by the service provider software.

Subdivision (b) imposes the additional conditions that electronically filed documents be legible in the electronic format in which they are filed and otherwise comply with all applicable rules of procedure. Subdivision (b)(2) also requires that electronically filed documents be free of any password protection that might interfere with the electronic filing functionality. Screening for compliance with Subdivision (b) will be accomplished by court staff.

Subdivision (c) sets forth the requirements for filing nonelectronic documents. Like electronically filed documents, nonelectronically filed documents must be legible and otherwise comply with the applicable rules of procedure. In addition, they must be printed on only one side of white paper and be free of staples, barcodes, or exhibit tabs that might otherwise interfere with the scanning process.