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Massachusetts Pleading Paper Template

Massachusetts has no statewide rule fixing margins, font, or paper size for civil filings. Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 governs only the caption: court, county, title of action, docket number, and Rule 7(a) designation. Format is set by each court's standing rules.

Introduction

Massachusetts does not use numbered-line pleading paper, and it has no single statewide rule fixing margins, font, or paper size for civil filings. The governing form rule, Mass. R. Civ. P. 10, controls only the caption and the structure of pleadings. Under Rule 10 every pleading must contain a caption setting forth the name of the court, the county, the title of the action, the docket number, and a designation as in Rule 7(a). In the complaint the title names all parties; other pleadings may name the first party on each side. Rule 10 also permits text to appear on both sides of the page. Beyond that, the physical format that controls whether a clerk accepts your filing, such as margin width, type size, and paper quality, comes from the standing and uniform rules of the specific court department where you file (Superior Court, District Court, Probate and Family Court, Land Court, or Housing Court), not from Rule 10. A filing with a defective caption, or one that ignores the local court's own format order, can be rejected or returned. This page explains what Rule 10 actually requires and where the rest of the format comes from, so you do not treat a local rule as statewide or guess at a number Rule 10 never sets. DocDraft drafts your document on properly formatted Massachusetts court format from your facts, with attorney review available before you file.

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Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    Massachusetts is not a numbered-line pleading-paper state. Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 governs the caption and pleading structure, not a line-numbered left margin.

  2. 2

    Under Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 the caption must set forth the name of the court, the county, the title of the action, the docket number, and a designation as in Rule 7(a).

  3. 3

    In the complaint the title of the action names all parties; in later pleadings you may name the first party on each side with an appropriate indication of the others (Mass. R. Civ. P. 10).

  4. 4

    Rule 10 expressly permits text on both sides of the page: the text of any document may appear on both sides.

  5. 5

    Margins, font, type size, paper size, and line spacing are not fixed by Rule 10. They are set by the standing or uniform rules of the specific Massachusetts court department where you file.

  6. 6

    Electronic filing is governed by the Massachusetts Rules of Electronic Filing and rolls out court-by-court and case-type-by-case-type through the Trial Court eFileMA system, not by a single statewide Rule 10 mandate.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Pleading Paper in Massachusetts, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Pleading Paper guide walks through them.

Open the Pleading Paper guide

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COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS [COURT DEPARTMENT, e.g. SUPERIOR COURT DEPARTMENT]

[COUNTY], ss. DOCKET NO. [NUMBER]

[PLAINTIFF NAME], Plaintiff,

v. [TITLE OF DOCUMENT]

[DEFENDANT NAME], Defendant.

[Caption per Mass. R. Civ. P. 10: name of the court, the county, the title of the action, the docket number, and a designation as in Rule 7(a).]

[Body: margins, font, type size, paper size, and line spacing are set by the standing or uniform rules of the court department where this document is filed, not by Rule 10. Text may appear on both sides of the page.]

Respectfully submitted,

[SIGNATURE] [NAME / BBO NUMBER if attorney] [ADDRESS] [TELEPHONE] [EMAIL]

Dated: [DATE]

Massachusetts Requirements for Pleading Paper

Caption contents

Under Mass. R. Civ. P. 10, the caption must set forth the name of the court, the county, the title of the action, the docket number, and a designation as in Rule 7(a).

Party names in the title

In the complaint the title of the action names all parties; in other pleadings the first party on each side may be named with an appropriate indication of the others (Mass. R. Civ. P. 10).

Double-sided text permitted

Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 permits the text of any document to appear on both sides of the page. Rule 10 does not otherwise state paper size or quality.

Margins, font, and spacing are local

Margins, font, type size, paper size, and line spacing are not fixed by Rule 10. They are set by the standing or uniform rules of the specific court department where you file, so confirm that court's rules before filing.

Electronic filing

Electronic filing is governed by the Massachusetts Rules of Electronic Filing and rolls out court-by-court and case-type-by-case-type through the Trial Court eFileMA system. Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 cross-references compliance with those rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Massachusetts has no statewide margin requirement. Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 sets only the caption and does not fix margin width. The required margin is set by the standing or uniform rules of the specific court department where the document is filed, so check that court's own rules.

No. Massachusetts does not use numbered-line pleading paper. Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 requires a caption with the court name, county, title of the action, docket number, and a Rule 7(a) designation, but it does not require consecutively numbered lines down the left margin.

Under Mass. R. Civ. P. 10, every pleading must contain a caption setting forth the name of the court, the county, the title of the action, the docket number, and a designation as in Rule 7(a). The complaint's title names all parties; later pleadings may name the first party on each side.

Yes. Mass. R. Civ. P. 10 provides that the text of any document may appear on both sides of the page. Other physical specifications, such as paper size and quality, are set by the standing rules of the specific court department rather than by Rule 10.