Rule 1930.1 - Electronic Filing In Family Division Matters(a) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of this rule, parties may file legal papers, including original process, with the Prothonotary by means of electronic filing in any Family Division matter or proceeding brought in this court. In general, any legal paper which can be filed in hard copy directly with the Prothonotary, and without first processing through Family Division, may be filed electronically. Note: A "legal paper" as used in this rule means a pleading or other paper filed in any Family Division action.
(b) The following legal papers, must be filed in accordance with established procedure for filing hard copy documents and may not be filed with the Prothonotary by means of electronic filing: (1) Legal papers relating to Protection From Abuse matters which must be processed with the PFA Office in Family Division before they can be filed.(2) Legal papers relating to custody, partial custody or visitation matters which must be processed through the Generations office before they can be filed.(3) Legal papers relating to spousal or child support must be processed through Family Division before they can be filed.(4) Legal papers relating to divorce which contain or address counts or counterclaims for support, alimony pendente lite, alimony or custody, partial custody and visitation, must be processed through the offices to which reference is made in (1), (2) or (3) of this subsection. Note : Divorce pleadings which do not include or address any of the counts enumerated above may be filed electronically, including but not limited to, 3301(c) or 3301(d) affidavits of consent, 3301(c) or 3301(d) counter-affidavits, waiver of notice of intention to request entry of a decree, notice of intention to request a divorce decree, and praecipe to transmit the record.
(5) Any and all legal papers which must be presented to a Family Division judge in motions before filing with the Prothonotary. (c) The filing party shall maintain the original hard copy of any legal paper that is electronically filed.(d) The Prothonotary shall provide electronic access at all times. The time and date of the filing and receipt shall be that registered by the Prothonotary's computer system.(e) The web site address of the Prothonotary is as follows: Prothonotary.County.Allegheny.PA.US.(f) Access to the web site shall be available to an attorney by use of the attorney's Supreme Court identification number issued by the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania. Access is also available to any user by the user selecting any numbers or letters that the user wishes to use as an identification number.(g) The Prothonotary shall maintain an electronic and a hard copy file for the legal papers described in the first sentence of section (a).(h) Procedures for payment of the fees and costs of the Prothonotary shall be set forth on the Prothonotary's web site.(i) The Prothonotary shall provide a filing status message to the filing party setting forth the date of and time of acceptance of the filing or the fact that the filing has not been accepted. A legal paper is not considered filed if the Prothonotary responds to the filing by notifying the filing party that the filing party has not (i) maintained sufficient funds to pay the fees and costs described in subsection (h), or(ii) authorized payment by credit or debit card of these fees and costs. Adopted January 18, 2001, effective 30 days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.A filing party accepts the risk that a document filed by means of electronic filing may not be properly or timely filed with the Prothonotary. See Pa.R.C.P. 205.4(e)(2). One of the risks is that the Prothonotary-either correctly or incorrectly-determines that the filing party has not met its obligation for payment of the necessary fees and costs.