Providing the Ontario Court Forms in Word gives your firm the flexibility to make changes to these forms prior to filing with the Ontario Courts, reducing the possibility that your Court Forms will be rejected.
You now have full control to change the font, font size, margins, bolding, page breaks, etc. in the Word version of the Court Forms. Best of all, if different courts have different formatting requirements, you can make these changes on your own.
Furthermore, by providing the Court Forms in Word instead of PDF, DoProcess can release the forms more quickly without requiring a version update to the program.
The decision to release the Ontario Court Forms in Estate-a-Base in Microsoft Word only was made during discussions with the Ministry of the Attorney General, after recent rejections of some Estate-a-Base generated PDF forms by the Ontario Courts due to font size.
The Ontario Courts are no longer updating the PDF Court Forms on the Rules of Civil Procedure Forms page. They are updating the PDF forms on their Pre-formatted, Fillable Estates Forms page; however, not all forms are available.
The PDF Ontario Court Forms that are available on the Pre-formatted, Fillable Estates Forms page are limited as follows:
- Longer names in text boxes will be truncated, causing them to appear in a font size other than 12 point
- No flexibility in editing the PDF
- Information is limited to the number of input boxes that are available, for example:
- Up to three aka names of the deceased
- Up to two Applicants signing Affidavits
- No ability to attach schedules or additional Affidavits easily
- Page numbers for additional pages are not added
No, unfortunately the old PDF technology and the new OLE technology do not allow for the sharing of data. You will have to make your selections again on the selected Word Court Form.
Yes, all previously generated PDF Court Forms will be saved for your record. Simply click on the 
icon and select the 
icon. A list of all previously generated PDF Court Forms will be present.
You will need Word version 2013 or higher.
No, the Ontario Courts do not supply the Court Forms in WordPerfect. They are provided only in Word and that is the model that DoProcess has followed. We strongly recommend that you purchase Word to take advantage of the flexibility of these Forms.
No, the free Doc Viewer does not support the OLE Automation which allows additional information to be entered and populated on the Court Form prior to producing the document. This is similar functionality as in the PDF Forms today.
No, a commitment has been made that the Court Forms will be released over a four-month period in Word only and that the Ontario Courts Services would continue to accept our forms until such time as all Court Forms can be released in Word. If you do not upgrade to the latest version of Estate‑a‑Base, you risk the PDF Forms being rejected by the Ontario Court Services.
Yes, you can continue to use WordPerfect for all other DoProcess programs and for producing documents from the Assets/Accounting and the Tasks tabs. At this stage, only the Ontario Court Forms are required to be produced in Word.
Court Forms are provided in Arial font, 12 point, with the left-hand margin set to 40 mm, in accordance with Rule 4 of the Rules of Civil Procedures.
Rule 4 of the rules of Civil Procedure states that every document in a proceeding shall have a Backsheet. We have also confirmed this rule with the Ministry of Attorney General. We have heard from a few users that some Courts do not require a Backsheet for every Court Form as a way to reduce waste. If you are dealing with a Court that does not require a Backsheet for every Form, simply do not print the Backsheet.