Rule 311.Forms
Last amended May 1, 2012 · Last verified July 1, 2026
Full Text of Rule 311
Advisory Committee Comments
Advisory Committee Comment—2008 Amendments
The responsibility for forms development and review is being handed off to the state court administrator to permit more effective forms management and review. This process is already followed for the expedited process. Gen. R. Prac. 379.02.
Advisory Committee Comment—2012 Amendments
Rule 311 establishes that court-established forms for family matters are deemed sufficient under the rules. These specific forms are not required to be used, but they contain what is required and are therefore appropriate for use.
These rules direct the state court administrator to develop various forms: See Rules 303.02(b) (Parenting/Financial Disclosure Statement); 303.03(c) (Certificate of Settlement Efforts); 304.02(Initial Case Management Statement); 305.01(Parenting/Financial Disclosure Statement); and 306.01 (Default Scheduling Request). By maintaining the forms on the courts’ website they can be readily updated and distributed to all potential users.
Amendment History
- (Amended effective May 1, 2012.)
Plain-English Summary
Rule 311 is short on purpose. It doesn't tell litigants which form to use for which motion — the other rules in this title do that — it just confirms that whatever form the state court administrator has published for a given purpose is good enough to satisfy the rules.
That matters because so many other family court rules point to a form without spelling out every detail the form itself covers: the Parenting and Financial Disclosure Statement, the Certificate of Settlement Efforts, the Scheduling Statement, and the Default Scheduling Request all exist because the state court administrator built them, not because a rule dictates their exact wording. Rule 311 is what makes relying on those standard forms legally sound.
Keeping the forms on the state court website also keeps them current — the administrator can update a form without amending a rule. And because access to a form shouldn't depend on where in the state a case is filed, every judicial district has to make the current forms available to the public at a reasonable cost, not just to lawyers who already know where to look.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the state's standard family court forms required by Rule 311?
Rule 311 does not require using them, but it confirms that the forms the state court administrator publishes satisfy these rules whenever a party chooses to use one.
Where can someone find official Minnesota family court forms?
On the state court website, where the state court administrator maintains and updates them.
Does every judicial district have to provide these forms?
Yes. Each judicial district's court administrators must make the forms available to the public at a reasonable cost.
Who decides what a Minnesota family court form looks like?
The state court administrator, rather than the text of an individual rule.
Why do so many family court rules refer to a form instead of describing its contents?
Because Rule 311 lets those rules point to whatever standard form the state court administrator has published, instead of dictating the form's exact wording themselves.
Task Force Comment--1991 Adoption
This rule is derived from existing Rule 10.01 of the Rules of Family Court Procedure.