Current through December 29, 2025 · Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 10 governs pleadings — where they are filed, what contact information they must carry, how a party at risk can withhold it, and filing by fax.
(a)All pleadings filed in office of the circuit clerk. — All pleadings shall be filed in the office of the circuit clerk. The filing of pleadings prepared without the assistance of counsel, including legible handwritten pleadings, shall be permitted.
(b)Identifying information required; circumstances in which identifying information may be withheld. — All pleadings, forms, and document filings shall include the name, address, telephone number and state bar identification number of counsel; or if the party is self- represented, the party's contact information such as name, address, and a telephone number at which the party can be reached during normal business hours. Upon the filing of an affidavit asserting that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be put at risk by the disclosure of identifying information, or upon a finding by the court, which may be made ex parte, that such a risk may exist, such information shall be withheld from all persons except court personnel.
(c)Service when a party's identifying information has been sealed in the file. — When a party's identifying information has been sealed in the case file, and the opposing party needs to make service on the party whose identifying information has been sealed in the case file, the party seeking to serve a pleading shall direct the circuit clerk to make service. Service shall be made by the circuit clerk upon a party whose identifying information has been sealed in the case file.
(d)Proposed parenting plans. — Parenting plans proposed by the parties are pleadings.
(e)Effect of service on child support enforcement agency. — Service on the child support enforcement agency shall not constitute service on or notice to any other party.
(f)Filing and service by facsimile transmission. — Pleadings and other documents may be filed and served by facsimile transmission pursuant to Trial Court Rule 12.02(b)-(f), 12.03 (a)-(p), and 12.04.
End
Amendment History
[Amended by order adopted November 27, 2001, effective January 1, 2002; and by order entered and effective December 1, 2005.]
Plain-English Summary
All pleadings are filed in the circuit clerk's office, and the rule expressly permits pleadings prepared without counsel, including legible handwritten ones. Self-representation is contemplated rather than tolerated.
Every pleading, form and document filing must carry the name, address, telephone number and state bar identification number of counsel — or, for a self-represented party, the party's name, address and a daytime telephone number. That requirement yields to safety: on an affidavit asserting that disclosure would put the health, safety or liberty of a party or child at risk, or on the court's own finding that such a risk may exist (which may be made ex parte), the information is withheld from everyone except court personnel.
Sealing the information creates a service problem, and the rule solves it: where a party's identifying information has been sealed, the opposing party directs the circuit clerk to make service, and the clerk serves that party.
Three shorter provisions round it out. Parenting plans proposed by the parties are pleadings. Service on the child support enforcement agency does not constitute service on or notice to anyone else. And pleadings and other documents may be filed and served by facsimile under the Trial Court Rules provisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are handwritten pleadings accepted?
Yes. The filing of pleadings prepared without the assistance of counsel, including legible handwritten pleadings, is permitted.
What contact information must a pleading contain?
Counsel's name, address, telephone number and state bar identification number — or, for a self-represented party, name, address and a telephone number at which the party can be reached during normal business hours.
Can a party keep their address off the pleadings?
Yes, on an affidavit asserting that disclosure would risk the health, safety or liberty of a party or child, or on the court's own finding — which may be made ex parte — that such a risk may exist. The information is then withheld from all persons except court personnel.
How is service made when the address is sealed?
The party seeking to serve directs the circuit clerk to make service, and the clerk serves the party whose information is sealed.
Is a proposed parenting plan a pleading?
Yes. Rule 10(d) states that parenting plans proposed by the parties are pleadings.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official West Virginia Rules of Practice and Procedure for Family Court (W. Va. R. Prac. & P. Fam. Ct. 10). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (W. Va. Const. art. VIII, § 3). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
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