New York State Unified Court System
NYSCEF: Unrepresented Litigants

Caption Information

NYSCEF asks you to type in the names of the all the parties exactly like they are written in the caption on the papers. But the boxes in NYSCEF may not let you fill in the caption the right way in some case types where the caption is different, like in a special proceeding or name change case. Look at the examples below. If you still don't know what to type, contact the Resource Center.

Name Changes
NYSCEF will not let you continue to the next screen if you do not type in at least one other party. In a name change case there are no other parties in the case. To continue in NYSCEF, you need to type in the caption information in the boxes asking for the party names. For example, let's say you want to enter the caption:

"In the Matter of the Application of Edna Smith, aka Eddie Smith, For Leave to Assume the Name of Riley Smith"

  1. In the box for Person's First Name under Plainiffs/Petitioners, type: In the Matter of the Application of Edna
  2. In the box for Last Name, type: Smith
  3. Click on the Add Other Name/Status box
  4. In the Other Name/Status box type aka Eddie Smith
  5. In the box for Person's First Name under Defendants/Respondents, type: For Leave to Change Name to Riley
  6. In the box for Last Name type: Smith

The next NYSCEF screen will show you the caption as you typed it. It won't be perfect. But it should have the information that you need the court to have.

Special Proceeding
NYSCEF does not leave space for you to fill in information besides the party names. In order to give NYSCEF all the information in the caption, type the information in the boxes asking for the party names. For example, let's say you want to enter the caption:

"In the Matter of the Application of John Smith, Petitioner, to Take the Deposition on Oral Questions of Michael Smith, Respondent"

  1. In the box for Person's First Name under Plainiffs/Petitioners, type: In the Matter of the Application of John
  2. In the box for Last Name, type: Smith
  3. In the box for Person's First Name under Defendants/Respondents, type: to Take the Deposition on Oral Questions of Michael
  4. In the box for Last Name type: Smith

The next NYSCEF screen will show you the caption as you typed it. It won't be perfect. But it should have the information that you need the court to have.