What happens to saved forms that have been revised by subsequent updates? The Essential Forms program performs several automatic processes when you install a new update. When you re-open a form that’s been revised by the Judicial Council or by the local Superior Court, you may experience one of the following:

 If the saved form is still current, or if its revision did not affect its data fields, it will simply be loaded and displayed.

 If the saved form is no longer valid, Essential Forms will notify you that the form is obsolete and it will open in read-only mode. You can read and copy text you’ve entered on this form to the Windows clipboard, but the form can no longer be edited. If you print this form it will be watermarked as “OBSOLETE” in order to prevent its accidental filing.

 If the form is not obsolete, but the revision has added, removed, or resized its data fields, it is possible that the saved form’s data no longer matches the field structure of the revised form. In this case Essential Forms will inform you of this situation. You may load this form but it is likely that some of the saved data will be truncated, appear in the incorrect field, etc.

 In either of the last two cases, our recommendation is to click on the Forms Library tab, find and open a blank copy.