The state rules are in the California guide. This page covers San Francisco: a single city and county, a court that groups family and juvenile matters in one division, and clients who often live outside the city.
One city, one county
The City's own site refers to the City and County of San Francisco. A San Francisco page does not need to list towns the way a Los Angeles or San Diego page does. It needs to be precise about the court, the division, and the building.
The search area is still wider than the city. Clients who live in neighboring counties go to their own county's superior court, so a firm serving them needs pages with those courts' facts, such as the San Jose market guide for Santa Clara County.
Getting the court facts right
The Superior Court of San Francisco lists four locations: the Civic Center Courthouse at 400 McAllister Street, the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant Street, the Polk Street Annex at 575 Polk Street, and the Juvenile Justice Center at 375 Woodside Avenue.
The court's probate page says probate matters are heard at the Civic Center Courthouse in Department 204. Its Unified Family Court page lists divorce, legal separation, nullity, parentage, domestic violence restraining orders, and support orders, along with juvenile dependency and juvenile justice matters, with family matters at 400 McAllister Street, Room 402. A page that says "family court" without naming the Unified Family Court misses the term the court itself uses.
Where San Francisco differs
Most California markets ask you to decide which cities and courthouses a page covers. In San Francisco, the decision is which division. Estate and family pages can be precise about one building, which makes them easy to verify and easy to quote.
What we build for San Francisco firms
- Practice-area pages that name the Unified Family Court and the probate department accurately
- Separate pages for neighboring counties only where you take those clients
- Answer posts for the questions San Francisco clients ask before they call
See the estate planning guide and the family law guide, and read what an answer-first practice-area page looks like.
Common questions
Where is probate heard in San Francisco?
The Superior Court of San Francisco says probate matters are heard at the Civic Center Courthouse, 400 McAllister Street, Department 204. Confirm current details on the court's site before publishing.
Should a San Francisco firm publish pages for clients in other counties?
Only where you take those matters. Each county has its own superior court, so those pages need that court's names and locations, not the San Francisco facts.