How to Label Exhibits for Child Custody Court (With Free Cover Sheets)

You’ve picked the evidence for your custody hearing. Now it needs numbers, labels and matching copies, and every instruction you find on how to label exhibits for child custody court seems to disagree. Numbers or letters? Where does the sticker go? What do you do with a 40-page text thread, a full-page photo, or a video on your phone?

Labeling feels like busywork, but in a courtroom everyone refers to exhibits by number. Clean, consistent labels let the judge, the other parent and any witness turn to the exact page you mean in seconds, instead of watching you shuffle paper on a hearing clock that may already be short. This guide walks through the whole process, with free printable cover sheets and labels you can download below.

What do your court’s rules say about labeling exhibits?

Check first, because numbering systems, label formats and pre-marking rules vary from court to court, and sometimes from judge to judge. Ten minutes of checking can save you from relabeling a binder the night before your hearing.

Look in your hearing notice or scheduling order, your court’s local rules, any courtroom procedures your judge publishes, and the forms page of your court’s website. If you can’t find an answer, ask the clerk or the self-help center. Find out:

• Does each side use numbers, letters, or numbers with a prefix?
• Should exhibits be marked before the hearing, or will the clerk mark them?
• Is there a required label format, color or cover sheet?
• How many copies of each exhibit should you bring, and when must you exchange them?
• How should digital, video and audio exhibits be submitted?

Which numbering system should you use?

The one your court uses. If nothing tells you, a simple numbered sequence with a clear prefix for your side is easy to follow. Whatever you choose, use it from the first exhibit to the last.

• Number in the order you’ll present. It makes the hearing and your exhibit list easier to follow.
• Don’t skip numbers. A gap invites the question of what happened to the missing exhibit.
• Add, don’t renumber. If you add something after exchanging exhibits, many people use a suffix, such as 7A. Ask whether your court accepts that.

How to label exhibits for child custody court: labels and cover sheets

Keep the label short: which party, the exhibit number and the case number. Put it on the first page where it covers no content, often the bottom right corner. When there’s no blank space, or the exhibit needs a short explanation, use a cover sheet placed in front instead.

The basics of how to label exhibits for court are the same in any family case, so our free template gives you both: a full-page cover sheet and a sheet of cut-out exhibit labels, with a short numbering guide.

How to fill in the cover sheet, field by field

• Court name and case number: copy them exactly as they appear on your court papers.
• Exhibit number: the number or letter from your exhibit list, nothing else.
• Offered by: check Petitioner or Respondent, whichever you are in this case.
• Description: a short, neutral description of what the item is, not what it proves. “Text messages about weekend exchanges,” not “Texts showing she always cancels.”
• Date(s): the date or date range of the item itself, not the day you printed it.
• Pages: the total page count, so anyone can confirm their copy is complete.
• Identified by (witness): the person who can testify about what the item is, usually you.

Put descriptions on the cover sheet or your exhibit list, never on the sticker itself, and never place a sticker over a date, a signature or part of a photo. Your exhibit numbers must match your list exactly; our guide to making an exhibit list for family court shows the columns.

How do you label multi-page exhibits, photos and records?

One exhibit number on the first page (or cover sheet), and a page number on every page, so anyone can turn to “Exhibit 4, page 3” without guessing.

• Page numbers: write or print “4-3” or “Ex. 4, p. 3 of 12” in the same spot on every page.
• Bates numbers: a running number on every page of every exhibit, like P-000001 through P-000187, useful when you have many pages. See Bates numbering for family court.
• Keep each exhibit separate. Staple or clip each one on its own, and keep long text or email threads in date order.

Photos, certified records and physical items

Print one photo per page where you can, with the label in the margin or on a cover sheet, not on the image. If several photos share a page, give each a sub-label, such as 6A and 6B. Don’t take apart or put stickers over the seal or certification page of school, medical or government records; use a cover sheet in front instead. For a physical item, like a note your child brought home, ask the clerk how your court handles it, bring a photo of it too, and expect that the court may keep an admitted item.

How many copies do you need, and how do you keep them matched?

Commonly one set for the court, one for the other side, one for the witness stand, and your own working set. Check your court’s number, and make sure every set matches exactly.

1. Finalize the order and numbers. Match them against your exhibit list one last time.
2. Label and page-number the original set. Labeling first, then copying, puts every label in the same place in every set.
3. Copy the labeled set to make each additional set.
4. Count pages in every set. A missing page in the judge’s copy can stall your presentation.
5. Separate and mark the sets with tabs or folders: “Court,” “Other party,” “Witness,” “Mine.”
6. Mark up only your own set. Highlights and sticky notes go there and nowhere else.

For where each set goes and how to tab it, see our guide to building a trial binder for family court.

How do you label digital exhibits for e-filing or a Zoom hearing?

The file name does the job of the sticker. Start each file name with the exhibit number, add the date and a short description, and put the label on the first page of the PDF too, so it’s visible when the file is shared on screen.

• Zero-pad the numbers (01, 02 … 10) and write dates as year-month-day so files sort correctly on any computer.
• One exhibit per file, unless your court wants a single combined PDF, in which case add bookmarks named by exhibit number.
• Check size and format limits for your court’s upload system well before the deadline.
• For video and audio, name the file the same way and include a one-page description with the timestamps that matter.

Remote hearings add steps like screen-sharing and sending files ahead of time; our tips for virtual court hearings cover them. If you can’t get a clear answer about your court’s requirements from the clerk, a short consultation with a licensed attorney where you live can settle it before your deadline.

Labeling by hand vs. letting Evidence Helper number your exhibits

Doing this by hand in Word takes hours: typing each cover sheet, stamping page numbers, naming files, then redoing labels when you add two exhibits the week before the hearing. Evidence Helper handles the numbering for you. You upload your screenshots, photos and documents (originals are preserved untouched), set the date each item happened, tag it and map it to the issues in your case, then export one court-ready PDF that is exhibit-numbered, case-captioned and SHA-256-hashed, along with a matching Evidence Index. When something changes, you update the item and export again instead of retyping cover sheets.

Every account starts with a 14-day free trial of everything, no credit card. After that, the free tier keeps one case and 10 evidence items with a watermarked export, and paid plans get a clean one.

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