Nearly half of all cases in the Family Court are started by unrepresented litigants, people who have not paid a lawyer to help them and who are not eligible for Legal Aid.
So getting your paperwork in order to start a case on your own should be easy right? People do it all the time!
You would think so, but unfortunately, there is a lot about the Family Court that is not as easy as it should be.
The Court now requires you to submit up to 7 forms plus supporting documents to get your case started right – and that’s just for a parenting case.
What do I need?
Every parenting case needs a Form 1 Application and a Case Information Affidavit. Depending on your circumstances, you may also need a Form 4 Notice, an Exemption from FDR form, a Fee Exemption Application (and there are two kinds), and you may need further affidavits or letters to the Court. You will also need a copy of your marriage certificate or birth certificat of the child, and you may need up to $470 to pay the filing fee.
And a lot of these forms require you to put in the same basic information over and over again – names, addresses, dates of birth. Plus, the formatting of these forms can be frustrating with sections moving as you type and things going
It can be nearly impossible to navigate without help.
And now that help is here.
Drawing on my experience as a lawyer with access to documents automation and practice management software that makes this whole process of drafting so much simpler, I started to wonder why this kind of thing couldn’t be made available to self-represented parties. Well, turns out, it can!
Documents Done is a comprehensive tool that will:
- provide you with a checklist of all forms and supporting documents you will need to start your case;
- tell you whether any exemptions for fees may apply to you;
- produce a fully editable Microsoft Word version of all the Court forms you need;
- automatically fill in the basic details about you, the other party and the children across all the forms, saving you time, energy and frustration;
- highlight the places where you need to fill in details about your case.
And if you need more help than that, we can provide you with guidance about how to conduct FDR, guidance on drafting your documents and instructions on how to sign, file and serve your documents, all accessible online 24/7, so you can complete your paperwork at your own pace.
It’s all available in our Online Course, which also includes access to the Documents Done system.
Want to Learn more?
Check out the Documents Done system, and our Courses on the Tools Page
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