Whether you work at a family law firm or another type of firm, it's easy to obtain family court forms. Many websites offer family legal forms you can download, often free of charge. But before you start downloading family law documents, you need to know how to choose the right forms as well as what you will do with them once you have them.

Many of the same sites that offer online family law legal forms also offer educational and informational resources to ensure that you handle the forms properly. Family law forms education and training resources include:

1. State-specific instructions on choosing family law forms
2. Legal websites designed by lawyers for both legal and non-legal professionals
3. Associations for legal professionals
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn how to use your state's family court forms

Many state court systems offer not only downloadable family court documents, but also online education and resources on how to select and use the forms.

I recommend: The Judicial Council of California offers instructions for many of its downloadable family law forms through its online self-help center. The section includes instructions for specific forms, such as the family court divorce forms, as well as tips for finding the right forms, downloading forms, filling out forms, and handling forms. The Oregon Judicial Department offers several family law form educational resources on its website, including "Resources for the Self-Represented Litigant" and "How to Prepare for Your Divorce, Legal Separation, Custody, or Support Trial."

Turn to legal websites that offer both forms and advice on filing family court documents

There are several legal websites created by lawyers that offer both legal advice and forms to download, including everything from self-help divorce forms to free online prenuptial forms. Sites like these are ideal for small businesses or small law firms, because you can purchase only the number of forms you need.

I recommend: At FindLaw's family law center, get general family law information and advice, and purchase forms or packages of forms. Nolo, a legal publisher, offers family law education and information and family law forms on its website, in addition to several books and how-to guides.

Seek family law forms advice from legal organizations

Many legal associations offer advice on selecting, filing, and serving family court documents, with sections on their websites both for legal professionals and for consumers.

I recommend: The National Association of Professional Process Servers recommends books, CDs, and audio cassettes at the education section of its website. You can also learn about family law and family law forms at the American Bar Association. The ABA includes basic family law information on its website, in addition to its magazine "Family Law Quarterly" and a state-by-state guide to family law and family law documents.

A family law firm will help clients with legal relationships between husbands, wives and children. Family court documents are filed in connection with divorce, legal separation, annulments, custody of children, paternity and child support.

For example, the first step in obtaining a divorce is to file a complaint or a petition with a local state court. A divorce form template can be used by a pro se petitioner or plaintiff to help in generating the required document. Such a template may have fields in which you can place the text containing information about your case. Even though a template might be generated by a family law legal forms expert familiar with state law, the template or form may not be accepted by the local court. Also, a state may have up to five different self help divorce forms depending on whether there are children, debts or property. For contested divorces, or more complex divorces, there may be no useful family court divorce forms.

In California and Massachusetts same-sex marriages are allowed, and in many other states and municipalities there are laws concerning domestic partners. Family law documents are needed for domestic partners as well as husbands and wives.

There are a number of ways a pro se litigant can learn how to file family court forms:

1. The local court itself may provide a facilitator or self-help service for individuals, and may provide family law legal forms.
2. Legal aid societies may offer services, especially in cases of domestic violence.
3. The administrators of the state court may, through its website, provide family court forms.
4. Private vendors, sometimes affiliated with family law firms, sell a marriage separation agreement template, self help divorce forms or various family law documents.
5. Online, there are free prenuptial forms and a free child support agreement template.
   

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Get general information about the particular legal issue requiring family court forms

There are a number of websites that give general explanations of issues in family law.

I recommend: The Divorce and Family Center of FindLaw.com has 18 categories of family law. The category "Grandparent Rights" has 6 subcategories which define terms and explains the legal background. "Divorce" has 5 subcategories, each with a number of sub-subcategories allowing you to focus on the aspect of divorce you want information about. The categories are linked to state websites so that you can download, at a cost, various family court forms. Understand Your Legal Issue: Family Law of Lawyers.com has 11 categories and is an equally readable and comprehensive digest of the law.

Download family court documents from vendors of such documents

There are a number of websites that sell individual forms. In the case of self help divorce forms, the divorce form templates come in bundles of 4 or 5 forms, depending on the details of the divorce.

I recommend: Rominger Legal has 5 categories of family court divorce forms, 1 category of prenuptial agreement forms and 2 categories of name-changing forms, all linked to individual states. When you click on the state, you are presented with either a single form or packages of forms. My Divorce Documents.com sells packages for every state.

How to serve family court documents and pleadings

The rules of civil procedures for each state must be followed for a particular court to obtain jurisdiction over a defendant or respondent. This requires service of process or giving legal notice.

I recommend: Service of process usually involves delivering a summons personally. The court's rules must be followed, if not there is a possibility of default by the defendant. The laws are complex, involving such concepts as substituted service, voluntary acceptance of service and service by mail. The National Association of Professional Process Servers has more information. ServeNow.com provides a list of professional process servers state by state. This website also provides a resource link for each state in case you want to avoid the cost of a process server.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  The websites to the administrators of state courts allow family court forms and family law forms to be downloaded free of charge.

Not everyone can afford a family law firm, so locating assistance with family court documents can be difficult for some individuals trying to make their way through the court system. There are, however, many free or low cost document templates that you can take advantage of as well as self-help information guides and assistance centers available in all states.

Family law forms come in all kinds, from prenuptial forms to divorce forms to child support forms. Family law legal forms vary widely not only in type but also from state to state.

To find out more about working with family law forms:

1. Download family court documents from legal metasites.

2. Use family court forms and legal aid help specific to your state.

3. Seek out public assistance to help with your family law forms.

Action Steps
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Work with family court documents and resources from metasites

Choose sites that offer a wide variety of family law forms and resources for your form search tackling. From divorce, to child custody, to medical forms and more, many of these sites offer you free or inexpensive document templates such as a free child support agreement template or family court divorce forms to tailor to your own situation.

I recommend: Use the legal form archive at Internet Legal Research Group to help you find personal law forms to use for your family. Use their documents for estate planning, marital and family, name change, power of attorney and health care. They are in a Word document format that you can edit as needed. LawInfo gives you a wide variety of family law forms from medical forms, to state specific forms to forms split up by family law sub-categories. The documents are also in a Word document format.

Use family court documents and legal aid help specific to your state

Seek out and take advantage of help regarding family court documents and resources through your state's public legal aid and court system. Find out what free resources are available to you or to the people that you help in your community.

I recommend: Look for family law legal forms like those from the West Virginia State Bar. Copy and paste the documents from their site into the text editor of your choice. Use family law documents from the Florida State Courts and resources to assist you in finding the nearest Self-Help Center.

Seek public assistance to help you with your family legal forms

Find out public help is available to help you with your family legal forms and other legal matters. Whether you need assistance receiving your child support payments, are a low-income family or have any other public assistance needs, there are human services, social services, or health and welfare providers available to assist you.

I recommend: Learn more about public assistance from FindLaw. Take advantage of the free legal advice on family law and family law forms from freeadvice.

The field of family law encompasses such areas as divorce, marriage annulment, child custody, child support and alimony. Family law pertains to any area of the law that affects the structure or status of a family. This specialized area of law has paperwork and documentation unique to the field.

It's important to understand the forms and documentation associated with family law when practicing. Forms are used to document court order or to petition for legal action. Learn about some of the key forms used often in family law.

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Community property agreement

A community property agreement is usually used during estate planning. The document verifies that all property is jointly owned by spouses, that all future properties will be equally owned, and that the property will be inherited by the surviving spouse in the event of a spouse's death.

I recommend: Washington lawyer Jennifer C. Rydberg explains how community property agreements help protect your investments and ensure that your wishes are carried out legally.

Petition for name change of a minor child

A petition for name change of a minor child is used in cases in which parents want to change the name of any child under the age of 18 for reasons other than adoption or paternity action.

I recommend: FormsWorkFlow provides this sample of a petition for name change issued by the Florida Supreme Court.

Prenuptial agreement

A prenuptial agreement is a document filed prior to marriage in which a couple establishes an agreement regarding the ownership of residences, division of properties, alimony arrangements and other conditions in the event of divorce or death. Prenuptial agreements may not cover child custody or visitation rights.

I recommend: PrenuptialAgreements.org provides this explanation of a prenuptial agreement and the topics it can and can't include.

Reconciliation agreement

A reconciliation agreement is a document filed by a married couple that has separated and wishes to reconcile legally. This agreement is usually filed after provisions regarding financial issues in the event of divorce or death and some nonfinancial issues.

I recommend: Batzli Wood Stiles, a law firm specializing in family law, explains the purpose of reconciliation agreements.

Surrogate parenting agreement

A surrogate parenting agreement protects the rights of both the intended parents and the surrogate mother by regulating what genetic material can be contributed by certain parties and confirming legal guardianship of the child.

I recommend: Family lawyer Daniel R. Bacalis explains how surrogate parenting agreements protect the rights of both sets of parents in a surrogacy arrangement.

Separation agreement

A separation agreement is a form filed resolving issues of child custody, support and property division by a couple when they choose to separate. This form is not required in all states when applying for legal separation, but is recommended by most family lawyers if there are such issues involved.

I recommend: NCFamilyLaw.com explains the benefits of a separation agreement and how the form protects both parties involved in the separation.