Family Law Help When You Cannot Afford an Attorney

An honest word first

We wish we could help everyone who reaches out to us. The plain truth is that no firm can take every case, and for a lot of people in the middle of a divorce or a custody dispute, hiring a lawyer is simply not possible right now. If that is where you are, this page is for you. We put it together to point you in the right direction, toward the free and low cost help that really does exist in Colorado, and we genuinely hope it helps.

One thing we need to say clearly before the list begins: reading this page or using these links is general information only. It is not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney client relationship with Cruz Law. The organizations below are independent of our firm, and their programs, hours, and eligibility rules can change, so confirm the details with them directly.

Free legal help organizations

Free legal clinics open to everyone

These clinics do not check income. They offer short, free conversations with an attorney, which is often enough to get unstuck on a specific question.

• Statewide Virtual Free Legal Clinics are free monthly clinics hosted by three judicial districts and open to anyone in Colorado over Webex. As of this writing, the divorce and custody pre-decree clinic meets the second Wednesday of most months from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, with no registration required; this link is the courts' current clinic flyer, which gets replaced each year, so if it stops working, the Jefferson County clinics page below lists the same clinics.
• Virtual Pro Se Clinic (Colorado Lawyers Committee) offers free monthly clinics through 34 public library locations across the state, where volunteer attorneys give confidential consultations over Zoom on all areas of Colorado civil law, which includes family matters. It is for people who do not have an attorney, with no income limits stated.
• Colorado Access to Justice Commission Free Legal Clinics Finder is a statewide directory, in English and Spanish, for finding a free clinic near you, including the library based virtual clinics with a free, confidential 20 minute attorney consult. Phone: 720-306-1022.
• Jefferson County Court Resource Center Free Legal Clinics at the courthouse in Golden include, as of this writing, a family law clinic on the third Tuesday of each month, a free 15 minute phone consult with an attorney on divorce, custody, child support, and related issues. Space is limited and you sign up by emailing the Court Resource Center for a waiver, first come first served starting the day before each clinic; phone 720-772-2501.

Free representation if you qualify

These programs can provide an actual lawyer at no cost, but they screen for income and their capacity is limited.

• Metro Volunteer Lawyers is the Denver metro area's pro bono program, coordinating free civil legal services from volunteer lawyers, with assistance across a variety of case types. It serves Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, and Jefferson counties, for income-qualified households, screened through Colorado Legal Services intake at 303-837-1313 rather than contacting MVL directly.
• Justice & Mercy Legal Aid Center (JAMLAC) is a nonprofit legal aid center in Denver providing attorney representation, consultations, and workshops in family law, immigration, and limited civil matters for low income residents of the greater Denver metro area, plus legal clinics around the metro. Phone: 303-839-1008.
• University of Colorado Law School Juvenile and Family Law Clinic in Boulder has law students, supervised by faculty, handle a full range of family matters, including divorce and child custody, free of charge for low income clients. Case acceptance depends on clinic capacity and the academic calendar; phone (303) 492-8126.

Low cost help and finding a lawyer

• Licensed Legal Paraprofessionals (LLPs) are court licensed professionals, not attorneys, authorized to handle many family law matters, including divorce and legal separation, parental responsibilities, child support, protection orders, name changes, and certain parentage cases, at substantially lower cost than attorneys. This is paid help rather than free help, and the site includes a search tool for finding a licensed LLP.
• Colorado Bar Association, For the Public is the state bar's public resources page, with a Find a Licensed Lawyer directory, legal information brochures, mediation information, and clinic flyers. Phone: 303-860-1115.
• 211 Colorado is a free, confidential, multilingual statewide helpline and searchable database of thousands of community services in all 64 counties, with legal services among the categories. Dial 2-1-1, text your ZIP code to 898-211, chat online, or call (866) 760-6489.

The courts' own self-help tools and forms

Colorado's court system runs a serious self-help operation of its own. It is free, it has no income limits, and for many family cases it is the backbone of representing yourself. One limit to know going in: court staff can explain procedures and help you find the right forms, but they cannot give legal advice.

Start here

• Colorado Judicial Branch Self-Help Resources is the state courts' central hub for people representing themselves: free court forms by case type, instructional videos on evidence, service of process, child support modification, and e-filing, plus links to coordinators, facilitators, legal clinics, and mediation. Open to anyone in a non-criminal case, statewide.
• Self-Help Forms (the JDF forms library) is the official statewide library of every current JDF court form, organized by topic with keyword search, including divorce and separation, parental responsibilities, child support and maintenance, parentage, and protection orders. Forms download in PDF and Word, many in multiple languages.
• Self-Represented Litigant Coordinators (Sherlocks) Directory lists, county by county, the court staff in every judicial district who help people without lawyers navigate non-criminal cases and find the right forms. Metro numbers as of this writing: Adams and Broomfield 303-654-3213, Jefferson County 720-772-2501; Denver is served by the Pro Se/Self-Help Center below.
• Family Court Facilitators are court staff who help manage divorce, parental responsibilities, and child support cases, holding status conferences to explain procedural requirements, identify disputed issues, and outline options for resolution. Metro numbers as of this writing: Denver 303-606-2315, Adams and Broomfield 303-654-3585, Jefferson County 720-772-2713 or 720-772-2714.

Walk-in self-help centers in the metro area

• Denver Courts Pro Se/Self-Help Center helps unrepresented litigants in Denver courts understand forms, procedures, and terminology, including divorce, custody, modifications, and protection orders, and hosts a free virtual Family Law Ask a Lawyer clinic the first Thursday of each month as of this writing. Walk-ins Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm; phone (303) 606-2442.
• Adams County Combined Court Resource Center is the self-help center at the Adams County Justice Center in Brighton, serving Adams and Broomfield counties, including Westminster addresses on the Adams County side. Staff assist self-represented litigants with domestic relations cases, including e-filing help; open Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 4:00 pm, phone 303-654-3213.

Divorce, step by step

• Divorce and Separation Self-Help is the statewide hub for handling a divorce or legal separation yourself: getting or responding to a case, converting a legal separation to a divorce, name restoration, and retirement division, with instructions and the required JDF forms.
• File for Divorce or Legal Separation walks through the current filing flow step by step, from the residency check through the petition, summons, serving your spouse, the response, and the initial status conference. You or your spouse must have lived in Colorado at least 91 days before filing.
• Guide to Divorce or Legal Separation (JDF 1010) is the courts' official published guide for self-represented parties in divorce and legal separation cases, downloadable as a PDF in English, Spanish, and ten other languages.

Custody and parentage

• Form a Parenting Plan (APR/Custody) is the self-help hub for allocation of parental responsibilities, which is what Colorado calls custody: starting or responding to a case, including custody without a marriage or civil union, and registering out of state orders, with links to the required forms, the child support calculator, and fee waivers.
• Determine Parentage covers parentage cases: establishing someone as a parent, responding to paperwork claiming you are a parent, or disclaiming parentage. Establishing parentage is often the first step before child support can be ordered.

Fees and filing

• Fee Waivers explains how to ask the court to waive filing fees using JDF 205 if you cannot afford them. As of this writing, you generally qualify if household income is below 125 percent of the federal poverty line or you receive public benefits such as SSI, TANF, or SNAP; in family cases the waiver is filed in person or by mail.
• E-Filing for Non-Attorneys explains how self-represented parties in domestic relations cases, which covers divorce, custody, and child support, can file and serve documents electronically in their own existing case. There is a modest e-filing fee per submission on top of any statutory filing fee; technical support at (720) 625-5800.

Help with child support, changing orders, and protection orders

Child support and maintenance

• Calculate Child Support and Maintenance is the free official calculator that produces the same worksheets Colorado courts use for child support and spousal maintenance, along with tutorial videos, manual worksheet forms, and instructions for paying through the Family Support Registry.
• Colorado Child Support Services is the state program that can establish parentage, set up child support and medical support orders, locate parents, collect and enforce payments, and modify existing orders. It is an administrative path to child support that does not require hiring a lawyer; parents and caretakers apply through the site.
• Change Court Orders is the courts' hub for modifying existing family orders: parenting time, decision making, child support, spousal support, responding to a change request, and relocation with children, each with instructions and JDF forms.
• Change Child Support gives step by step instructions for modifying a child support order yourself, with one form when both parents agree and another when they do not. The change generally must be substantial and continuing, meaning the recalculated amount would move by at least 10 percent.

Protection orders and safety

• Getting a Protection Order is the courts' self-help guide to civil protection orders: filing for a temporary order, the hearing to make it permanent, typically within 14 days, plus the required forms and service requirements. The filing fee is waived in domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking cases.
• Project Safeguard is a nonprofit helping survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking with safety planning, legal advocacy, direct court support, and attorney services, including help with civil protection orders and family law advocacy. It serves Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, and Denver counties; phone 720-618-3482.
• Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center is a Colorado nonprofit offering free legal services to crime victims in every judicial district, from legal information and referrals to pro bono representation, in English, Spanish, and French. If domestic violence or another crime is part of your family situation, they are worth contacting; phone 303-295-2001.
• University of Denver Civil Litigation Clinic has law students, supervised by faculty, represent low income clients in civil matters including domestic violence civil protection orders. Its listed practice areas do not include divorce or custody; requests go through the Student Law Office's online legal services request form, phone 303-871-6133.

If you are leaving a violent or abusive relationship, we also keep a dedicated guide: When You Have Decided to Leave: Help for Victims of Domestic Violence. It gathers the hotlines, advocates, shelters, protection order steps, and financial help that exist for exactly this situation, all verified.

How to make the most of limited free help

Free help usually comes in short windows: a 15 or 20 minute consult, a few minutes at a self-help counter, one status conference with a facilitator. A little preparation multiplies what you get out of it.

• Write your questions down ahead of time and put the most important one first. Time runs out fast, and the question you lead with is the one that gets answered well.
• Bring your case number and your paperwork, including anything you have been served with. Specific answers require specific documents.
• Always ask what your next deadline is and what happens if you miss it. Deadlines sink self-represented cases more often than bad arguments do.
• Work through the court's own forms and instructions before a consult, so your time with an attorney goes to the parts that confused you instead of the parts you could read yourself.
• Keep one folder, paper or digital, with everything from the case in date order. Every person who helps you will start by asking what has happened so far.
• If one program cannot take your case, ask them who else might. The people inside this system know it well, and a referral from them often lands better than a cold call.

And a last word from us. We practice across Colorado, and if your situation changes or you just want to talk it through, reach out. The consultation is free.