Tackle Legal Issues with Help from VTCourtForms Tools
“VTCourtForms is rather like a tax-prep tool, but for civil legal issues.”
Legal Services Vermont (LSV) has created a collection of six tools for Vermonters to start or respond to a court case. Called “VTCourtForms,” the tools help people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
“VTCourtForms is rather like a tax-prep tool, but for civil legal issues,” explained LSV Executive Director Sam Abel-Palmer. “The program leads you through questions, offers helpful information along the way, and then populates the right court forms for you. Plus, you get a Next Steps document that tells you what to do next.”
VTCourtForms is one of the innovative ways that Legal Services Vermont can help Vermonters during a time when legal aid funding and staffing are being cut.
The current collection of free VTCourtForms tools helps Vermonters:
- ask the court for a Relief from Abuse order
- start a small claims case
- answer a small claims case
- start a divorce, civil union dissolution or legal separation in Vermont
- fill out Financial Affidavit 813A for family court, and
- apply to waive court filing fees and service costs.
“These are topics that we often get calls about on our legal helpline,” said Abel-Palmer. “Legal tools like these help level the playing field. They give low-income Vermonters the confidence to take action on their legal problem without an attorney.”
The VTCourtForms divorce tool has been the most used to date and it is now offered in French, Spanish, Nepali and Arabic. Hundreds of people are using VTCourtForms and LSV will be adding to the collection in the coming year.
You can find VTCourtForms tools on the VTLawHelp.org website. Links to the new tools are found in the Divorce Roadmap, Relief from Abuse Roadmap, Small Claims Roadmap, and in other sections of the website. The full collection is found here.
About VTCourtForms
VTCourtForms was created by Legal Services Vermont with support from the Legal Services Corporation and assistance from the Suffolk University Legal Innovation and Technology (LIT) Lab Document Assembly Line Project. The tools were developed with the guidance of Legal Services Vermont and Vermont Legal Aid attorneys, and input from the Vermont Judiciary and other Vermont organizations, as well as Vermonters who did user testing.