Can you hug your child today? We can help! ^™

|

Services

|

America Family Law Center’s package of services falls within one of two categories: legal services and non-legal services. When someone engages America Family Law Center, this package of services is all-inclusive even though it is typically referred to by its legal service name of Assisted Pro Se services.

|

America Family Law Center can also provide people with free family law resource referrals when appropriate. Call us for more information about free assistance from other resources.

|

How to get help from a lawyer

|

To get help from a lawyer, you need to hire one or have one help you as a pro se litigant. Understanding the intersection of payer and service models can help one understand the various options for getting help from a lawyer, particularly for family law matters. A person has four options:

(1) third-party payer, traditional full-service attorney,

(2) third-party payer, assisted pro se attorney,

(3) direct-payer, traditional full-service attorney, or

(4) direct-payer, assisted pro se attorney.

^* TAJF’s 2023 financial income eligibility guidelines for the use of grant funds

^** 2023 study conducted by the Texas Access to Justice Commission

^*** TAJF’s 2023 list of recipients of public grant funds

|

Third-party payer resources through public grant funding are often focused on helping people with legal matters that involve evictions, bankruptcy, civil rights, human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, disabilities, elderly, and natural disaster relief. Using public funds to help someone with a family law situation, such as getting a divorce, modifying child support, or taking custody of a child, may be frowned upon if not prohibited.

|

Several third-party payers and direct payers offer various Assisted Pro Se services. Click here for a list of third-party payer legal aid grantees in Texas who received public funds from TAJF. Click here for a list of grantees that received public grant funds for Basic Civil Legal Services (BCLS). Some of the many direct-payer Assisted Pro Se services in Texas and around the country include Simple Divorce Texas, Texas Online Divorce, Online Divorce Texas, Affordable Divorce Texas, Unbundled Legal Help, and National Parents Organization.

|

What is the Justice Gap

|

People who do not receive legal aid (quadrants 1 and 2 above) or have enough money to pay a traditional full-service attorney (quadrant 3 above) fall into what is called the “Justice Gap” (quadrant 4 above).

|

|

America Family Law Center (AFLC) strives to help people in the Justice Gap facing family law situations by offering low-bono, low-cost Assisted Pro Se services (quadrant 4 above).

|

Why America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service

|

America Family Law Center encourages those who qualify for and are awarded a legal aid attorney to represent them or find a legal aid-provided Assisted Pro Se service that meets their needs to use that legal aid assistance (quadrants 1 and 2 above). If you can get legal aid assistance, use the legal aid assistance. America Family Law Center encourages those with enough money to hire a traditional full-service attorney to hire one (quadrant 3 above). America Family Law Center pursues its mission by assisting those pro se, self-represented litigants in family law situations who do not get free legal aid and cannot afford to pay traditional full-service attorneys thousands of dollars (quadrant 4 above) – the people in the Justice Gap.

|

As a nonprofit charitable organization, America Family Law Center strives to help people resolve as many legal cases or situations as possible collaboratively and without litigation, legal actions, or unnecessary court involvement. Being Pro Se does not require you to be a litigant in a court case. Pro Se means “on one’s own behalf.” America Family Law Center helps many people resolve family law situations pro se while avoiding a contested court case.

|

America Family Law Center is the #1 Assisted Pro Se service for family law matters. America Family Law Center is recognized as the largest and premier Assisted Pro Se service provider for family law matters. The service is uniquely comprehensive, with strong parallels to full-service attorney services, and exceeds the American Bar Association (ABA) recommendations for assistance to pro se or self-represented litigants (see ABA Standard 3.5) in family law matters. America Family Law Center embraces the ABA’s recommendation for the effective use of technology (see ABA Standard 2.10). The American Bar Association has a topic dedicated to assisting self-represented litigants. America Family Law Center exceeds the best practices recommended by the Texas Access to Justice Commission in its paper on the Best Practices in Assisted Pro Se Models for the Unrepresented.

|

America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service is available to paid or comped clients in good standing. The service is conveniently provided via phone, text, and the internet. The service does not offer any in-person services. The service is subject to availability and may not be available in some states. The Assisted Pro Se service offers, during a client’s service term and while in good standing, unlimited phone consultations with licensed attorneys experienced in family law, research, document review, guidance, coaching, online document access, case continuity, and much more from attorneys and knowledgeable non-attorney staff working together to help clients resolve their cases or situations and strive for the best possible outcome.

|

America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se services (or any of AFLC’s services) do NOT include drafting or filing legal documents and do NOT include attorney representation. Many people may find that they do not need legal documents, and if required, there are many forms and other sources for legal documents. If a litigant had an attorney representing them in court, they would not be pro se; by definition, it would not be an Assisted Pro Se service. America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se services are provided entirely by phone, text, or online, not in person so that you can collaborate with AFLC from the comfort of your home.

|

With the help of America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se services, most legal cases are worked outside the courtroom and resolved without a contested trial. Before engaging in any Assisted Pro Se service, understand what services are included and what are not. Before engaging America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service, we will meet with you by phone to be sure that you understand our service and that it is a good fit for you and your situation.

|

The fee for America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service is a fixed flat fee ranging from $50 to $600 for an entire year of service. The Assisted Pro Se service fee includes only services provided by America Family Law Center; it does not include administrative fees or fees for services provided by courts, clerks, investigators, process servers, partners, affiliates, or others. One should expect that a legal case will involve costs in addition to the Assisted Pro Se service fee paid to America Family Law Center.

|

America Family Law Center has served clients for over a decade, with clients residing in all 50 states. With advanced technology, America Family Law Center can provide services to people virtually, regardless of location, from the comfort and privacy of their homes via their phones. Trekking to the courthouse or law library to use a public computer kiosk that may or may not be available or working is unnecessary and wasteful and has been outdated for many years. Services that are nothing more than telephone hotlines are also antiquated and often put to shame by Siri, Google, and Alexa.

|

The recognized importance of Assisted Pro Se services

|

The Texas Access to Justice Commission (TAJC) defines Assisted Pro Se service as “helping self-represented litigants help themselves with limited assistance from lawyers.” America Family Law Center is recognized as the largest and premier provider of Assisted Pro Se services for family law matters.

|

A 2023 study conducted by the Texas Access to Justice Commission, at the request of the Supreme Court of Texas, found that “90% of the civil legal needs of low-income Texans are unmet.” And “5.2 million Texans qualify for civil legal aid.” According to state law, Texas Government Code, Sec. 51.941(e) and SCOT Misc Docket No. 98-9001, paragraph 5, a person must be “indigent,” meaning they are living at or below 125 percent of the poverty level to qualify for civil legal aid. This means an individual household’s total income cannot exceed $18,225 per year based on 2023 poverty law numbers to be eligible for civil legal aid assistance (with some exceptions).

|

The Texas Access to Justice Commission (TAJC) strongly promotes and encourages Assisted Pro Se services, as explained on its website, as an important way to address the need for civil legal services in Texas. Assisted Pro Se services are so highly encouraged and sought after that the Texas Access to Justice Commission created a Self-Represented Litigants Committee (“SRL Committee”) with a subcommittee focused on Assisted Pro Se service programs. The Texas Law Help website promotes both free and low-cost Assisted Pro Se services. Both the Supreme Court of Texas (SCOT), through the Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAGF), and the Office of the Attorney General of Texas provide grant funding for many Assisted Pro Se service programs, such as the Texas Advocacy Project, Dallas Volunteer Attorneys Program, Texas Legal Services Center, Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas, Boat People SOS, Disability Rights Texas, Houston Volunteer Lawyers, all three major Texas legal aids, legal hotlines, and legal clinics. As an indication of the importance of Assisted Pro Se services, according to public records, over $22 million in public funds has been awarded to more than 10 organizations in Texas that offer some form of Assisted Pro Se service. Some Assisted Pro Se services are publicly funded, and some are not. Assisted Pro Se services are generally not recommended for people making over $80,000 per year or with more than $500,000 of assets.

|

Some Assisted Pro Se services are paid with public funds through government grants and not by the person receiving the service; these are referred to as third-party-payer models. America Family Law Center’s more advanced Assisted Pro Se service is a direct-payer model where the individual receiving service pays a nominal fee, and no public legal aid funds are used. Third-party-payer models are too often antiquated, inefficient, and bloated with costs, resulting in fewer resources going to where it is needed: the client. America Family Law Center, using a direct-payer model, operates much more efficiently, delivering excellent service to the client. Unlike most third-party-payer models, America Family Law Center can help anyone who cannot afford a lawyer, regardless of a person’s household income or poverty status.

|

Several organizations in Texas provide some form of Assisted Pro Se service, ranging from a simple telephone hotline to the whole gamut of services provided by America Family Law Center. Unfortunately, publicly funded services too often come with strings attached, excessive overhead, slow response, and limitations, and people sometimes comment that they receive little, if any, help but instead only get referred to other resources. Some Assisted Pro Se services are publicly funded, and some are not. Before engaging with an Assisted Pro Se service, understand what services are included and what are not.

|

A report to the Supreme Court of Texas from the Texas Access to Justice Commission dated February 6, 2012, talks about the Assisted Pro Se Subcommittee and its work. This section reads as follows:

“The Assisted Pro Se Subcommittee is working towards expanding the availability of legal services for low-income pro se litigants. Assisted pro se programs are an important component of legal service delivery because they provide pro se litigants with some level of attorney assistance, although less than full representation. It is an efficient way to help many people while maximizing limited attorney resources.

Assisted pro se programs essentially offer pro bono legal services on a limited scope basis to low-income individuals who are unable to get an attorney through legal aid. Assisted pro se projects run the gamut from simple advice clinics to document preparation (such as drafting a demand letter for landlord repairs or preparing court pleadings) to settlement or hearing preparation. The underlying consistency in all assisted pro se projects is that the litigant ultimately represents him or herself in the legal matter.

Many pro bono programs in Texas already use this model as an efficient means of helping several low-income people with similar uncontested legal problems at one time, while preserving valuable attorney resources for more complex or contested legal issues. The most common example is an assisted pro se clinic for those with uncontested divorces. Pro bono and legal aid programs are often able to help ten or more low-income litigants at one time using only one or two attorneys to walk them through the process of completing forms, filing their case, obtaining service, and proving up their final divorce decree.

To date, the Assisted Pro Se Subcommittee has compiled a comprehensive list of assisted pro se programs in Texas. It has also finished its review and modification of the portions of an existing best practices guide that relate to assisted pro se programs and practices. The Subcommittee will now turn to offering technical assistance to programs who wish to learn more about assisted pro se projects or request help with starting a project.”

|

Closing the Justice Gap

|

It is widely recognized that many people with family law-related matters do not have the financial means to hire an attorney or qualify to receive free (often taxpayer-paid) legal aid – referred to as the Justice Gap. America Family Law Center strives to help those in the Justice Gap by offering family law assistance. If a person has the means to hire an attorney in a traditional manner, America Family Law Center encourages them to do so. If a person qualifies for and can receive free legal aid, America Family Law Center encourages them to take advantage of it. However, for those who have a family law-related matter, cannot afford an attorney, and do not receive free legal aid, America Family Law Center may be able to help. Call now.

English  |  Español

---