A new online help center in Cuyahoga County will assist people with family law matters, such as divorce and child custody.

A new online help center in Cuyahoga County will assist people with family law matters, such as divorce and child custody.

Dealing with family law matters like divorce, child custody, and child support is difficult for anyone. But it’s especially hard for individuals who don’t have access to an attorney and must navigate the legal system on their own.

The Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court in partnership with Ohio Legal Help have developed a virtual help center to make going to court a little easier and a lot less daunting for self-represented litigants.

Ohio Legal Help, a free civil legal assistance web portal, and the domestic relations court built the virtual help center for people who must deal with family law matters without the aid of an attorney. The project was funded through a technology grant from the Supreme Court of Ohio.

The domestic relations court recognized the increasing number of self-represented parties and sought funding to create a virtual help center to provide an additional level of service to court users.

“More than 92% of legal issues faced by low-income individuals receive little or no legal help, and many people are forced to navigate complex legal issues, including family law, on their own,” said Administrative Judge Diane Palos. “The virtual help center will provide people with the information they need to navigate the court process.”

The virtual help center will remove many of the barriers to justice that people face when they’re dealing with the legal system. It enables self-represented litigants to find information pertaining to the domestic relations court and fill out, save, and complete court forms online. The secure, mobile-first platform seamlessly integrates with the court’s existing online resources.

Cuyahoga County has about 1.2 million residents, and over 16% of them live below the federal poverty level. Those in the lower-income brackets who cannot afford legal representation will be the primary beneficiaries of the virtual help center, but it is available for all self-represented litigants with a matter in the domestic relations court, which handles around 7,000 cases a year.

Ohio Legal Help, which launched in 2019 as a result of the Supreme Court’s Task Force on Access to Justice recommendation, has served more than 3.3 million users across the state in five years.

Susan Choe, executive director of Ohio Legal Help, said she is grateful to both the Supreme Court and the domestic relations court for working on this project.

“The heart of our mission is to reach more users where they are, and this virtual help center will do that,” said Choe. “Now Cuyahoga County residents can start their court cases from their own home, without the need to take time off work, arrange child care, or secure transportation to the courthouse.”

The new virtual help center can also be accessed on the Ohio Legal Help website at ccdrc.ohiolegalhelp.org.