Clients will follow a three-step process:
Step 1: MVL will send you a letter to notify you of your first appointment. That letter will include the date, time and place of your appointment. On the designated date, you will meet with an MVL staff member, or a volunteer attorney, law sytudent, or other legal professional who will guide you through the documents necessary to file your case. The documents that you will complete to start the case will vary slightly depending on the nature of your case, but generally include a Statement of Understanding, a Motion to Waive Filing Fees, a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or Allocation of Parental Responsibility, a Sworn Financial Statement, and a service of process questionnaire. The staff at MVL will file your case for you and arrange for personal service of court documents on the other party (called the "respondent") as the law requires, usually by a private process server or a sheriff. If the Respondent lives in the state of Colorado, you will be asked to bring a money order in the amount of fifty-five dollars ($55.00) to cover administrative costs. If the Respondent lives outside of the state of Colorado, you will be asked to bring a money order in the amount of seventy-five dollars($75.00) to cover administrative costs.
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Accepted clients prepare their petitions with the help of volunteer attorneys, law students, paralegals, and MVL staff. The clients in this program actually file for their divorce "pro se," meaning they represent themselves. FLCP clients attend FLCP two to three times, generally at the Courthouse in the County where their case will be filed.
Step 2: In most jurisdictions, you will have completed this step at your first meeting and will not have a second meeting. However, if you are in a jurisdiction where we meet with clients three times, you will receive another letter scheduling your second appointment. You will again meet with MVL staff, a volunteer attorney, law student, or paralegal. The person who helps you will most likely be a different person than your first meeting. He or she will help you complete a Financial Affidavit - a statement of your monthly income, expenses, debts and assets which is required by the Court - and a Notice of Permanent Orders Hearing. (Permanent Orders are the orders in a divorce case that cause the spouses to be deemed divorced, and thus dissolve the marriage; in a custody case, the orders determine decision-making responsibilities and parenting time.) The letter will detail the items you need to bring to the meeting to complete the Financial Affidavit, and it is very important that you bring all of that requested information that is available to you.
Step 3: When at least ninety (90) days have passed since the respondent was served with the divorce papers, and there is an opening in the court schedule, MVL staff members will set your case for a Permanent Orders hearing, and will send both you and the respondent a copy of the completed Notice of Hearing with the scheduled date and time. On the date of your Permanent Orders hearing, you will meet with an attorney (again, probably a different person from those you met during Steps 1 and 2) who will prepare you and represent you in court for that day only. The attorney will assist you in completing the Decree for Dissolution of Marriage, Permanent Orders or a Separation Agreement that include parental responsibility (sometimes called "custody") and parenting time (sometimes called "visitation") determinations, and a Child Support Order, if necessary. Your volunteer lawyer will prepare you to appear in court and then represent you in court in a hearing before a judge or magistrate who will consider the documents and evidence and enter a Decree of Dissolution and such other orders as are required. (All of these are generally called "Permanent Orders.") The Court allows the attorney to both enter an appearance for you and withdraw from representing you on the day of the hearing. (Note: MVL may also provide an attorney to the other spouse (the "respondent") on the day of the permanent orders hearing if he or she is economically eligible and there are sufficient attorneys available.) After that hearing, MVL staff will mail you copies of all orders signed and entered by the Court.
To get help through FLCP, potential clients need to go through the regular intake process with Colorado Legal Services, just as any other MVL client would. CLS will determine whether the client's case is appropriate for FLCP and will send it to MVL for review. CLS will notify the client if their case is sent to MVL, and MVL will let the client know if they have been accepted.
To apply for services, call 303-837-1313.
**ALL CLIENTS must first conduct an intake through Colorado Legal Services at 303-837-1313 and then be accepted into the program prior to attending any of the clinic dates. |
