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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.
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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.
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