Family Intake

Terms of Use and General Information about Online Intake

By using this application you are asking the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia for free help with a legal matter in the District of Columbia. We cannot help with legal matters that are in Maryland, Virginia, or another state outside of the District of Columbia.

Upcoming Court Date or Deadline

We will try to get back to you within two weeks but cannot promise to make a decision by any date. If you have a court date or another deadline coming up in the next two weeks, we will try to review your application more quickly, but we cannot guarantee that we will get back to you before your upcoming court date/deadline. You are also welcome to contact Legal Aid by phone at (202) 628-1161 on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Legal Aid Is Not Your Lawyer

Legal Aid does not represent you unless and until we give you a written agreement that says that Legal Aid will be your lawyer and will represent you in a specific matter. Until then, you are still responsible for all the actions you need to take in your case.

Confidentiality

Legal Aid will not disclose any confidential information you share with us without your permission.

Income Guidelines for Services

We generally serve individuals whose household income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. For some types of cases, we may serve individuals whose household income is up to 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

Legal Aid Cannot Help Everyone

Even if you are eligible for our services, we cannot accept every case. Legal Aid must avoid conflicts of interest. A conflict can arise, for example, if we gave legal help to the opposing party in your case. If there is a conflict of interest, we won’t be able to accept your case.

There are also many other reasons why Legal Aid may not be able to take your case, including that Legal Aid simply does not have enough staff to represent all applicants who need help. If we do not take your case, we will send you a notice to let you know. We will not state the reason or whether there is a conflict of interest.

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Step 1 of 5

Section B: Income Information

Please provide the following information about your household income, which will be used to determine if you are eligible for our services. Please include all income that any member of your household receives. If you do not know exact figures, please provide your best estimate. For example, if your paycheck changes based on the hours you work each week, try to estimate your average weekly or monthly income. If we are not able to help you further based on your household income, the information in this section will not be entered into our system.

Type of Income #1 *

Amount #1 *

Frequency #1 *

Type of Income #2

Amount #2

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Type of Income #3

Amount #3

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Type of Income #4

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Type of Income #5

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Tip: If no one in your household receives any form of income, please select the option that says “My household has zero income” in the first drop-down box.

If you are unsure about what kind of income you receive, or you want to give us additional information, please use the box below.

Section D: Documents

If you have documents related to your issue, it can be helpful to us to see them to better understand your legal problem. Here are the kinds of documents that could be helpful in your case:

Domestic Violence

Any and all family court papers related to you, the other party and your children
Any and all criminal court papers related to you and/or the other party
Any evidence of domestic violence, including but not limited to:
- Text/voice messages
- Emails
- Social media messages
- Pictures of injuries or damage to property
- Hospital records
- Police reports (or police report information)

Custody/Visitation

Any and all family court papers related to you, other party and your children
- This includes home studies, psychological evaluations, etc.
Any and all criminal court papers related to you and/or the other party
Any written correspondence between you and the other party
Social media messages by either party about the child or showing parenting concerns
Any school, medical or other records you think are relevant

Child Support Cases

Any and all court papers regarding child support for the child(ren) at issue
Acknowledgement(s) of paternity or birth certificate(s) for child(ren) at issue
Proof of expenses for health insurance, childcare, and extraordinary expenses
Agreements between parties
Correspondence between parties
Social media of either party showing living expenses or income

Please let us know if you have any relevant documents, and, if so, how you would like to provide them to us. *

I have no documents.
I can upload some of my documents now.
I have documents and will email them to onlineintake@legalaiddc.org. Please include your full name in the subject.
I have documents and will fax them to Legal Aid at 202-727-2132. Please put to the attention of Online Intake on the cover sheet.
I have documents and will mail them to Legal Aid. Please include your full name on the envelope and on the cover sheet (if any).

Please send the documents to the following address:
Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
Attn: Online Intake
1331 H St NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005

Legal Aid DC Intake

Making Justice Real

Terms of Use and General Information about Online Intake

Section A: Basic Information

Section B: Income Information

Section C: Information about your Legal Matter

Section D: Documents