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Ayuda legal de michigan website online now – get free, accurate legal information and forms

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Since MichiganLegalHelp.org launched on August 17, 2012, over 760,000 visitors have accessed free, accurate legal information and forms to help them handle simple legal matters on their own. Now, much of this same information is available in Spanish at AyudaLegaldeMichigan.org.

“The launch of Ayuda Legal de Michigan is very exciting. Having this resource available in Spanish will be a great benefit for people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer to handle basic legal problems. It will also benefit the courts because more self-represented litigants will be better prepared when they go to court,” said State Court Administrator John A. Hohman, Jr.

The Ayuda Legal de Michigan website was created to make legal information easier to understand and to show people how to navigate the court system properly and efficiently. It contains articles explaining specific areas of law, common questions, forms and instructional checklists to help prepare people who represent themselves in court. Many court forms can be filled out online using a simple question and answer interview. There are also several videos to educate visitors about specific legal processes, what to expect when going to court, and how to use the website.

Ayuda Legal de Michigan can help visitors look for a lawyer or legal self-help center in their area if they need more assistance. It also includes information about local community services and details about the court where a visitor’s legal issue may be handled. Although it does not cover all areas of law, new content is added regularly.

“We are working steadily to get more of our resources translated into Spanish,” says Angela Tripp, Project Director of the Michigan Legal Help Program. “While there is a great deal of legal information already available on Ayuda Legal, we want to make more of our interactive interviews available in Spanish to help people prepare the forms they need for court. While all court forms have to be filed in English, the interviews can be done in Spanish and users will get a second copy of their documents in Spanish as well.”

In addition to the website, the Michigan Legal Help Program works with communities to open local legal Self-Help Centers, with staff (called ‘navigators’) who help visitors find what they need on the website, answer basic questions about court practices and processes, and provide information about forms available on the website.  Neither the website nor navigators can give legal advice; they provide only legal information.

Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Centers are now open in Wayne, Oakland, Muskegon, Allegan, Oscoda, Monroe, and Marquette counties. More Self-Help Centers are planned for 2014 and beyond. Ayuda Legal visitors can also get help from a website navigator through LiveHelp, a chat-based service. LiveHelp is available in Spanish from 11am – 3pm Monday through Friday.

Currently, on Ayuda Legal there is information about family law matters, protection from abuse, consumer law problems, and individual rights. Family law matters include divorce, custody, and child support. The protection from abuse tools have information about domestic relationship and other types of personal protection orders. Consumer legal issues covered are suits regarding debts, small claims, installment payment plans and garnishment. Individual rights materials include asking the court for an interpreter or to waive filing fees.

The Michigan Legal Help Program is the culmination of several years of work by the Solutions on Self-Help Task Force, which was established in 2010 by (then) Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly to improve and coordinate resources for self-represented persons.  More than 100 individuals participated in the Task Force’s work, reflecting input from judges, bar associations, legal aid, local self-help centers, libraries and others. Many of these groups continue to collaborate with the effort, which is now managed by a nonprofit organization, Michigan Poverty Law Program, based in Ann Arbor.

Visit AyudaLegaldeMichigan.org to view the website and learn more about its tools for civil legal self-help in Michigan.

Happy Birthday, Michigan Legal Help!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Today we celebrate our second birthday. It is an important milestone! It is also a good time to reflect on how far we have come, so here are a few fun facts about Michigan Legal Help at two years:

  • We have published 100 articles on Michigan Legal Help about many different legal topics. These articles appear in 41 different toolkits in the areas of Family Law, Consumer Law, Protection from Abuse, Housing Law, Expungement, Public Benefits, Individual Rights, and Income Tax.
  • Michigan Legal Help visitors complete an average of 125 interviews per day, getting the forms they need to file in court.
  • This year, we created and launched Ayuda Legal de Michigan, a Spanish language version of Michigan Legal help. While not everything on Michigan Legal Help is available in Spanish yet, we are working hard to translate more tools every week.
  • We have six videos to watch and learn about your legal rights. 
  • We have helped more than 2,800 people through the Live Help chat feature on Michigan Legal Help.

We'd also like to share with you some of the feedback that we've gotten over the last few months:

  • "This made my life so much simpler. I have been agonizing over starting the process because it seemed so daunting. This seemed to simplify everything for me and help me be confident that I am not walking into the courthouse unprepared. Thank you so much. I will definitely recommending this service to others."

  • "Thank you so much for providing great information on this site. I have searched all over for forms to file custody and this site was just what I was looking for."

  • "You provide a well needed service, and it is appreciated. Very user friendly, and very professional. Thank you."

  •  "I think this legal help program is excellent for people like myself that cannot afford an attorney. Plus it's an excellent program for people that just need to know their rights. I love this site and I have recommended to others in my area. So Thank you very much for the much needed help."

  • "This was extremely helpful and helped to relieve some of the stress i was feeling related to trying to handle my divorce without an attorney."

We'd like to thank everyone who has worked with us to make this site possible, and thank you to everyone who has visited it and used it. Feedback like the quotes above are why we work so hard on Michigan Legal Help - knowing that we have helped people makes all the difference. Here's to many more years of the same!

New Interviews and Toolkits Available!

Monday, June 30, 2014

As we head in to summer, we at Michigan Legal Help wanted to let you know about some new tools we have:

New Toolkits with Automated Interviews! We have several new toolkits:

  • Emancipation - Becoming an Adult Before Age 18
  • I Need to Move with My Children (information and forms for filing a Motion to Change Domicile)
  • My Child's Other Parent Wants to Move (information and forms for responding to a Motion to Change Domicile)
  • I'm Being Evicted for Health Hazard/Injury to the Premises. Please send any clients with these issues to Michigan Legal Help for information and forms.

​​We have modified the Divorce interview in response to the changes to the law from the Revocation of Paternity Act. If you have a non-marital child you need to exclude through a divorce, you can't use the divorce interview to do this, becuase the laws have changed. We are working as quickly as we can this summer to hopefully create new forms and a new interview to assist those of you with cases that are affected by the the new rules and procedures.

We have released a Judgment Only divorce interview called "Automated Online Divorce forms - JUDGMENT ONLY." This interview is for you if you have already started your divorce, but need help finishing it. The interview will prepare a Judgment of Divorce and the forms that go with it.

Have a happy and safe summer - and look for more updates soon!

What's new on Michigan Legal Help? June 2014 edition!

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

We successfully made it through a very long winter, and hope for more sunny days ahead. We've been busy here at Michigan Legal Help! Here's a list of new Toolkits we have available:

  • I Need to Extend My Personal Protection Order
  • I Need to Change of End My Personal Protection Order
  • I Need an Interpreter - this toolkit is for Limited English Proficient people who need an Interpreter to fully participate in court
  • I'm Being Evicted for Health Hazard/Injury to the Premises

Here are the new interviews we have:

  • Automated Online Motion to Modify, Terminate or Extend Personal Protection Order
  • Automated Online Request for Interpreter
  • Automated Online Response to Motion Regarding Support

And the new videos we have:

  • How to Serve Divorce or Custody Papers
  • How to Apply for a Personal Protection Order

We also just changed the Divorce interview becuase of changes to the law from the Revocation of Paternity Act. Visitors with non-marital children they need to exclude through a divorce will no longer be able to use the Divorce interview to this. We hope to have new forms and an interview to help with this problem by the end of the summer.

Finally, we want to remind everyone that LiveHelp is available from 11am until 3pm. LiveHelp is a chat-based feature where website visitors can get assistance navigating the website and answers to their legal information questions. (They cannot get legal advice.)

Happy Holidays from Michigan Legal Help!

Monday, December 23, 2013

We at the Michigan Legal Help Program wish you happy holidays, and hope that 2014 brings great things everyone! As we head in to the new year, we wanted to share a brief update about what's new with Michigan Legal Help:

  • We now have automated interviews for all three types of personal protection orders – Domestic Relationship, Nondomestic (Stalking) and Nondomestic (Sexual Assault). We also have a new automated interview for a Motion to Set Aside Default in a civil case.
  • We want to remind everyone that LiveHelp is available from 11am until 3pm during each week. It will be closed for the holidays on 12/24, 12/25, 12/27, 12/31, and 1/1/14. LiveHelp is a chat-based feature where website visitors can get assistance navigating the website and answers to their legal information questions, but not legal advice.) This new feature has been very popular – we had almost 800 chats in September, October and November.
  • Two new Self-Help Centers celebrated their grand openings recently - Monroe County (October 7th) and Marquette County (November 1st). Four other Self-Help Centers in Wayne, Oakland, Oscoda and Allegan counties celebrated their first anniversaries this fall as well, and the Center in Muskegon is having a great first year.
  • Starting on January 1st, the MLH Self-Help Center of Wayne County will be housed in the Smart Detroit offices in the Penobscot building, and will have expanded hours – learn more on the Center’s portal page.
  • We’ve been working with a team of translators who are translating our most popular content into Spanish – look for this new feature of Michigan Legal Help in early 2014!
  • Finally, in 2014 we will be accepting applications for local Self-Help Centers on a rolling basis. If you would like one in your community, please consider reaching out to other organizations in your community to for a Self-Help Center planning committee and submit a proposal. The application is below.

Thanks for all of your continued support! As always, we love feedback - so please feel free to drop us a line if you have suggestions or comments about Michigan Legal Help and how we can better serve the self-represented people in Michigan. As we look forward to our expansion plans in 2014, your feedback is even more important!

Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center of Marquette County Grand Opening Held on November 1st

Monday, November 4, 2013

Marquette County residents who are unable to afford an attorney have a new place to go for assistance – the Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center of Marquette County.  Located in the Peter White Public Library at 217 N. Front Street, the Self-Help Center assists visitors in using the Michigan Legal Help website to gain information about how to represent themselves in simple civil legal matters.  An open house will be held on November 1st from noon to 1:00pm on the second floor of the library.

This self-help center is part of the Michigan Legal Help Program, which consists of a statewide legal self-help website (MichiganLegalHelp.org), affiliated local self-help centers and partnerships with courts, bar associations, libraries, legal aid and others to educate those who assist self-represented persons. 

“We are pleased to welcome the Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center to Marquette County,” said Hon. Jennifer Mazzuchi, Circuit Court Judge for the 25th Circuit Court.  “Its location at the Peter White Public Library will permit our county’s residents to access legal forms and information at their convenience. Many of the litigants in the court system are unable to afford legal counsel to assist them, and these materials can help better prepare them for their court proceedings.”

The Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center of Marquette County is an internet-based self-help center that makes use of the free legal information website www.MichiganLegalHelp.org.  In addition to the website, self-help center ‘navigators’ will be available to help visitors find information they need on the website, answer questions about court practices and processes, and answer simple questions about forms that are available on the website.  Navigators cannot give legal advice.

The Michigan Legal Help website was created to make legal information easier to understand and to show people how to navigate the court system properly and efficiently. The website contains articles explaining specific areas of law, toolkits, forms and instructional checklists to help prepare people who represent themselves in court.  Many court forms can be filled out online using a simple question and answer interview format. 

The website can also help users look for a lawyer in their area if they need more assistance.  The website includes information about local community services and details about the court(s) where a website visitor’s legal issue may be handled.

“We are excited to be working with the community partners in Marquette County,” said Project Director Angela Tripp. Tripp is the project director for the Michigan Poverty Law Program, which manages the Michigan Legal Help Program.  Tripp said, “The support for this self-help center includes judges and staff from the Marquette County courts, private and legal aid lawyers, library staff, and others.  All of the Michigan Legal Help self-help centers operate with this kind of community-based approach.”

Wayne County Child Support Help Program October 26, 2013

Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Salvation Army William Booth Legal Clinic and the Legal Aid and Defender Office present the Free Wayne County Child Support Help Program on Saturday, October 26, 2013 from 1:00 - 4:00pm.  This event will be held at the Detroit Public Library Main Library in the Friends Auditorium, 5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202.

Attorneys and Child support professionals will be on hand to answer your specific case questions. You must have your current FOC account information to receive this assistance. Contact the FOC Call Center at (313) 224-5300 and request your current FOC account printout.

Attorneys can help you prepare your Motions to Change Child Support and for Payment Plans. See attached flyer for more details.

Michigan Legal Help Center of Monroe County opened on October 1, 2013

Friday, October 11, 2013

Residents of Monroe County who are unable to afford an attorney have a new place to go for assistance – the Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center of Monroe County.  Located in the Monroe County Opportunity Program building, at 1140 S. Telegraph Road in Monroe, the Self-Help Center assists visitors in using the Michigan Legal Help website to gain information about how to represent themselves in simple civil legal matters.  The Self-Help Center is open on Monday through Friday from 8:30am until 4:30pm.

The Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center of Monroe County is part of the Michigan Legal Help Program, which consists of a statewide legal self-help website (MichiganLegalHelp.org), affiliated local self-help centers and partnerships with courts, bar associations, libraries, legal aid and others to educate those who assist self-represented persons. 

“It is a great pleasure to welcome a staffed Self-Help Center to Monroe County,” said Daniel S. White, Circuit Court Judge and Presiding Judge of the Domestic Relations Section.  “Through its partnership with MCOP and other agencies, the Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center of Monroe County is now a reality.  The past few years have seen a marked increase in the number of individuals who find it necessary to either pursue or respond to legal issues without the benefit of an attorney.”

Judge White added, “By getting legal information and assistance from the Self-Help Center, these individuals will be better equipped to bring their cases before the court, which will improve their experiences as well as make court operations smoother.  Individuals from surrounding counties are also welcome to visit our Self-Help Center.”

The Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Center of Monroe County is an internet-based self-help center that makes use of the free legal information website www.MichiganLegalHelp.org.  In addition to the website, self-help center ‘navigators’ will be available to help visitors find information they need on the website, answer questions about court practices and processes, and answer simple questions about forms that are available on the website.  Navigators cannot give legal advice.

The Michigan Legal Help website was created to make legal information easier to understand and to show people how to navigate the court system properly and efficiently. The website contains articles explaining specific areas of law, toolkits, forms and instructional checklists to help prepare people who represent themselves in court.  Many court forms can be filled out online using a simple question and answer interview format. 

The website can also help users look for a lawyer in their area if they need more assistance.  The website includes information about local community services and details about the court(s) where a website visitor’s legal issue may be handled.

Current website topics include family law matters, protection from abuse, housing issues, consumer law problems, public benefits, income tax, and expungement. Family law matters include divorce, custody, and child support.  Consumer legal issues covered are suits regarding debts, small claims, installment payment plans and garnishment.  The housing section deals with leases, security deposits, landlord/tenant issues, mobile homes, eviction and subsidized housing.  Public benefits materials include articles and common questions about state and federal public benefits such as food stamps, cash assistance, and Social Security benefits. The Income Tax materials focus on the Earned Income Tax Credit and other credits, and opportunities for free tax preparation for low-income individuals. Expungement provides information about setting aside an adult criminal conviction or a juvenile adjudication.  Although it does not cover all areas of law, new content will be added frequently.

“We are excited to be working with the community partners in Monroe County,” said Project Director Angela Tripp. Tripp is the project director for the Michigan Poverty Law Program, which manages the Michigan Legal Help Program.  Tripp said, “The support for this self-help center includes judges and staff from the Monroe County courts and Friend of the Court, the Monroe County Opportunity Program, Monroe County Department of Human Services, United Way of Monroe County, Legal Services of South Central Michigan, and Family Counseling and Shelter Services of Monroe County.  This community-based approach to operating a self-help center is based on the model which Illinois Legal Aid Online has used successfully for more than a decade.”

Michigan Legal Help Updates - Fall, 2013

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
As we head into fall, a beautiful season here in Michigan, we at Michigan Legal Help wanted to share a few updates:
 
  • Our new mobile site is launched! Since over 30% of people who visit Michigan Legal Help are using a mobile device, we wanted them to have a great experience. On 9/1/13 we launched our much improved mobile site - check it out on your smart phone or tablet!
  • LiveHelp: Starting October 1, LiveHelp will be available from 11am - 3pm. LiveHelp is a chat-based feature where website visitors can get help using the website. They can also get answers to their legal information questions, but not legal advice.
  • Our User's Guide is now available online. If someone is just sitting down to use the website, this can help them understand it quickly and easily.
  • Organizations and Courts can now order PR Materials online as well. If you would like some cards, brochures, or flyers about Michigan Legal Help to pass out, we will happily send them to you!
  • Custody Toolkits are now available for both Plaintiffs and Defendants who are not married to one another, but need custody, parenting time, and child support orders. These include interviews to create complaints and answers/counterclaims for custody.
  • Two new Self-Help Centers are opening this fall, one in Monroe County (on October 7th) and one in Marquette County.
  • We celebrated our first birthday on August 17, 2013! We also hit a milestone shortly afterwards on September 15th - one million pageviews.

Thanks for all of your continued support! As always, we love feedback - so please feel free to drop us a line if you have suggestions or comments about Michigan Legal Help and how we can better serve the self-represented people in Michigan.

Michigan Legal Help Assists More than 200,000 Self-Represented Litigants in Its First Year

Monday, August 19, 2013

When MichiganLegalHelp.org launched on August 17, 2012, initial estimates expected around 3,000 visits per week to the legal information website.  According to Michigan Legal Help Project Manager Angela Tripp, “This estimate proved too conservative.  Starting in January, there were over 5,000 visits per week, and that grew to over 6,000 per week by July. We are very gratified that so many people have turned to the website for help.”

The Michigan Legal Help website was created to provide free legal information to people who cannot afford to hire an attorney and need to represent themselves in simple legal matters.  It makes legal information easier to understand and shows self-represented people how to navigate the court system properly and efficiently. The website contains information on many areas of law in the form of articles, toolkits, forms and instructional checklists to help prepare people who represent themselves in court.  Many court forms can be completed using a simple question and answer interview format.  The website can help users look for a lawyer in their area if they need more assistance, and includes information about legal self-help centers and local community services as well as details about the court where a website visitor’s legal issue may be handled.

In addition to the website, Michigan Legal Help works with communities to open local legal Self-Help Centers, with staff (called ‘navigators’) who help visitors find what they need on the website, answer basic questions about court practices and processes, and provide information about forms that are available on the website.  Neither the website nor navigators can give legal advice; they provide only legal information.

Michigan Legal Help Self-Help Centers are now open in Wayne, Oakland, Allegan, Oscoda and Muskegon counties.  More centers are expected to open over the next year, including in Marquette and Monroe counties.  Information about locations and hours for the centers can be found on the MLH website.  In addition, public librarians across the state are being trained to assist their patrons in finding the information they need on the website.  People do not have to be at a self-help center or library to use the website, which is accessible via the Internet from any computer or mobile device.

 “Many visitors take the time to share how the website has helped them handle a legal problem on their own, or to give suggestions on how Michigan Legal Help can be even better,” Tripp reports. “Some typical messages are:  ‘This site was a very useful and informative tool. It has provided me what I need, to represent myself in my divorce hearing. Thank you sincerely,’ and, ‘I was so stressed about this process.  Not having money for a lawyer was making me nervous about this entire process.  But the website, walked me through the step by step questions with a sense of ease.  I am so thankful for this service!!!’”

The Michigan Legal Help Program is the culmination of several years of work by the Solutions on Self-Help Task Force, which was established in 2010 by (then) Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly to improve and coordinate resources for self-represented persons.  More than 100 individuals participated in the Task Force’s work, reflecting input from judges, bar associations, legal aid, local self-help centers, libraries and others. Many of these groups continue to collaborate with the effort which is managed by a nonprofit organization, Michigan Poverty Law Program, based in Ann Arbor.

As of August 1, 2013, MichiganLegalHelp.org contained 30 Toolkits, 74 Articles, 312 Common Questions (with answers), 19 Automated Interviews that populate a total of 50 different forms, and referral information for over 212 Organizations (including “Find a Lawyer” and “Community Organizations”). There are videos to educate people about using the website and what to expect when going to court. The legal information content available now is in the areas of Family Law, Protection from Abuse, Consumer Law, Housing Law, Expungement, Income Tax, and Public Benefits. More content is added regularly. 

In the second quarter of 2013, website visitors used the automated interviews to create 7,359 sets of forms, placing Michigan fifth in the nation among states using these types of automated forms. Tripp said, “These numbers are impressive, as many other states are more populous and have had resources available for self-represented people for much longer than one year.”  She also noted that the website has had more than 200,000 visits since the launch a year ago. 

The response to MLH in its first year demonstrates the need for assistance for those who must represent themselves because they cannot afford to hire a lawyer or because nonprofit legal aid agencies do not have enough resources to help everyone who qualifies for their services.  Also, courts are seeing an increasing number of self-represented persons; one court reported at least one self-represented party in 80% of all divorce cases and both parties in 50% of such cases. 

The Michigan Legal Help Program plans to expand to cover more areas of law especially needed by low-income persons.  In addition, a LiveHelp feature will be launched this fall enabling website visitors to chat online with navigators who can help them find what they need on the website.. In response to the fact that over 30% of website visitors access the site through a mobile device or tablet, an updated mobile version of the site will be available in September.  Also, by year end, much of the content on the website will be available in Spanish.

The website also has links to a User’s Guide and informational flyers which can be downloaded and printed out for groups to distribute to potential website users.  Questions or requests for other information can be directed to Angela Tripp via the feedback link on the website. 

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