Alameda County Superior Court
Self Help Site - Welcome Page

The information at the Self Help Site is not legal advice.

This site has information and forms for people who are representing themselves in Court. The information on this website will help guide you through the court system.

If you are trying to locate a courthouse, visit Court Locations on our main site for listings of court phone numbers and courthouse locations.

If you are looking for a form, refer to the Judicial Council site for state forms, and to the court's form site for local forms.

If you would like to see information about a particular case or find out about a hearing date, visit our public access case information site: DomainWeb. Case and calendar information is available for civil, family law, probate and small claims cases. You will not be able to look up information on cases that are confidential.

If you want self-help assistance in person, the Self Help Center locations and hours are posted on this website.

If you do not understand something on this site, or if you have trouble filling out your court forms, talk to a lawyer. If you are representing yourself, and you fill out your own court forms, we recommend you have a lawyer look at them before you file them.

If you need legal advice but can't afford a lawyer, talk to a local legal aid group. You can get a referral to a lawyer or legal aid group from the local bar association. (See other web links at the bottom of this page.)

There are certain ways the Superior Court staff can and cannot help you. Here are some:

We can:

• Give you the Alameda County Bar Association lawyer referral service phone number.
• Explain general Court rules, procedures and practices.
• Give you Court schedules.
• Explain how to schedule your case.
• Give you information from your case file.
• Give you samples of Court forms, if we have them.
• Answer most questions about Court deadlines and how to calculate them.
• Check your Court forms to make sure they are complete. We will check for signatures, notarization, correct county name, correct case number and if you have all the attachments you need.

We cannot:

• Tell you if you should bring your case to Court or not.
• Tell you what words to use on your Court forms.
• Change an order signed by a judge
• Tell you what to say in Court.
• Talk to the judge for you.
• Give you an opinion about what will happen if you bring your case to Court.
• Let you talk to the judge outside of Court.

You can get more help at these websites:

• Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, the Court's main website.
• DomainWeb, the Court's site that provides online case and calendar information (for Civil, Family Law , Probate and Small Claims cases that are not confidential).
• Alameda County Home Page
• Alameda County Bar Association (Choose Lawyer Referral Service/Need a Lawyer? For the Public | For Attorneys) for information about how to find a lawyer.
• Web Site of the Judicial Council of California. Click on the "Self Help Center".
• Centro de Ayuda - informacion legal gratis ahora disponible para la comunidad de habla hispana.