Alameda County Superior Court
Family Court Self Help
Family Law Facilitator (FLF)
This section will tell you about:
- The Family Law Facilitator’s Office
- How the Family Law Facilitator’s Office can help you
- Things the Family Law Facilitator’s Office cannot do
- How to get help from the Family Law Facilitator
- Other things you should know
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The Family Law Facilitator’s Office
The Family Law Facilitator's Office is part of Superior Court of Alameda County and help people who do not have lawyers help them.
For Hours and location information click here.
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How the Family Law Facilitator's Office can help you
The Family Law Facilitator can give you information about the law and the forms you’ll need. If you do not have a lawyer, you can receive information on:
Child Support
- how to get, change (raise or lower), or enforce child support orders, including child care costs and health insurance,
- calculations for California State "guideline" child support,
- problems with collection of past due child support,
- suspended driver's licenses (or other professional licenses) for unpaid child support.
Spousal Support
If you also have child support issues the Facilitator’s Office can show you:
- How to get, change or enforce spousal support,
- calculations for California State "guideline" temporary spousal support.
Custody and/or visitation
- How to get, change, or enforce custody or visitation orders. We will help you one-on-one if you have a new case or if support and/or paternity is an issue in your case.
- Establishing parentage when the parents aren’t married
- Helping parents make and write agreements about child support, custody or visitation – if you and the other parent have an agreement, that includes child support, the Facilitator’s office can assist you in writing the agreement. You can call for an appointment to come in with the other parent to write up an agreement.
- Writing up orders after your hearing.
We cannot give you legal advice or represent you in court. You can find a lawyer in the telephone book or call the Lawyer Referral service at the Alameda County Bar Association.
We cannot assist with guardianships, ex parte emergency orders, domestic violence matters, judgments, property divisions, or cases that do not involve children and support.
For Hours and location information click here. Be prepared to wait.
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Children:
Do not bring children to the Family Law Facilitator’s office or to court.
When you come to court, please ask someone to care for your children. In general, children are not allowed to come to court hearings. Also, we cannot talk about your case in front of children.
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Bring your paperwork or previous court orders to your class appointment
- Bring a blue or black pen
- No food or drinks are allowed
Important! Please bring all paperwork from your case
- Child support calculations:
If you need help child support, please bring your most recent paystub or other proof of income, income tax return for you, and any information you have about how much money the other parent makes.
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Translation services:
If you do not speak English well, bring an adult that can translate for you when you come to the office.