DENVER (AP) – After speaking to more than 100 people in four states who represented themselves in divorce, custody and child support cases, researchers are calling on lawyers to provide cheaper services and courts to offer more resources to those acting as their own attorneys.
More and more Americans are navigating the legal system on their own. Some jurisdictions report it’s becoming the norm for at least one party to act on his or her own behalf in family court, often because trained help is out of financial reach.
The quality of justice can suffer, but things like technology and access to certain services help, according to a study released this week by Denver’s Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.
Fort Collins nurse Kerry Rayder, who was among the 128 people in Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon and Tennessee who were interviewed for the report, said she and her husband parted amicably in 2014, and neither had money to spare for a lawyer.
After speaking to more than 100 people in four states who represented themselves in divorce, custody and child support cases, researchers are calling on lawyers to provide cheaper services and on courts to offer more resources to those acting as their own attorneys.