ELAP provides free 1-hour appointments with a family law attorney for advice and consultation on family law legal issues involving domestic violence. 
Attorney volunteers are not able to provide full representation or represent clients in court.

Domestic Violence Family Law Clinic offered at Eastside Legal Assistance Program

Provides free 1-hour appointments for advice on family law legal issues involving domestic violence. Attorneys at the clinic are not able to provide representation. Serves low-income residents in East, Northeast and Southeast King County. (SUSPENDED until January 5th 2026)

Programs that work for policy change through the legal system, either by lawsuits, friend of the court briefs, or providing information for legal cases. Also included are efforts to promote a more just and equitable legal system, which may also include legislative advocacy.

Judicial Advocacy

Programs that help adults obtain an order from the police or the courts that protects them from abuse or threats of abuse from a current or former spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, someone they have a child with, someone they live with or someone they are related to through blood or marriage. Included are emergency protective orders that police can obtain from the court to provide immediate protection to an abused family member for five to seven days until an application for a temporary restraining order can be made in court; longer-term temporary restraining orders issued in civil court that forbid contact with the protected person until the propriety of granting a permanent injunction can be evaluated; permanent or after-hearing restraining orders that make a short-term injunction granted in the temporary restraining order permanent (or specify the amount of time they will remain in effect); and criminal temporary protective orders which apply in situations where an abusive individual has been arrested and faces trial.

Domestic Violence Protective/Restraining Orders

Programs that provide assistance for people who want to obtain custody of their children as a part of a divorce or separation action, who want to appeal all or a portion of the terms of a previous child custody decision, or in the case of a noncustodial parent, who want to establish or appeal the terms of a visitation award or a court-ordered visitation schedule. Included are programs that provide child custody/visitation assistance for people who are not legally married but have children together.

Child Custody/Visitation Assistance

Programs that provide information and guidance and/or representation in court proceedings for individuals who have been abused in an intimate relationship and/or for people who are facing a summary conviction offence or criminal charge for perpetrating abuse. Included are domestic violence law clinics and other legal assistance programs that represent victims of domestic abuse at restraining order hearings or in other civil or criminal actions involving charges against an abuser. Most also represent the person's interests in complexities that arise as part of the legal process such as restitution, payment of debts or child support, custody and visitation and property control. Some programs may also represent victims of domestic abuse who have been charged with a crime and/or handle cases involving accusations of child abuse filed by one parent against the other, abuse of an elderly person by an adult child or abuse of an adult child by a parent.

Domestic/Family Violence Legal Services

Programs that provide assistance for grandparents who feel that their visitation and custody rights with regard to their grandchildren have been violated. Also included are organizations that provide information about the rights of grandparents and/or referrals for grandparents who need to locate a lawyer who has expertise in this area, or other legal resources.

Grandparent Rights

Programs that provide assistance for women who want to initiate litigation to prove that a particular individual is the father of a given child and to enforce support obligations, or for men who want to establish that they are not the father of a particular child.

Paternity Suits

Programs that provide assistance for people who are initiating or responding to a suit for an annulment of their marriage, which establishes that a marital status never existed; a legal separation, which suspends the marriage so far as concerns the cohabitation of the two parties; or a divorce, which totally dissolves the marriage relationship. These programs may also discuss and represent the individual's interests regarding distribution of property assets and parenting issues regarding any children.

Divorce Assistance

Programs that operate centers which provide comprehensive private and public services including medical care, counseling, law enforcement, social services, employment assistance and housing assistance for people who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse, and/or human trafficking. Many of the centers in the U.S. are part of the Family Justice Center Alliance, a nationally recognized program of Alliance for HOPE International. Their objective is to reduce the fragmentation and lack of coordination among services through a collaborative multi-agency model that ensures increased safety and comprehensive care for survivors and their families.

Family Justice Centers

Programs that provide assistance for people age 14 to 18 who are managing their own financial affairs, whose income is derived from activities not considered criminal, who are willing to live apart from their parents or guardians with their consent, and who want to petition the court to be considered over the age of majority. People younger than age 18 are automatically considered emancipated if they have entered into a valid marriage (whether or not the marriage was terminated by dissolution) or if they are on active duty with any of the armed forces.

Emancipation of Minors

Programs that provide assistance which helps to ensure that parents fulfill their mutual obligation to financially support and provide health care for their children. Included are services for people who want to locate an absent parent; establish paternity; establish a child support order; request that the non-custodial parent provide health insurance for a child in conjunction with a child support order; change the amount of a child support award; dispute a child support award; or enforce payment of child support monies in cases where the supporting parent is delinquent in paying or refuses to pay or make health insurance arrangements altogether. Child support is money paid by one parent to another for the maintenance, including the education, of their children following the dissolution of their marriage or other relationship. Non-custodial parents enrolled in an insurance plan at work may be required to include the child under this coverage while those not covered by any insurance plan may be required to obtain medical coverage, if available at a reasonable cost. Child support assistance/enforcement may be provided by private attorneys, legal clinics, family law facilitators' offices or child support enforcement programs which are available in all states, often as a component of the district attorney's office.

Child Support Assistance/Enforcement

Programs that provide assistance for people who want to independently adopt a child, legally relinquish a child for adoption or initiate or respond to litigation which involves the placement or removal of a child.

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Domestic Violence Family Law Clinic offered at Eastside Legal Assistance Program