Trying
to make sense of the legal system, particularly as it deals with family law
issues? Well, the barriers to comprehension are slowing coming
down. For a long time the process was cloaked in Latin,
but with few exceptions that's pretty much gone. When mandatory
forms arrived it was with the best intentions, i.e. present users a series of
options to check and provide some consistency to the myriad of documents.
However, while those forms may be understandable to attorneys who work them
everyday, the occasional visitor to family law still finds them confusing.
On January 5, 2012 Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, writing on behalf of the
Washington State Supreme Court, announced the creation of the Access to Justice
Board’s Pro Se Project Forms Review Work Group. Justice Letter of Support. The purpose of the Group is to convert
mandatory domestic relations forms to "plain
language".
Presently the Group has converted 75 forms, with 15 new conversions announced
this summer. While these forms are expressly in draft form only, some
version of them will eventually be coming to a courthouse near you. The forms are located at: Domestic Relations Plain
Language Forms.
