Legal Aid of North Carolina is hosting a free, self-help legal clinic on simple divorce for the Wilmington community this week.
According to Hannah Lebowitz, spokewoman for Legal Aid of North Carolina, a session on simple divorce will be held Thursday at 2:30 p.m. the New Hanover County’s Main and Law Library at 201 Chestnut St. in downtown Wilmington.
The clinic is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required since space is limited. Click here to register.
“The clinics educate participants about their legal rights and empower them to file certain basic legal actions without an attorney,” Lebowitz said.
At the various clinics the group offers, participants watch a video presentation that walks them step-by-step through the process of filling out the correct legal forms. Participants are provided with a packet containing all the forms and information they need. After the presentation, a volunteer attorney can answer participants’ general questions about the topic.
“People don’t need lawyers for some basic legal issues. If you have an uncomplicated child custody issue or need a divorce that doesn’t involve kids or shared property, we can teach you how to fill out and file the paperwork with the courts, all by yourself,” Blaine Mays, who organizes the Legal Aid clinics, said.
The clinics are designed so participants can walk right into the courthouse and file the paperwork that day, Mays said.
“These clinics are a really effective way to provide some level of legal help to lots of people at one time. There are so many North Carolinians who need legal help, and we simply don’t have the resources to help each of them individually,” Mays said.
Legal Aid holds clinics at 33 locations across the state. A child custody clinic is held on the second Tuesday of every month, and the divorce clinic is held on the third Thursday of every month. There is also a quarterly clinic on health care powers of attorney and living wills.
