Your First 30 Days: A Self-Represented Litigant's Checklist

The first month of a family court case sets the trajectory for everything that follows. Here is the checklist we walk every Academy member through.

Week one: stabilize

• Read every document you were served. The response deadline is printed on it — circle it.
• Open a dedicated folder (physical or digital) for your case. Everything the court sends goes in it, in date order.
• Start a case journal. One entry a day: what happened, who said what, what you filed.

Week two: calendar and deadlines

Enter every date from your paperwork into a calendar you actually check: response deadlines, case management conferences, temporary orders hearings. Missing a deadline is the single most common way a strong case becomes a lost one.

Week three: documents

Collect the five documents every family case leans on: financial records, prior agreements, communications with the other party, anything already filed with the court, and your identification. Make copies — the court keeps originals.

Week four: your plan

Write one page: what you want the court to do, and why. That page becomes your north star for every filing and every hearing. If a document or an argument doesn't serve that page, set it aside.

You don't need to know everything. You need to know your deadlines, your documents, and your goal.