Custody
What to bring to your first custody hearing
A one-folder checklist: the papers a judge asks for, the ones that only help the other side, and what to leave at home.
Rosalind Ashcraft6 min read
Ashcraft Law Clinic, Little Rock
Your kids aren’t leverage. Neither are you.
I’m Rosalind. I started this clinic for parents who face family court alone because a lawyer costs a month’s rent.
Divorce, custody, support and protective orders, for families who qualify. You get the truth about your case on the first visit.
Rosalind Ashcraft
Executive director and lead attorney
- No fee for families who qualifyA sliding fee above the limit
- Tuesdays until 7pmFor parents who can’t leave work
- Text if calling isn’t safe(501) 555-0162
Court filing and service fees are separate from ours. If you can’t pay them, we help you ask the court to waive them.
Watch this first
See a first visit before you come in
Rosalind narrates a first visit at the clinic: what we’ll ask, what to bring in a folder, and the three things we can’t do for you. Watch it on your phone in the parking lot, or read the same walk-through as a page.
Your first visit to the clinic
Guides
Read these before your hearing
Short guides Rosalind wrote for the questions she hears at the front desk every week.
CourtYour hearing is on video. Here’s how to get ready.
Where to sit, what the judge sees, how to show a document on screen, and what to do if the call drops.
Rosalind Ashcraft5 min read
What we take on
Four kinds of cases, and we know each one cold
We stay in family court so we can know its judges, its clerks and its forms.
Divorce
Contested or not, with or without property to divide. We start with what you need to keep the kids housed.
About divorceCustody and visitation
First orders, changes after a move, and schedules for parents who work nights and weekends.
About custodyChild support
Setting it from real pay stubs, collecting what’s owed, and asking to change it when a job ends.
About child supportProtective orders
Filing for one, getting ready for the hearing, and planning how you get to and from court safely.
About protective orders
From clients
Parents who sat where you’re sitting
“I came in with a shoebox of texts and a court date in nine days. Rosalind sorted the box with me at her table and told me which three mattered.”
Tamika R.Custody case
“Ezra explained the support worksheet line by line. For the first time I understood why the number was what it was.”
Dale W.Child support change
“I texted because I couldn’t call from home. Maribeth texted back and walked me through the next morning step by step.”
Name withheldProtective order
Sample stories from invented clients. Every family’s case is different, and how one went doesn’t predict another.
Not sure you qualify? Ask anyway.
Tell us how many people live in your home and roughly what comes in each month. If we can’t take your case, we’ll tell you who can.