Welcome

To begin the questionnaire, select the category you would like to find help with

Child Support

Starting a child support case, changing a child support order, enforcing a child support order, college expenses

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Parentage

Establishing legal parentage, challenging a parent-child relationship, denials of parentage

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Custody & Visitation

Starting a custody or visitation rights case, changing a custody arrangement or visitation schedule, non-parent visitation

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Divorce & Separation

Starting a divorce or legal separation case, responding to a divorce petition, changing a settlement agreement, annulments

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Terms and Conditions

I agree to the Terms and Conditions for using SAEF's online questionnaire to find free and low-cost legal help in Chicago. I acknowledge that SAEF is not an attorney or law firm and does not provide legal advice. I understand that by filling out SAEF's online questionnaire, no attorney or law firm has taken my case.

I also agree to the Privacy Policy and understand that SAEF will never sell your data, nor share your data with any external party without your explicit permission. I acknowledge that while withholding certain information may impact the referrals received, I am not required to share personally identifiable information to access or use the questionnaire.

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Terms and Conditions

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Terms and Conditions

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Terms and Conditions

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Is the questionnaire free to use?

Yes! SAEF is free for anyone to use. We will never ask you for a credit card, nor will you see a paywall on our website.

SAEF was built by those who intimately understand how difficult it is for those who can't afford an attorney to access their legal rights.

Our mission is to help you access the best legal help you can afford, whenever you're ready to get help.

We're a non-profit organization funded by charitable donations from institutions like the University of Chicago Business School and the Duke Center on Law & Technology.

What does "free and affordable" legal help mean?

There are a number of organizations in Chicago that offer free legal services. These are typically nonprofits that receive funding from the government, private donors, or both.

When we say affordable or low-cost legal help, we mean organizations that charge fees that are at least 40% cheaper than the average family law attorney.

Low-cost legal help providers tend to offer flexible fee arrangements. For example, some may charge fees based on your income (you pay what you can).

Some free legal help providers can only help people within a certain income bracket. Others have little to no restrictions on who they can help, but they typically cannot provide full legal representation.

Learn more about different kinds of legal help providers

I received a referral. What happens next?

If you're ready to get legal help, any one of the organizations you see on the referral pages can help address your legal needs! We work closely with our referral partners to ensure that they are equipped with the expertise to handle our referrals.
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Each organization takes on new clients differently, so make sure to read each referral page carefully for instructions on:

How to apply for legal help
The hours and days an organizations takes on new clients; and
The items or documents an attorney may need to see in order to provide legal help

Do I have to share my personal information?

No. In order to give you the most relevant legal information, we only need to know your zip code. Otherwise, you do not need to provide personally identifiable information to find legal help.
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The questionnaire will ask sensitive demographic questions that are entirely optional. You may also choose to sign-up for an account with your name and e-mail address to save your referrals. Or don't!

No matter what, we will never sell your data, or share your data with a third-party without your explicit permission.

See our Privacy Policy

I don’t see my legal problem. How can I find help?

We're very sorry that we couldn't help you find what you're looking for. Currently, we're researching other areas of the law we can help people find free and low-cost legal help with in Illinois.

If you're comfortable doing so, we encourage you to share with us what legal problems you're looking for help with. We will use your feedback to decide what to build next!

Share with us what you're looking for legal help with!

If you can't find the problem you're looking for, we recommend you go to Illinois Legal Aid Online.org

Frequently
Asked
Questions

A simple survey that finds you FREE & low-cost family legal help in Chicago.

Welcome

To begin the questionnaire, select the category you would like to find help with

Child Support

Parentage

Custody & Visitation

Divorce & Separation

Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

FrequentlyAskedQuestions

Sorry! Work in Progress

Frequently
Asked
Questions