Find information about the court system in California, lawyers, legal aid and other legal help from your court. Learn how to prepare to go to court, research the law, and resolve your dispute without having to go in front of a judge, and get information and resources on other legal topics that are not covered elsewhere in this Online Self-Help Center.

Learn about going to small claims court, using instructions and guides to help you with your case. Also learn about trying to resolve your dispute out of court, and get answers to frequently asked questions.

Learn about various topics affecting families and children. For each topic, find instructions, forms, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Find information about ending a marriage or registered domestic partnership.

Inform yourself about cases where there is abuse, harassment, or violence. It is important to know what type of case you are dealing with, so start with the Basics section. Once you know what kind of case you want information about, click on that topic for much more information, instructions, and resources for help.

Find information about issues affecting seniors and those adults who may be dependent on others for some or all of their personal and/or financial affairs.  Find instructions, forms, and answers to frequently asked questions.

This section shows you how to ask for a court order changing your gender, both in cases where you also want to change your name or when you only want to change your gender. If you want a court order for a name change ONLY (even if you are also changing your gender), go to our name change section and follow the directions for change of name to conform to your gender identity.

Losing a loved one is a sad and difficult time for family, relatives, and friends. In addition, those left behind must often figure out how to transfer or inherit property from the person who has died.

To do this, you must usually go to court, and dealing with the courts and the property of someone who has died is very complicated. Sometimes, however, family or relatives may be able to transfer property from someone who has died without going to court. But it is not always easy to tell whether you need to go to court or qualify to use a different procedure.

This section will give you some general information to help you understand what your choices may be, but we still encourage you to talk to a lawyer to get specific answers about your situation. You can usually pay the lawyer’s fees from the property in the case.