The Cowlitz County Clerk’s Office, located at the Hall of Justice, 312 SW 1st Avenue, Second Floor, Kelso, Washington, has a Courthouse Facilitator available by appointment Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Days and times are subject to change. The cost of setting an appointment for is $20.00 due at the time the appointment is set. We do not accept personal checks.

Although it is not required by law, the Courthouse Facilitator is available to assist pro se parties with domestic filings. (Appointment only) HOWEVER -- PER CCLCR 92 BELOW, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR FINAL PLEADINGS REVIEWED:

"CCLCR 92" All final decrees, final orders and accompanying findings of fact, conclusion of law, parenting plans, orders of child support, and child support worksheets for family law cases involving children shall be reviewed for form and completeness prior to presentation to a judicial officer by an attorney of record in the case, an attorney who approved the pleadings as to form and completeness, or the COURT HOUSE FACILITATOR

Appointments range anywhere from 20-30 minutes in length for a Dissolution case to 60-90 minutes for a Third Party Custody case. The courthouse facilitator cannot give legal advice but can give procedural and form advice to self-represented parties in family law matters. Here is a document that describes the duties a courthouse facilitator can perform legally.

Facilitator job duties - download in MS Word or PDF

IF YOU MISS YOUR APPOINTMENT ANOTHER APPOINTMENT FEE WILL BE REQUIRED TO RESCHEDULE

The clerk’s office has all state mandated pattern forms available for purchase at 50 cents per page and packets available for the following court actions:

Dissolution with Children Packet:    $78.00
Dissolution without Children:           $25.50
Establish Parenting Plan Packet:      $70.50   (Certified Copy of Paternity Affidavit from the State of Washington will be required when filing this action.)
Non-Parental Custody Actions:      $85.00
Child Support Modifications:           $67.00
Child Custody/Parenting Plan Modifications:      $37.00 previously married litigants
Child Custody/Parenting Plan Modifications:       $38.50 litigants never married
Contempt Forms:                             $ 6.50
Emancipation Packet:                       $ 4.00
Seal or Vacate Conviction:               $18.00
Small Estate Affidavit                       $ 1.00
Declaration (Generic)                       $ 1.00
Response (Generic)                         $ 1.50
GR 22 Cover Sheets                        $    .50
Restore Right to Carry Gun              $ 6.50

The Washington State Courts web site at www.courts.wa.gov/forms has state pattern forms that can be downloaded from the Internet free of charge.

We have process checklists for the following matters:

Non-parental custody actions - download in PDF

Divorce with children - download in PDF

Divorce without children - download in PDF

Modification of Parenting Plans - download in PDF

Establishing a Parenting Plan Checklist - download in PDF

Other resources besides the Cowlitz County Clerk’s Office are:

If you are low income and need help with a non-criminal legal problem, you may qualify for free legal services through CLEAR at 1-888-201-1014 or if age 60 or over at 1-888-387-7111. The hotline is open Monday through Friday 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and Tuesday 3:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.

To get legal help, you must get a referral from CLEAR to go through the Cowlitz County Legal Aid Program located at 1526 Commerce Avenue in Longview, WA, 98632. The Cowlitz County Legal Aid Office sells 8 packets of family law forms. They are:

Divorce with children, Legal Separation with children, Parenting Plan #5, Divorce without children, Legal Separation without children, Custody Modification, Child Support Modification and Child Relocation

Other helpful web sites are the Northwest Justice Project at www.nwjustice.org and www.washingtonlawhelp.org and www.selfhelpsupport.org/