Small Claims Basics
Thursday, 12/3, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include the small claims process, Rules of Small Claims Procedure, small claims forms, and an overview of appealing a small claims case.

Collecting a Judgment Basics
Thursday, 12/10, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include identifying a debtor's property, writs of garnishment and execution, exemptions and satisfaction of judgment in civil and criminal cases.

Resources for People Representing Themselves in Utah's State Courts
Friday, 12/11, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Introduces the resources available for people representing themselves in court, including how to find an attorney, legal clinics, forms, the Online Court Assistance Program and other resources. The presentation will be followed by a tour of the Utah State Law Library introducing the print and electronic resources available.

All classes are held in the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City.

To register for these free classes call 801-238-7990 or email library@email.utcourts.gov.

Now available are two new programs. One provides the court documents to try to obtain a protective order on behalf of a minor child. You can choose to use either OCAP or to download fill-in-the-blank forms already available on the court website.

OCAP's new enforcement of domestic orders system provides documents required to ask the court to enforce existing domestic orders. It offers help with preparing orders to show cause, responses to orders to show cause, registrations of foreign orders, as well as several others.

Parents in a domestic relations case must file a parenting plan whenever a party asks the court to create or change a shared parenting arrangement. Any arrangement other than full legal and physical custody held by one parent is a shared parenting arrangement.

Parenting plans are part of the Online Court Assistance Program for divorce or parentage actions. However, sometimes parents need to create a parenting plan on their own or are ordered to do so by the court. Now available on the court website is a stand-alone parenting plan form. Information about the legal requirements of a parenting plan and links to further resources are also available on the website.

Juvenile Court Basics
Thursday, 10/1, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include child welfare proceedings, delinquency proceedings, rights of juveniles and the role of the Guardian ad Litem.

Small Claims Basics
Thursday, 10/8, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include the small claims process, Rules of Small Claims Procedure, small claims forms, and an overview of appealing a small claims case.

Resources for People Representing Themselves in Utah's State Courts
Friday, 10/9, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Introduces the resources available for people representing themselves in court, including how to find an attorney, legal clinics, forms, the Online Court Assistance Program and other resources. The presentation will be followed by a tour of the Utah State Law Library introducing the print and electronic resources available.

Guardianship of an Adult Basics
Thursday, 10/15, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include who can be a guardian, why you might want a guardianship, the difference between a guardianship and conservatorship, the rights and responsibilities of a guardian, how to request a guardianship appointment, and how to terminate a guardianship appointment

Landlord-Tenant Basics
Thursday, 10/22, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Basic rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants, as well as provide a description of the eviction process.

New class coming in November ...
Collecting a Judgment Basics
Thursday, 11/12, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include identifying a debtor's property, writs of garnishment and execution, exemptions and satisfaction of judgment in civil and criminal cases.

All classes are held in the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City.

To register for these free classes call 801-238-7990 or email library@email.utcourts.gov.

The Utah Code regarding common law marriage states that parties may petition the court to recognize a contract between a man and woman who
* are of legal age and capable of giving consent;
* are legally capable of entering a solemnized marriage under the provisions of this chapter;
* have cohabited;
* mutually assume marital rights, duties, and obligations; and
* who hold themselves out as and have acquired a uniform and general reputation as husband and wife.

The petition for recognition of common law marriage must be made during the relationship or within a year after the end of the relationship, including if one party dies.

The Utah State Law Library has a sample pleadings to petition the Court for a common law marriage. Call or e-mail if you would like a copy.

For more information about marriage in Utah, visit the Utah State Courts page on marriage.

Instructions and forms to register foreign child support and child custody orders are now available on the Utah State Courts website at http://www.utcourts.gov/howto/family/foreign_order.

For help with calculating child support, you can use the online calculator or stand-alone worksheets.

Small Claims Basics
Thursday, 9/10, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include the small claims process, Rules of Small Claims Procedure, small claims forms, an overview of collecting a judgment and appealing a small claims case.

Resources for People Representing Themselves in Utah's State Courts
Friday, 9/11, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Introduces the resources available for people representing themselves in court, including how to find an attorney, legal clinics, forms, the Online Court Assistance Program and other resources. The presentation will be followed by a tour of the Utah State Law Library introducing the print and electronic resources available.

Guardianship of a Minor Basics
Thursday, 9/17, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Topics include who can be a guardian, why you might want a guardianship, the difference between a guardianship and conservatorship, the rights and responsibilities of a guardian, how to request a guardianship appointment, and how to terminate a guardianship appointment

Landlord-Tenant Basics
Thursday, 9/24, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Basic rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants, as well as provide a description of the eviction process.

All classes are held in the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City.

To register for these free classes call 801-238-7990 or email library@email.utcourts.gov.

For suspected bankruptcy fraud cases, the U.S. Trustee Program requests that you provide as much information as possible, including:
"* Name and address of the person or business you are reporting.
* The name of the bankruptcy case, case number, and the location of where the case was filed.
* Any identifying information you may have regarding the individual or the business.
* A brief description of the alleged fraud, including how you became aware of the fraud and when the fraud took place. Please include all supporting documentation.
* Identify the type of asset that was concealed and its estimated dollar value, or the amount of any unreported income, undervalued asset, or other omitted asset or claim.
* Your name, address, telephone number, and email address. You are not required to identify yourself, though it is often helpful to do so if questions arise."

Additionally, the U.S. Trustee Program warns people faced with foreclosure to proceed carefully if a person or business:
"* Calls itself a "mortgage consultant," "foreclosure service," or similar name.
* Contacts or advertises to people whose homes are listed for foreclosure.
* Collects a fee before it provides services to you.
* Tells you to make your home mortgage payments directly to the individual or company.
* Tells you to transfer your property deed or title to the individual or company."

For more information and to report suspicions of fraud, contact the local U.S. Trustee office by phone at 801-524-5734 or by email.

Note that annulment laws differ from state to state. You must consult the laws of Utah to determine if you meet any of the criteria for annulment. Even if any or all of the grounds for annulment exist, it is still in the judge's discretion whether or not to grant the annulment.

The grounds for annulment include:
* Where the marriage is prohibited or void under Title 30, Chapter 1, Section 2, which deals with age requirements, prior marriages and divorces, and persons of the same sex.
* Where the marriage is incestuous, and therefore void.
* Common law grounds include fraud, misrepresentation, and failure to consummate the marriage.

Utah laws make no mention of a minimum or maximum amount of time for a marriage to have existed in order to petition the court for an annulment.

At this time, no Court-approved annulment paper work is available. If you find sample pleadings online, you should consult the Rules of Civil Procedure to ensure your documents conform to Court Rules. You should also consider consulting with an attorney, whether at a free legal clinic or through paid representation.

Child protective order forms have been updated recently and are now available on the court website. One important addition is the Service Assistance Form found on the first page of the Verified Petition. This form provides law enforcement with information about the parties and is particularly useful in helping find a respondent to serve the court papers on him or her. The information on the Service Assistance Form is not part of the court public file and is provided only to law enforcement.

Information about protective orders is available in English and Spanish.

The Utah State Courts' website now has a transcript information page. Written transcripts for official purposes must be requested online using the new Transcript Program, listed under Online Services.

If you want to listen to a hearing but do not need a transcript, you can buy a CD recording of the proceeding from the court by contacting the judicial assistant for the judge that heard the case. Use the court's online directory, and either search for the judge by name, or choose the court where your case was heard. Judicial assistants are listed to the right of each judge's name.

You will need to download the software program FTR onto your computer in order to play the CD. The court's web page on Verbatim Copies of Court Hearings provides more information.

You can also play CDs at the law library -- our public computers have FTR dowloaded.

Unfortunately, winning your case is only one step in the process, and collecting the judgment can be more difficult than winning it. If you are lucky the party will pay the judgment. Otherwise, you may have to go back to court to try to get the party to pay what s/he now owes you.

The court does not collect the judgment for you, but does provide tools to help you collect the judgment. Our Collecting a Judgment web page describes the different ways you can collect a judgment, such as a Writ of Execution or a Writ of Garnishment, as well as the process for finding out about the debtor's assets. That process is called a "supplemental proceeding" or "supp order."

The person to whom the judgment is owed is the creditor. The person who owes the judgment is the debtor. The creditor has eight years to collect a judgment from the debtor. (Utah Code Ann. §78B-2-311).

The Taxpayer Information link provides information about filing a petition and what to expect before, during, and after the trial. And recently, video explanations have been added to help self-represented parties understand the petition process and pre- and post-trial matters.

If you need legal assistance, check out the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic list for Utah.

This Nolo book covers topics including talking to the police, search and seizure, arrest, eyewitness identification, book and bail, criminal defense lawyers, criminal court, arraignments, discovery, fundamental trial rights, basic evidence rules, plea bargains, sentencing, appeals, juvenile courts and prisoners' rules.

Our Law Books for Non-Lawyers handout lists other self-help books we have in the library.

Many public libraries carry Nolo titles - check your local library catalog to see if they have this or other books written for non-lawyers.