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Legal Research from Home Series 5: Family Law Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of the family law entry of the legal research from home series. We know family law can be overwhelming and we are here to help. We’ll look at some of online resources available to use when researching family law matters regarding children (custody, support, adoption, IEP etc. IEP stands for the Individual Education Program, which ensures special needs children receive an equal and fair education. Nolo produces guides for parents of special needs children to advocate for them).

RCLL’s subscription to ESBCOHost includes digital versions of NOLO texts that explain areas of law dealing with families and children. This is a good starting point for researching legal topics from home and anyone can remotely use EBSCOHost at home by simply calling or emailing RCLL staff to obtain the username and password. Here you can find our “How to Use EBSCOHost Remotely” guide that includes some information on using EBSCOHost. NOLO self-help texts on EBSCO that discuss child matters in family law include: 

            Building a Parenting Agreement that Works – for matters dealing with adoption, child custody, and parenting in general. 

            Nolo’s Essential Guide to Child Custody and Support – for matters dealing with child custody and child support.

            Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples – includes chapters and forms for LGBT+ couples with or looking to have children.

            Complete IEP guide – discusses the Individual Education Program (IEP), a program that ensures every special needs child receives a free and appropriate education. This guide assists parents attempting to navigate the IEP and advocate for their child. 

            Nolo’s IEP Guide: Learning Disabilities – an IEP guide that is geared towards parents with children with learning disabilities (not children in special education). This guide assists parents in developing IEP goals, choosing programs and services, understanding learning disabilities, and much more. 

EBSCOHost is a valuable resource that can be used by anyone to access the popular legal self-help Nolo texts. Apart from database and text resources, there are many other resources and services here in Riverside County that assist in all matters concerning children. Some of these include:

Riverside Superior Court Self-Help Center: The self-help center provides assistance in matters concerning paternity, child support, custody, visitation, and more. Find their current info here: https://bit.ly/36Lb50w 

Riverside Superior Court website: the Riverside Superior Court’s website features references guides on many family law matters concerning children here: https://bit.ly/3BbrbyI 

California Courts website: the California courts website has an extensive section on family law matters concerning children including guides on support, custody, visitation, paternity, abuse, guardianship, adoption, and more. Access the page here: https://bit.ly/3hM1TiM 

California Family Laws on FindLaw.com: Findlaw.com is a valuable resource that includes simple and easy to read breakdown on laws. Find the page on California family laws which includes articles on CA laws relating to children here: https://bit.ly/3hKfTtG 

Lawhelpca.gov: is a free online legal resource run by the Legal Aid Association of California that covers 16 topics with 140 subtopics, including family law and children. Explore the topics and materials for families here: https://www.lawhelpca.org/topic/families-and-kids

We hope these resources can help with your legal research at home. And don’t forget, you can always reach out to one of our law librarians by filling out our reference request form.

Written by: Michael Van Aken, Library Assistant  


Michael Van Aken

By Michael Van Aken

August 20, 2021

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