Divorce
With Children

Maine Court Forms
If You Are The Defendant in a Family Law Case

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Important Notice: Doing your own court case without a lawyer is hard and not always a good idea. Before going ahead, we advise you to read Divorce and Parental Rights in Maine.

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If you have been served with a Divorce or Parental Rights complaint, and you wish to be heard by the court, you must fill out, file, and serve certain court forms. Here is a list of the forms you will need:

We offer two options for preparing your court forms. See the chart below.

1. Fillable forms. These are our older .pdf forms. You can fill them out online, then print. Or you can print, then fill them out by hand. We believe that these forms will work if you have Adobe Reader 4.0 or higher. Get more details on using fillable .pdf forms
2. HotDocs interviews. This is a newer way to prepare your forms. It may be easier for you. The links will send you to an online interview on another trustworthy website. You just answer the qustions, then print out your forms. Two cautions: Some internet browsers (such as Firefox and older versions of Internet Explorer) do not support this program. Also, we are still in the testing phase, so there may be bugs. But we encourage you to try them out. More technical details here.

If you are the defendant, you need to file either an Entry of Appearance form or an Answer and Counterclaim within 20 days of being served with the court papers (Summons and Complaint).

• Entry of Appearance: This is the simplest way to respond.  You are just telling the court that you want to be notified of all court dates in your case.
  

FM-020 Entry of Appearance

Get fillable .pdf form

Go to HotDocs interview

• Answer and Counterclaim: This is a longer form that you may want to file and serve.  If the plaintiff decides not to go through with the court case, you can still do that based on your own "counterclaim."  

Divorce Answer and Counterclaim (with children)	Get fillable .pdf form	Go to HotDocs interview
Divorce Answer and Counterclaim (no minor children)	Get fillable .pdf form	Go to HotDocs interview
Parental Rights and Responsibilities Answer and Counterclaim	Get fillable .pdf form

• Other Forms: Depending on your situation and what the Magistrate or Judge requests, you may need some of these other forms.

FM-050 Child Support Affidavit if the case involves issues of parental rights or child support	Get fillable .pdf form	Go to HotDocs interview
FM-043 Financial Statement if the case involves issues of alimony or attorney's fees	Get fillable .pdf form	Go to HotDocs interview
FM-040 Child Support Worksheet if requested by the Magistrate or Judge	Get fillable .pdf form	Go to HotDocs interview

Find more court forms.