Family law intake form template
For education only. Not legal advice. Tellbrief is not a law firm.
In family law, the person on the other side may be someone the client lives with, shares children with or is afraid of. An intake form can be built around that.
In short
One order that works around the other side: a plain yes-or-no safety question, a safe way to reach the client, then names only, including the spouse or other parent, for the conflict check. Once they clear, the children, any court case and its next date, and property in rough terms. Statements, account numbers and the full story can wait for the meeting.
On this page
Safety, before anything else
One approach is a plain first question: is the client worried about their own safety, or a child’s? Yes, No and Prefer not to say, with nothing to type. A yes can change what happens next, like how soon the firm calls and how it reaches them.
Some forms say under that question to call 911 in an emergency, and list a local shelter or hotline the firm works with, on the page the client is already reading.
How to reach them safely
A client may share a phone plan, a laptop or an email account with the person on the other side. A form can ask for a number and an email address that are safe to use, whether a voicemail is OK, and whether mail can go to the home address. Every message after that can follow those answers, including the reminders your scheduling tool sends and the confirmation email for the meeting.
Names before the story
A divorcing spouse may talk to more than one firm before hiring one, and the other spouse may already have called yours. Rule 1.18, as Minnesota adopted it, says that even when no client relationship follows, a lawyer who consulted with a prospective client “shall not use or reveal information obtained in the consultation,” except as Rule 1.9 allows for a former client.1 The comment adds that a lawyer deciding whether to take a matter should “limit the initial consultation to only such information as reasonably appears necessary for that purpose.”2 Your state’s version is the one that applies.
A form built this way asks only for names on its first page: the client and any earlier names, the spouse or other parent and their earlier names, and anyone else likely to be involved, like a new partner, a grandparent asking for time with a child or a business the couple owns. How to run a conflict check covers the search and what to record, and the Rule 1.18 intake checklist covers what else to keep out of a first contact.
Once the names clear
The next questions might cover what kind of matter it is, in a short list the client can tap (divorce or separation, custody or parenting time, support, changing an order, a protective order, a prenuptial agreement) and a sentence in their own words. Then the answers that can change what the first meeting is for:
- Court. Has anything been filed, by whom, and is there a date on the papers? A hearing next week means a different meeting from one with no case yet.
- Children. How many are under 18, where they live now, whether the parents agree on the arrangement, and whether either parent wants to move away.
- Orders already in place. Any custody, support or protective order, and which state issued it.
- Time in the state. How long the client and the children have lived where they are now. A recent move can matter for where a case can be filed.
- Property, roughly. A home, retirement accounts, a business, a prenuptial agreement. Yes-or-no answers and ranges are enough.
- The other side. Whether the other person has a lawyer, and whether the two of them are still talking.
What can wait for the meeting
Bank and retirement statements, tax returns, account numbers and the details of any abuse may be better left off a form filled in before the firm has taken the matter. They may not be needed to decide, and the form may be open on a computer someone else uses. A full request can follow once you’re engaged; the document request list shows one way to set it out.
A made-up example
Dana books a consultation for Friday. On the form, Dana answers Yes to the safety question, gives a work email as the safe address and asks for no voicemails. The names are Dana Okafor, Sam Okafor and a landscaping company they own together. The search finds nothing. Dana’s answers then show two children, aged 6 and 9, papers served last week and a hearing in 12 days. The lawyer calls Dana’s work number that afternoon instead of waiting for Friday.
The form, in three parts
Three short parts: part 1 when someone books, the rest once the names clear. It’s a starting point to change for your firm, your state and the matter.
Part 1: before anything else
Are you worried about your safety, or a child’s safety, right now? (No / Yes / Prefer not to say.) If you’re in danger, call 911. [Local hotline or shelter, if your firm lists one.]
How can we reach you safely? A phone number and email address only you can see. Can we leave a voicemail? (Yes / No.) Can we send mail to your home? (Yes / No.)
Part 2: names for our conflict check
Your full name and any earlier names. The other spouse or parent’s full name and any earlier names. Anyone else involved, such as a new partner, a relative asking for time with a child, or a business you own together. Please don’t describe what’s happening yet. Sending this doesn’t make you our client.
Part 3: once we’ve checked the names
What do you need help with? (Divorce or separation / Custody or parenting time / Support / Changing an order / Protective order / Prenuptial agreement / Not sure.) In a sentence or two, what’s happening? Has anything been filed in court? (No / Yes, by me / Yes, by the other person / Not sure.) If there’s a date on the papers, what is it? Children under 18: how many, where they live now, and whether you agree on the arrangement. Any existing custody, support or protective order, and which state. How long you’ve lived in this state. Do you own a home, retirement accounts or a business? Is there a prenuptial agreement? Does the other person have a lawyer? What’s the one thing you most want to come out of the meeting?
[Your firm’s usual wording on when someone becomes a client.]
If you can’t take the matter, a prompt written reply to the safe address they gave leaves you both a record. What to say when you decline has wording, and the non-engagement letter template fills it in.
Tellbrief’s family law questions start with safety, as a yes or no, and you see only the names until you clear them. The brief puts a yes on safety and any court date at the top. Start a free pilot; your first three briefs are free.
See it first: the demo dashboard · a demo brief · the family law questions your client answers
Other practices: the personal injury intake checklist and the estate planning intake questionnaire.
Sources
Each quote was checked against its source on November 7, 2026. Laws and guidance can change after that date.
Questions about family law intake
Why might the safety question come first?
It’s the answer most likely to change how and how fast the firm contacts the client. Asked first, it’s there even if they stop partway.
Why not ask for the story on the first page?
If the other spouse already consulted your firm, you want to find out from the names before you hold this client’s story too.
Can clients upload financial statements on the form?
A form can ask whether the documents exist, and the statements can follow once the firm has taken the matter, through the channel it uses.
What if the client says not to email them?
One option is to note it where everyone at the firm will see it, and turn off automatic reminders for that client.
Try it on your next three family law consultations
Each brief puts a yes on safety and any court date at the top, then the issues to raise and the documents to ask for. You clear the other side’s name before you read anything. Your first three briefs are free, and setup is one 15-minute call.