Legal Assistance

Mission

The Fort Carson Office of the Staff Judge Advocate Legal Assistance Office provides world class legal advice and service to America's past, present and future warriors and their dependents.

Hours of Operation

The Legal Assistance Office is open Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The office will be closed at 3 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month for training. The office will be closed during training holidays and on all federal holidays. If you are seeking an appointment with an attorney, call 719-526-5572 or 719-526-5573 on the last duty day of the week. Clients can also walk-in to speak with an attorney every Wednesday from 9-11:30 a.m. For estate planning appointments, fill out a will worksheet, which may be found in the Estate Planning section below or may be picked up at our office. Estate planning/wills are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays and are by appointment only (no-walk ins, even on Wednesdays). Powers of attorney and notary services are available on a walk-in basis any time the office is open. If you need notary services for a house closing, call ahead of time to let personnel know you are coming in to ensure we have someone available to assist, as house closings often take 20-30 minutes.

Location

The fastest way to get to our office is through Gate 1 (Main Gate). Keep right before entering the roundabout on Harr Avenue; once on Harr, you will take the third street on the left. This is not a left turn as the road will actually be forking; the left branch which you need to take will be Prussman Boulevard. You will arrive at a three-way stop sign with a flashing red light. Go straight and at the next stop sign, turn right onto Mekong Street. Alternately, you will see a green sign that says "Courthouse" along the route, and you can follow the signs to the courthouse and we are located in the building next to the courthouse.

Services

Powers of attorney and notaries are currently available on a walk-in basis any time the office is open. Other Legal Assistance services include family law (divorce, paternity, support, adoption), estate planning (wills, health care directives, durable powers of attorney), real and personal property (landlord tenant, housing), consumer law (debt collection, garnishment, SCRA), civilian administrative (name changes immigration and naturalization, driving privileges), military administrative (Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss, OER and NCOER appeals, Memoranda of Reprimand rebuttals, Article 138 complaints, security clearances), torts and civilian criminal matters.

Per Army Regulation 27-3, the following are types of cases in which legal assistance is either not authorized or only offers limited services: military justice matters, private business activities, civil litigation or claims against the United States, employment matters - except those involving enforcement of USERRA, contingent legal fee cases (limited assistance), prepaid legal representation cases (limited assistance), and standards of conduct issues. Legal assistance attorneys are also not able to advise Soldiers on any matter arising out of an allegation against them of sexual assault.

Eligible Clients

Per regulation, the following persons are eligible to receive legal assistance:

Active Component members of the Armed Forces and their Family Members.
Reserve Component members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty more than 29 days, and their Family Members.
Active and Reserve Component members of the Armed Forces who are receiving military retirement or disability pay ("gray" card retired Reserve Component members are not eligible for assistance).
Department of Defense civilian employees against whom pecuniary liability has been recommended under AR 735-5.
Department of Defense civilian employees who are to deploy to a combat zone, but only for matters related to their imminent deployment.

Divorce and Separation Video Briefing

The divorce brief will be offered on Mondays at 2:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. Prior to scheduling an appointment with one of our attorneys for divorce or separation, you must attend this briefing from our office.

Special Victim Counsel Program

The Special Victim Counsel (SVC) is a Judge Advocate licensed attorney who represents the interests of qualified sexual assault victims throughout the duration of the Military Justice or administrative process. The SVC works exclusively for the victim, not for the Army or any other person, organization, or entity.

If the victim requests an SVC and qualifies for services, the SVC will work with the victim to explain the legal proceedings and/or administrative actions in their case and represent the victim for relevant portions of a courts-martial. The SVC can accompany the victim to all interviews with the criminal investigators, the prosecution team, and defense counsel. The SVC can also provide legal assistance services as related to their case.

For more information, contact your Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), Victim Advocate or call legal assistance at 719-526-5572 or 719-526-5573.

DOD Safe Helpline — Sexual Assault Support for the DOD community, phone 877-995-5247 or visit http://www.safehelpline.org.

Fort Carson Tax Center

Effective Oct. 5, 2022, the Fort Carson Legal Assistance office will no longer provide tax preparation services to otherwise eligible persons. The staff is authorized by regulation and will continue to provide tax preparation services to surviving Families.

Moving forward, Soldiers, Families and retirees can find tax preparation assistance through Military One Source (MilTax) or through the Internal Revenue Service at https://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/.

The staff offers a tax brief every Friday at 1 p.m. ending April 14 (the Friday before Tax Day).