Legal Assistance

*As of May 5, 2025: The Legal Assistance Office currently has a shortage of attorneys and can only offer limited appointments. We will not be offering walk-in Wednesdays during the months of May, June, and July 2025. We are prioritizing administrative actions, such as GOMORs and FLIPLS, as well as appointments for deploying Soldiers. We sincerely apologize for any delay in service and we look forward to being able to return to normal functions as soon as possible.*

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, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closed daily for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. The office will be closed during training holidays and on all federal holidays. If you are seeking an appointment with an attorney, we schedule on the last duty day of the week. We always recommend coming into our office to schedule, however you may call 719-524-0529 or 719-524-0530. For estate planning appointments, fill out a will worksheet, which may be found HERE or picked up at the office. Estate planning/wills require an appointment. Powers of attorney or notary services are available on a walk-in basis any time the office is open. Please be aware that when we have clients in our lobby, we are required to assist them before we can answer the phones. This includes on our scheduling day. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

Location

The fastest way to get to our office is through Freedom Gate (Gate 1). 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.

Click here for Information Papers prepared by the Legal Assistance Division.

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 are on the temporary disability retired list (TDRL) ("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. Clients must have attended the brief within six months and LAO staff must be able to locate their name on the sign-in roster to schedule. Clients who have not attended the brief within six months must re-attend to ensure they have received the most current information.

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 719-524-0529 or 719-524-0530.

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/.