To benefit limited English proficient Ohioans, the Ohio Supreme Court has translated more than two dozen domestic relations and juvenile forms in five additional languages. The translated forms allow parties to have a better understanding of court cases involving children and families.

Besides English, the forms are now also available in the most used languages in Ohio, including Spanish, Russian, French, Chinese, and Arabic. When individuals need a domestic relation form in one of these languages, they can click on “Select Another Language.” There they can find both a Word document and PDF file in the languages.

Stephanie Graubner Nelson, the Ohio Supreme Court’s Children & Families Section manager, said having the Domestic Relations and Juvenile Standardized Forms translated into different languages allows all courts across the state to use the same standardized forms for those who don’t speak English as their first language.

“The Supreme Court of Ohio is working on all fronts, Domestic Violence, Children and Families, and Language Services to make justice accessible for all the families in the State of Ohio,” Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said.

These forms are in addition to the Language Services Program Forms Translation Project that made 27 common court forms available in five languages including Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Somali, and Spanish. These forms are recommended to be used by the parties to enhance their understanding of legal information and also to advance the work of court interpreters by allowing them to provide the same precise information to everyone.