SupportGuard
Executive Summary
Vision Statement
Empower every parent to secure fair, enforceable child support agreements—eliminating confusion and reducing conflict through accessible, trustworthy legal automation.
Problem Summary
Many parents in Washington State and beyond struggle with the legal enforceability of child support agreements that are not properly formalized or signed by a judge. This leads to confusion, disputes, and non-payment, as illustrated in the Reddit post where a private agreement fell apart once one party challenged its validity. The lack of clear, guided processes for ensuring agreements are court-approved exposes families to financial and legal risk.
Proposed Solution
A guided legal tech platform that walks users step-by-step through drafting, filing, and tracking child support agreements. The platform would ensure all documents meet the legal requirements for judicial approval, provide status updates on court processing, and alert users to any missing steps. Integrated educational resources and access to local legal support would further empower users to secure enforceable arrangements.
Market Analysis
Target Audience
The ideal user is a parent or guardian (often self-represented) navigating separation or divorce, seeking to establish or modify a child support agreement in the U.S. They may be unfamiliar with legal procedures, want to avoid costly attorney fees, and need clarity on how to make agreements enforceable. Secondary users include family law professionals, mediators, and legal aid organizations.
Niche Validation
The Reddit post and its comments demonstrate a genuine and recurring pain point: confusion over the enforceability of child support agreements not signed by a judge. Multiple commenters confirm that private agreements are not legally binding until court-approved. While the post has moderate engagement (10 upvotes, 11 comments), this issue is widespread, as evidenced by frequent questions on legal forums and the existence of state-run support registries. The niche is validated by both direct user pain and the lack of user-friendly, automated solutions.
Google Trends Keywords
Market Size Estimation
Focusing on self-represented parents in states with complex filing procedures (e.g., Washington, California, New York), the SAM is estimated at 1-2 million users annually seeking to file or modify support orders without an attorney.
Capturing just 1% of annual new family law filings in Washington and similar states, the SOM is approximately 10,000-20,000 new users per year, with potential for steady growth as legal tech adoption increases.
Over 13.6 million custodial parents in the U.S. have child support arrangements, per the U.S. Census Bureau. In Washington State alone, thousands of new family law cases are filed each year, with the majority requiring support agreements. The TAM includes all parents navigating new or modified child support orders nationwide.
Competitive Landscape
Existing solutions include state-run portals (e.g., DSHS Washington Child Support), generic legal form websites (e.g., LegalZoom), and document filing services. However, these often lack guided workflows, real-time status tracking, and integration with local court requirements. Competitors like Hello Divorce and Wevorce offer broader divorce solutions, but few focus narrowly on the enforceability and status-tracking of support agreements in a user-friendly SaaS model.
Product Requirements
User Stories
As a parent, I want to draft a child support agreement that meets my state's legal requirements so it will be enforceable.
As a user, I want to file my agreement electronically with the correct court and receive updates on its approval status.
As a parent, I want to be notified if any step is missing or if additional documents are required by the court.
As a legal professional, I want to review and approve agreements before filing on behalf of my clients.
MVP Feature Set
Guided agreement drafting with state-specific compliance checks
Automated court filing workflow and status tracking
User dashboard with document storage and notification center
Educational resources and FAQs on child support law
Optional attorney review and live support
Non-Functional Requirements
Data privacy and encryption for all sensitive documents
High availability and reliability (99.9% uptime)
Accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1 AA)
Scalable architecture for anticipated user growth
Key Performance Indicators
Number of agreements successfully filed and approved by courts
User activation rate (from draft to filed agreement)
Monthly active users and retention rate
User satisfaction (NPS) and support ticket resolution time
Churn rate from free to paid tiers
Go-to-Market Strategy
Core Marketing Message
Never lose child support due to paperwork mistakes—SupportGuard ensures your agreement is court-approved, enforceable, and always trackable.
Initial Launch Channels
- Targeted posts and AMAs in r/legaladvice, r/Divorce, and r/SingleParents
- Launch on Product Hunt with a focus on legal tech and family law communities
- Partner with local legal aid organizations and mediators for direct referrals
Strategic Metrics
Problem Urgency
High
Solution Complexity
Medium
Defensibility Moat
Defensibility comes from local legal compliance automation, integrations with state court systems, and the accumulation of anonymized filing data to optimize user experience. Early partnerships with legal aid and local courts, as well as a reputation for up-to-date compliance, can create high switching costs.
Source Post Metrics
Business Strategy
Monetization Strategy
Adopt a freemium model: basic agreement drafting and education are free, while premium features (court filing automation, status tracking, attorney review, and live chat support) are subscription-based or charged per filing. Partnerships with legal aid and family law professionals may provide B2B revenue streams.
Financial Projections
Assuming 2,000 paying users per month at $15/month (premium tier), initial MRR could reach $30,000. With modest marketing and partnerships, this could scale to $100,000+ MRR within 2-3 years as legal tech adoption increases.
Tech Stack
Node.js with Express for scalable API development, or Python with FastAPI for robust data processing and integration with court e-filing systems.
PostgreSQL for secure, relational storage of user data, agreements, and status logs.
Next.js for its SEO benefits, fast rendering, and ease of rapid prototyping. Mobile support via React Native for cross-platform reach.
Stripe for payments, Twilio for SMS/email notifications, integration with state court e-filing APIs (where available), DocuSign for digital signatures, AWS S3 for secure document storage.
Risk Assessment
Identified Risks
- Legal complexity and state-by-state variation could make compliance and automation challenging. 2. Court system integration barriers may limit seamless electronic filing in some jurisdictions.
Mitigation Strategy
- Partner with local legal experts and continuously update compliance modules. 2. Provide clear manual filing instructions and status tracking where e-filing is not available, while prioritizing integration with the most common court systems.