You receive a full year of all the member benefits below for far less than you would pay for an hour of an attorney’s time almost anywhere else!

Member Legal Services

From legal advice to full court representation: no matter what services are needed to help you, there are no further charges of any kind beyond your annual membership dues.

• Get personal answers to your homeschooling-related legal questions, whether you need clarification of your state’s homeschool law or are experiencing conflict or misunderstanding with a government official.
• Know that we will correspond on your behalf with such officials as needed. Often, a well-worded first response to an official can prevent a situation from escalating into a full-blown legal problem.
• If your homeschooling-related situation winds up in court, you can rest assured that HSLDA provides full representation at every stage of legal proceedings. (This may require hiring local attorneys at no charge to you.)*

Member Consultant Services

Get one-on-one advice by phone or email from our pre-K–12 educational consultants at no additional charge—just the cost of your annual membership dues. The educational consultants can help you with:

• Getting started homeschooling.
• Homeschooling a child with special needs.
• Planning classes and choosing curriculum.
• Making a high school transcript.
• And much more!

• Enjoy 24/7/365 access to our members-only online resources, including detailed information and HSLDA-designed forms to help you comply with your state’s homeschooling regulations.
• Save money by using our specially negotiated member discounts with national vendors through the HSLDA Member Discount Program.
• Help your budget stretch even further by using your member discounts on other HSLDA programs and services, such as the HSLDA Store, HSLDA Online Academy’s online courses, and Generation Joshua leadership camps.
• Read the inside scoop with the Home School Court Report, our quarterly member magazine packed with homeschooling news, analysis, stories, tips, and encouragement.

* Please note that member families who choose to consult separately with a non-HSLDA attorney must do so at their own expense.

Membership dues for a family for one year are $150. One membership covers your entire family: parents/guardians and all children of whom you are the parent or legal guardian. There are no additional charges when you consult with our attorneys or educational consultants—it’s all included in your $150 dues. For special discounts and payment options that could bring your cost down to as little as 33¢ a day, see What are my membership options?

Processing generally takes 3 weeks—a bit longer during our summer/fall busy season. If you would like to have your application reviewed within 2 business days, you may expedite your application with a nonrefundable rush fee of $40. (Approval is not guaranteed.)

You will receive your membership information via email once your membership is processed.

We don’t want financial restrictions to prevent you from receiving the benefits of HSLDA membership! If you cannot afford the $150 membership dues—even with a discount or payment plan option—please consider applying for financial aid. Email us at mfa@hslda.org and we will send you a financial aid application.

Yes. All personal information is confidential including your membership status, contact and family information, and any information about legal services you have received.

HSLDA may send information to you on behalf of our partners, but we do not share your personal information with anyone.*

Read our full privacy policy.  

Please note: If you are a member of an HSLDA Discount Group, we will provide your group administrator with periodic reports that include your name, member number, state, and membership date in order to assist groups in keeping accurate records.

If, after careful review, HSLDA is not able to accept your application, we will promptly notify you and will refund your membership dues (minus the rush fee, if applicable). Non-acceptance in no way diminishes your right to homeschool, and does not prevent you from reapplying in the future.

Generally, yes. HSLDA’s mission of making homeschooling possible extends to helping families whose decision to homeschool subjects them to suspicions of abuse or neglect.

Many reports to child protective services (CPS) arise from a misunderstanding about homeschooling—a neighbor may see children playing outside during school hours and think that the parents are allowing them to be truant. CPS investigators and law enforcement personnel then insist they be allowed to interview the children and search the family’s home without a warrant. And if the parents are hesitant about allowing the interview or home visit, the investigators may use threats of removing the children to get the parents to comply.

We agree with what the US Court of Appeals said in the Calabretta case: “The government’s interest in the welfare of children embraces not only protecting children from physical abuse, but also protecting children’s interest in the privacy and dignity of their homes and in the lawfully exercised authority of their parents.”

Because the right to be secure in your home is essential to your right to homeschool, we generally assist our members in an initial contact with CPS investigators to ensure that their constitutional rights are protected.

Once the initial contact is over, HSLDA’s ability to continue assisting you depends on several factors, including whether the investigation is predominated by nonhomeschooling issues outside our mission. As with all litigation matters, we assess these factors on a case-by-case basis.

It depends. HSLDA’s emphasis is maintaining and advancing the freedom of homeschoolers from public school oversight. Accordingly, HSLDA generally does not use our resources to force public school districts to allow homeschool access.

It depends. Special education refers to instruction or assistance in traditional academic areas such as math and language arts. Related services, on the other hand, are aids to a child—like speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. These services indirectly improve a child’s ability to learn but are separate from traditional academic curricula. Under federal regulations, homeschooled students are entitled to seek related services in states where homeschools are considered to be private schools.

No. In general, homeschooling only becomes an issue in a divorce case when the parents cannot agree with each other about the children’s education, and it is typically only one of the many issues over which parents disagree. HSLDA supports the right of parents to determine how their children are educated and therefore does not choose sides if one parent wants to homeschool and the other does not.

When a divorce occurs after the parents have joined HSLDA as a married couple, and the parents disagree on homeschooling, HSLDA cannot ethically represent either member against the other due to the conflict of interest between the parents.

No. Because our mission is to make homeschooling possible, we focus our efforts on supporting homeschool families—that is, families who are currently homeschooling or who are withdrawing their children from public school to begin homeschooling. Since transferring into public school is outside our emphasis, we do not assist members in disputes with public schools over what credits they will accept or whether they require prospective students to take placement tests.