Petitioner Or Respondent When Filing California Divorce Request For Order

Petitioner Or Respondent When Filing Divorce Request For Order

So I had someone ask a question the other day that I thought was pretty clear, but after the question was posed, I could see the possible confusion.

Lets say you are the Respondent in a divorce case.  And you need to file an RFO also known as a Request For Order because you need some type of temporary orders.

That was the scenario with the person who had called.

So his question was, “if I am the Respondent in the divorce case and I am filing a Request For Order, am I the Petitioner of the Request For Order?”

He felt that although he was the Respondent in the divorce case, he was the one petitioning the court for the Request For Order.

While that may make sense, here is how it works.

If you are the Petitioner or Respondent in the divorce case, you will remain so during the divorce, regardless of what papers you file.  This is true even after the divorce is finalized (post judgment).

Think of the word “Petitioner” and “Respondent” as simply a way of identifying the parties.  Think of it as replacing your name throughout the divorce and you won’t have any trouble.

We provide a full service divorce process to parties going through divorce in California.  We serve all the Courts in California and can help you whether you are just starting out or need help somewhere in the middle of your California divorce.

 

What Is My Date Of Separation For My Divorce In California?

What Is My Date Of Separation For My Divorce In California?

When you file for divorce in California there are several things you need to know for the Petition.  One of them is the date of marriage and the other is the date of separation of your marriage.

For some the date of separation will be simple.  For these people, there is a date in the past that one of the following occurred.

  1. One of you moved out
  2. You discussed getting a divorce on a certain date
  3. There is a specific date you have discussed.

But for many people who are still living together, what we usually hear is that they don’t have a date of separation because they are still living together.

So what do you use for the date of separation of your marriage?

The answer is quite simple.  First of all, you don’t need to by actually physically separated to be considered separate for purposes of divorce. Some states require this, but not in California.

So what we do for people going through divorce in California who are still living together is have them use the date they are filing for divorce as the date of separation.  It is as simple as that.

So if you are one of those married couples who are still living together and plan on filing for divorce, keep in mind that the date of separation can be as simple as using the date of your divorce filing as your date of separation.

For those going through an amicable divorce the date of marriage is not going to have any impact as you will be making your agreements and signing a settlement agreement as opposed to going to court.

If you have any questions about divorce in California or would like assistance with your divorce, please give us a call at 661-281-0266.

Do I Have To Have All Agreements To File For Divorce In California?

Do I Have To Have All Agreements To File For Divorce In California?

From all the calls we get everyday about California divorce, one of the most commonly asked questions is, “Do we have to have all our agreements in place before filing for divorce”?

So here is the answer.  It does not matter whether you have your agreements or no agreements at all because to “file for divorce” requires very little information. The initial forms that are used to file for divorce in California don’t require you know anything about the agreements in your case.

When you file for divorce, the initial paperwork requires very little; mostly statistical data such as:

  • The Parties names and address
  • Date of Marriage and Date of Separation
  • Children’s names and date of birth
  • Reason for filing for divorce (irreconcilable differences is only option)
  • Basic idea of child custody ( full or joint custody – no specific requests)
  • Will there be a request for spousal support
  • And that’s about it!

I always tell people when they call our office that it is pretty scary how little information you need to file for divorce.  Keep in mind that these are just the initial documents to open the case with the court.  All the details come later down the road as part of the process.

Most of our clients do not have any agreements in place when they start the divorce process.  All they know is that they don’t want to hire an attorney and spends thousands of dollars and they are at least someone willing to work towards an agreement in their divorce case.

When you decide to move forward with our company to file for divorce, we will normally send you a short questionnaire requesting the information stated above and complete your initial divorce papers the same day to have them to you for signature.  The court even accepts fax or email signatures!

That is how easy it is to file for divorce in California.

For more information please call us at 661-281-0266 for a free phone consultation.

California Divorce Court’s FREE Self Help Center Worth Every Penny

Most people are aware that most courts have a self help center to help you with your divorce.  They are generally free, but they do come at a cost and are very busy and hard to get in to see them as they are on a first come first serve basis.

I talk often about the divorce court’s self help center because people often ask why they shouldn’t go down there as opposed to using our California divorce service.

Here is what I tell them.  While it is “free” in actual out of pocket costs, it is very expensive in the amount of time you spend at the divorce self help centers.  So lets talk about this a little bit

The divorce self help centers are very busy and they can only help so many people per day. In fact, in Los Angeles County, they report that on an average day, they can only help 30 or so people.  For those that can’t get in after waiting in line all day, the only option is to come back the next day and get in line again.  There is no priority and no appointments.

So what it will cost you is a significant amount of time.  Time missed from work trying to get FREE help! Most people will need to make several trips to the court over the span it takes to complete all the divorce paperwork.

Can you afford to miss 3 to 4 days of work to get “free” help?  How much will this actually cost you?

Obviously I am a proponent of using our full service California divorce company to complete your divorce for you. In the end, our service will cost you much less than several days missing work.

And were not even talking about the frustration you will experience dealing with the courts and the paperwork and having to figure out how to file and serve divorce papers.

I know that not everyone can afford our fees, despite being flat rate and very affordable.

For that reason, I am creating a website that will be for these people  who don’t have the money for attorneys or for our full service divorce process.

I will be writing articles about this website explaining what its purpose is, but you can expect that this website will be an online version of the Court’s self help centers so that you can get affordable divorce self help services without leaving your home or office.

How Is Spousal Support Determined During California Divorce

How Is Spousal Support Determined During California Divorce

Whenever we are handling a divorce for our clients, we always need to know if there will be a request for spousal support from either party. Believe it or not, many of our clients choose not to request spousal support from the other party, even where the income differences between them would suggest they could ask for spousal support.

You see, spousal support is one of those things that is not mandatory.  Compare that with Child Support which the court enforces at least minimum guideline amounts be paid, a spouse can decide to waive their right to spousal support.

But for determining the amount of spousal support there are a couple ways you can go about that.  If you are working toward an agreement with your spouse, as is the case with many of our clients, we usually will start with using the court’s software system called a “dissomaster”.  The dissomaster takes your income and your spouses income and considers the disparity between the two to come up with a number. The idea is that if one party makes more than the other, money would be paid to the lesser earner to help move on with life.

What i tell our clients is to use the dissomaster as a guide in helping to determine what the needs of the spouse are for spousal support.  For instance, when you divorce and ultimately move out into separate residences, what are going to be your needs for money and what is the ability to pay for the other spouse.

It can be as simple as sitting down at the kitchen table and going through your finances and expenses to work together to come up with a number for spousal support that works for both of you.

The next article will discuss the question of for how long should you pay spousal support to the other party.  You can read that article by clicking on How Long Should I Pay Spousal Support.

We specialize in providing affordable divorce solutions throughout California.  Please call for a free consultation.

The Cost Of Doing Your Own California Divorce

As I am sure you are aware that technically you can do your own California Divorce divorce.  I say technically because many try and many fail.  While it is possible to do it yourself, the percentage of actually completing is very low.

I understand that the decision to attempt to do your own California divorce is most likely a financial decision or you may have been told by someone else that it is easy to do.

In discussing this, I want to talk about what doing your own divorce will cost you.  Not so much in actual dollars, but in time spent in doing so in an effort to shed some light on making the decision to do it yourself or hire us to prepare your divorce case for you.

Folks who decide to attempt to do their own divorce run into several problems.  First of all, you will need to complete your own divorce forms.  I am sure this is your first time so the forms are going to be very foreign to you. You will need to then file these forms with the court, who by the way will not review them for accuracy, they will just take your money and stamp the forms. (it is not their job to review documents)

Just on this first step of filing the forms here are some things you will have to decide.

  • What forms do i need to file to initiate the case?
  • Did I fill them out correctly?
  • Now that there filed, how do I serve them?  Can I serve them?

Okay, so lets assume you filled out the initial court documents, filed them with the court and had them served properly.

Let me ask you a question. How much time did you spend on this?  Did it take you away from your work? Family? TV time?  You get where I am going.

Now you have only just begun the process.  It only gets more difficult as you proceed.  Now you need to complete your financial disclosures.

Here you will need to decide:

  • Which forms do I need?
  • Do they get filed with the Court?
  • Do I need to serve them? Personally served or mail served and by whom?
  • What do I need to disclose?

Lastly, you will need to complete the judgment.  By far the most tricky of parts.  There are multiple forms that comprise the judgment and a certain way to prepare the forms.

The point here is that you are going to spend more time than you like trying to complete your own divorce.  And if you are working, you are going to need help on occasion and probably try to use the court’s self help centers.  Good luck with that. They are on a a first come, first serve basis and usually are only able to help about 30 people per day.

You will end up spending several full days if attempting to use the court’s self help center.

So I again pose the question of what is the cost of doing your own California divorce?

My guess is that it may cost you more financially, but will cost even more in your time. Time you can never get back.

If you have the resources to hire our firm to complete your California divorce, we definitely recommend it.  Spare yourself the nightmare of trying to complete your own divorce.

Trust me, much of our business comes from people who have spent months on their own, without success, only to come to us to fix what they have started and take them to the finish line.

 

Understanding The Steps To Your California Divorce

I know that going through the divorce process can be a daunting task.  That is why we have made it as simple and painless as possible when using our service for your divorce.

We take pride in helping our clients and potential clients who call for information to understand the divorce process.

In this article I will break down the divorce process so you can understand the different stages you will go through.  Keep in mind, when you hire us for your divorce, we take care of all of this for you.

Let’s get started.

When you decide to get divorced, you will have to “file” for divorce.  This simply means filling out the initial court forms to notify the court that you are asking for a divorce.  These documents need to be completed, then filed with the court where a case number is issued.  Once the case is issued, the documents are ready to be served.  This is how you initiate a divorce.

Once the divorce has been filed and served, the next step is to complete your financial disclosures.  The court’s require that you and your spouse “disclose” your assets and debts to one another.  The idea here is that each of you will become informed of what property and debt’s you have so you can figure out how you are going to divide up your things.

The next phase is where you write down your agreements.  This is often called a Marital Settlement Agreement or Judgment.  The judgment will address everything from separation of your assets and debts, spousal support, child custody and child support and any other issues you want to address.

There are a lot of moving parts to divorce and I explained the process above in a big picture sort of way.

When you are ready to get your divorce started, please give us a call. We handle divorce cases anywhere in California with our flat fee pricing.  We offer free initial phone consultations and can be reached at 661-281-0266.

Should You Sell Your Santa Clarita Home During Divorce?

Lately I have had several calls with clients who had questions about the issues that come up on whether to sell or keep the home during divorce.

The issues have been that one spouse wants to keep the home while the other one wants to sell it. It is a fairly common issue that will have to be decided before the divorce can be finalized.

The two main things you should look at to help you come to a decision is 1) Can the spouse who wants to keep it, afford it and 2) If you can afford it, how are you going to offset any equity share that will be going to the other spouse.

What we find is that most clients cannot afford to keep the marital home.  The home is either too expensive and requires the income of both parties to make the payment or the home is entirely too big. You don’t need a 5 bedroom home when you are going from 3 kids and a wife to just you.

I think there sometimes is just a tendency to not want to give up those things that were acquired during the marriage.

Regardless of the reasons, you and your spouse will have to look at this and be reasonable in your decisions. It may be hard, but if someone wants to keep the home, you have to make sure you can afford it and everything that goes along with it such as repairs, property tax and insurance.

The best way to keep the house is to refinance the property and pull any cash out if you are dividing this asset.  This is the only way to totally remove the other spouse from the loan and from title.

While is is possible to remove one from title only via a quit claim deed, doing so leaves you on the loan and open to possible negative credit rating if your spouse failed to make the mortgage payment.  In addition, it may make it more difficult to purchase another home if the existing mortgage shows up in your credit history.

We specialize in divorce in California.  If you have any questions about divorce please feel free to give our office a call.