Signs Your Marriage Is Over | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I came across an interesting video on YouTube that gave their perspective on the signs that your marriage is over and thought I would share it.

It basically says that folks do not try to repair their marriage until it is too late and went into detail about the different steps or levels folks go through during their marriage.

The steps as outlined by Larry Bilotta in this video are:

  • Content
  • Confused
  • Struggling
  • Miserable
  • Point of no return

Here is the video

I found the video to be informative and interesting.  The video had over 180,000 views, so I guess others have found it interesting as well.

One thing that I found to be true, was his comment that over 80% of divorce cases are filed by women. That statistic is pretty much in line with what we see here in Santa Clarita.

At least 80% of the folks that walk through our doors to file for divorce are women or at least the divorce is initiated by the women.

I was not sure, but pretty sure Larry says that it is the mans fault for not understanding their wives which drives them down these steps.  I was not 100% sure on that.

In any case, thought I would share.  I actually did watch the entire video which was only 10 minutes long and it seemed he was selling a “fix your marriage” type program.

As a note, we are not promoting this product or service, it was just for informational purposes for our readers.

If you have reached that point of no return in your marriage, as stated in the video, please give us a call as we can help you with your divorce in California.

Get in touch with Tim Blankenship on Google+

Santa Clarita Divorce Service | Interview With Tim Blankenship

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We just wrapped up a live interview on Google + Hangouts on Air with Connor MacIvor, local Santa Clarita Realtor and Tim Blankenship, the owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist known as Divorce661.com

The interview was mostly about our business here and Connor is always such a good host, which makes the interview process seamless.

We spoke mostly a about divorce and the types of divorce cases we are able to handle.  The interview was recorded which you can view below.

Here is a breakdown of what was discussed in the interview.

  • Who we are and what kind of divorce cases we can handle.
  • That we can handle divorce cases anywhere in California.
  • How we save folks money on their divorce.
  • Why people fire their divorce attorney so we can wrap up their divorce case
  • How we provide tons of information on our website
  • About the 100’s of divorce videos we have produced
  • and much more…

The video is only about 15 minutes and I personally have watched it and it went really well.  It would give you some insights into our business and about the owner.

I really liked the format of Google’s Hangouts On Air because depending on who is speaking, the screen will change to show that person. I also liked that you could put up what Google calls a “lower third” which allows you to show your name and any other information you want to put o there such as a phone number or website.

If you are interested in us interviewing you and you have a business that somehow ties into divorce, please give us a call.  This could be a divorce mediation firm, divorce attorney, real estate agent, bankruptcy attorney, financial planner, etc.

Get in touch with Tim Blankenship on Google+

How To File A California Divorce Stipulation For Spousal Support (Slideshare)

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To File A California Divorce Stipulation For Spousal Support (Slideshare)

Yes, it is possible to get a judge to sign an order for spousal support in California without having to go to court or seeing a judge.

We specialize in preparing a Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon or you can attempt to do it yourself.

If you and your spouse agree on the amount of spousal support you can simply draft a “Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon” have both of you sign it and submit it to the court.  The court will review and sign the stipulation which will make it an order of the Court.

Don’t forget to check with your County for fees for submitting a Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon, as there are usually fees involved if you ask the judge to sign something.

It’s not bad, usually $20.00 in most counties.  At least it is here in Los Angeles County.

We have uploaded a copy of a  Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon for you to review to get an idea of how it is drafted.  We have also embedded it into this post below.

We specialize in California divorce and can help you with anything related to your divorce case.
If you are looking for assistance with you California divorce we can help you anywhere in California. We are headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, but can help you wherever you are at.
We can help you at any point in your divorce.  From the very beginning or where you have trouble, if you have attempted to do it on your own.
Give us a call for more information or feel free to read more articles that we have written, videos we have done or podcasts we have recorded.

Get in touch with Tim Blankenship on Google+

In The Business Of Divorce In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Yes, we are in the business of divorce in Santa Clarita, but more importantly we are in the business of helping people.

We have been doing this business for a while now and word is getting out that there are better options to getting a divorce in Santa Clarita other than hiring a divorce attorney or trying to do your divorce on your own.

As 2013 winds down and we have a chance to catch our breath, I took a count of how many divorce cases we handled this year so far.  The count right now is 212 cases. That is 212 divorce cases we have handled this year so far.

We expect next year to be much more than this year and what is interesting about this number is how much in attorney fees we have saved people this year.

With the average cost of a a divorce attorney here in Santa Clarita wanting $5,000 to walk in the door, even for an uncontested divorce case, we have saved people a lot of money.

This year, we kept our pricing very competitive, with the average cost of using our Santa Clarita divorce service at $699.  We hope to keep our pricing strategy the same next year as well.  But you can see if our services did not exist, it would cost the average person an additional $4,301 to complete their uncontested divorce or have to complete their own divorce paperwork.

Now I know that not everyone would have used an attorney, but if they had those 212 cases we handled so far this year would have totaled a staggering $1,060,000 dollars.  Yes, that was millions and we were using a very low figure of $5,000 per case which is low.

This means we saved our clients more than $900,000.

Wait, maybe I should be a lawyer.  Those guys are making a killing!

So we are in the business of divorce in Santa Clarita, but we are also in the business of saving you money and providing an excellent service.

When you are ready to get started with your divorce or for more information, please feel free to give us a call at 661-281-0266.

 

4 Things Self Represented Santa Clarita Divorce Clients Need To Know

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Today I was reading a great article that came up while I was on my Santa Clarita Divorce Google Plus page that was called, “Top 4 Things People Representing Themselves Need To Know”, that I wanted to share and was relevant to my clients in Santa Clarita.

The article was written by a Family Law Attorney in Phoenix and gives some great information that applies to anyone representing themselves in Court, be it in Arizona or California.

You can click on the link now for the full article, “Top 4 Things People Representing Themselves Need To Know” and I will summarize below.

In the article they mentioned that you need to be aware of the fact that you are emotionally tied to your own case and this may make it difficult to effectively present your case.  I know that the clients we help prepare for court are also a little bit nervous about what will happen at the hearing and what they should say.

We have worked for the courts and sat in the Court rooms so we are able to  give you a good idea on how the proceeding are held.

Here are the 4 Things Self Represented Clients Need To Know, per the Hernandez Family Law Firm in Phoenix, Arizona.

First, you will be held to the same standards as an attorney.  You can simply not use the excuse that you did not know.  While this is true, I know of a lot of cases where this really depends on the judge and and some of our clients have gotten away with quite a bit that attorneys would never get away with.

Second, they say you should not file a ton of motions in your case.  I agree with this.  They provided some great reasons on why, but I would also add that you have to realize that the Judges are reading hundreds of declarations a day and the more clear and precise your motions are, the better chance the Judge will understand your point.

The third reason they mentioned, we briefly covered which was to keep your emotions in check.  This can prove difficult.  There is often a lot at stake.  That is why having an attorney is often more effective, because they are not personally affected by the results.

And finally, they say not to argue with the Judge.  Aside from it being unprofessional, as indicated in their article, I would add that you are taking a risk that the Judge holds it against you.  After all, they are human beings.

Thanks to Wendy Hernandez for providing this valuable information.

We specialize in California divorce and are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA.

Our Love – Hate Relationship With YELP – Santa Clarita Divorce Reviews

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There are lots of stories on the internet about how people, mostly business owners, hate YELP.  And there appears to be a good reason to hate them.

We work hard to deliver great customer service to our clients and we like to be rewarded with positive reviews.  It is important as social proof when our clients leave us a positive review because folks considering using our service look to those reviews when deciding on using our service.

As of this writing, we have Ten (10) Five Star Reviews on Yelp.  However, Yelp has decided to “filter out” half of them, leaving us with only 5 reviews.  In fact, this “filter” has kept us at 5 reviews for a long time.  Almost like there is a cap on how many reviews they will allow to be posted.

I find it a bit suspicious.  A review that seemed to make it through the filter for months, will suddenly be filtered out when a new review is posted.

What is frustrating is that all our reviews are legitimate customer reviews.  Yelp says that their filter is there is filter out certain reviews so that only credible reviews are shown.  How is it then that we have reviews show up for months and then suddenly drop off when we get another great review.

And I have one more thing to add, and it may be a coincidence, but just after a salesperson from Yelp called asking for us to spend over $300 per month in advertising with them, which i refused, we began seeing more of our reviews become filtered.

Now, let’s talk about the positive side of Yelp.  Lot’s of people go to Yelp looking for reviews on business’s.  But, more importantly, they rank really well on the search engines.

So when you search for businesses on Google, they will generally come up on the first page.  So I am sure we are getting some free traffic from Yelp that we may not ordinarily be getting.

I just wanted to share our love- hate relationship with Yelp.  I may advertise with them in the future, but not because I think they will release our reviews that are being held hostage.

Where do you weigh in on Yelp? Has it helped or hurt your business?

Things To Do In Santa Clarita – Get A Divorce!

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Things To Do In Santa Clarita – Get A Divorce!

What? I can’t believe that you would write an article about things to do in Santa Clarita and then say “get a divorce” as the answer.

But it is true.  I didn’t say things your want to do in Santa Clarita, I just said things to do in Santa Clarita.

It is a fact that folks are getting divorced in record numbers these days.  Depending on what you read, it is estimated that as much as 50% to 70% of the population will at some point get divorced.

At first, this seems like a huge number, and it is. It almost seems unbelievable, but if you really think about it, it really isn’t.

I know that a lot of my friends have gotten a divorce.  I know that more of my daughters friends are divorced than married.  Think about your own friends and friends of your children who are divorced.  The numbers are really up there.

Divorce is certainly not something that you want to do.  But if it is going to happen, you need to make sure you understand how divorce works.  That is why we write these types of articles.  We want to get information out there about divorce so people can gain an understanding of it.

We have been providing an affordable divorce service in Santa Clarita for quite some time now and with each year that passes, we continue to grow.  I am sure it is a combination of our marketing as well as people wanting to get divorced and not spend their lives savings.

If you are considering getting a divorce, make sure to spend some time on this website.  We have written hundreds of articles, videos and poscasts about divorce and the divorce process.

When you are ready to move forward with your divorce, please give us a call.

Santa Clarita Divorce Service Gearing Up For 2014

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

It is a usual occurrence every year that business slows down just a enough to start focusing on 2014 goals and getting ready for “Divorce Season”

Yes, I have to admit that there is such a thing.  It is caused by those folks who are thinking about getting divorced but hold off until the holidays are over.

Just about the first week of 2014 we will see an onslaught of new divorce cases in record numbers that will push all the way through September.

In October we start to see a slowdown of new divorce cases in Santa Clarita, but the call volume remains high as people are still gathering the information they will need to file for divorce in Santa Clarita in 2014.

This was a big year for us.  We grew quite quickly as folks realized we were the best solution for getting their divorce completed.  We hired several new employees and expanded our offices this past year.

We are ready for 2014 to kick off as we have employees in place and sufficient office space.

Knowing that things slow down a bit starting in October, we take this time to catch up an wrap up the cases we started in 2013 in Santa Clarita.  We have been getting a lot of divorce judgments completed and approve by the courts these last few weeks and that will continue into December.

We have also been working on our 2014 marketing strategies which will continue to consist of blogs, video, podcasts and our radio show.

If I had to guess, I would say that this year we wrote over 500 articles about divorce in Santa Clarita and we know have 200 divorce videos on our YouTube channel. Our blogs and videos have been the cornerstone of our business.

Our clients and potential clients love that we provide so much information on our blogs for free.

If you are one of those people waiting until 2014 to file for divorce, you are not alone. Just keep in mind that you and everyone else will be filing at the same time and the process of divorcing will take longer with the courts as they will be very busy.

California Divorce | When You Have To Notarize Your Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There are  certain times that you have to notarize your divorce papers when filing your judgment in California.  So we wanted to clear up when you do and when you don’t need to have your signature notarized.

There is only one case where you will have to have a signature notarized.  And when I say case, i mean the way you proceeded through your divorce case and if you are filing an uncontested California divorce case, a True Default California divorce case or a Default With Agreement California divorce case.

Uncontested Divorce Does Not Require Notary

An uncontested divorce case is when one party files for divorce and the other party responds.   When this happens, both parties have officially entered the case.   The court knows that both parties are participating and you do not have to have your signatures notarized.

True Default Divorce Does Not Require Notary

A true default divorce case is one where you file for divorce and the other party is not involved at all.  They are not going to file a Response, they are not going to fill out any paperwork and they are not going to enter into a written agreement with you.  Your signature is not required when submitting your judgment.

Default With Agreement Divorce Does Need Notary

A default with agreement California divorce is one where you file for divorce, your spouse does not respond, but you are going to enter into a written agreement.  Yes, it is possible to enter into a written agreement without filing a response.

If you proceed with your California divorce in this manner, the Respondent will need to have their signature notarized when you submit the judgment.

The reason this is the case is because since the Respondent never filed a response, the Court wants to make sure that the Respondent is really the Respondent and not someone entirely else.

It is simply the way the court verifies that it is indeed the Respondent that signed the judgment as no response has been filed.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm (paralegal firm) that specializes in divorce in California.

Please give us a call if you would like assistance filing and completing your divorce paperwork.

SCV Divorce Case Finished In Time For Wedding

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This article is more to talk about our success in a recent divorce case here in Santa Clarita. One where we were able to pull off the unimaginable.

Okay, were not saving lives, but we were able to help our client finish their SCV divorce case just in the nick of time.

We had a client that had wanted to get divorced by a certain date.  I asked them what was so special about having the divorce finalized by this certain date.  He said he was getting married the day after.

I wrote a previous article which discuss the reasons you don’t want to plan your wedding until your divorce is finalized, and I still stick to that.

When we took this case on I made it very clear that we had no control over the courts time frames for approving judgments, but that we could ensure that the paperwork was done quickly and correctly so that we could get it submitted right away to get it in line to get reviewed.

And that is what we did.  We submitted the divorce paperwork as soon as we were allowed and we got the case approved by the judge!

We were filing what is called a “True Default” divorce case.  This is one where the other party does not respond and there is not going to be any agreement.  This are generally a little more harder to get approved in most cases.  But in this particular case, they did not have any property that the court had to dispose of.

On these types of divorce cases, you can actually submit the divorce judgment after 30 days have been passed.  You don’t have to wait 6 months to submit your judgment to the court.

The reason you want to submit your judgment as soon as possible (but not sooner than 30 days) is because the courts are so backed up.  It is taking the court as much as 9 months right now to approve judgments.

If you are having trouble getting your divorce approved or difficulty with the paperwork make sure to give us a call.  We specialize in divorce in California.