California Divorce What To Do If Your Default Is Rejected
Today we are talking about the request to enter default and some issues and ideas of how to get things moving forward for you with your divorce in terms of your request to enter default.
Couple of things, first of all I want to talk to you about the default specifically and when you can submit it.
The request to enter default is used when the other party is not going to participate either intentionally, because they don’t want to or you can’t get a hold of them or something like that.
What you do is you have to wait thirty days after that party has been served, I would actually go even thirty one, thirty two days just to be careful and you can submit that request to enter default document to the court and it will take a few weeks and eventually the clerk will approve it if you’ve done everything else right.
They’ll approve the request to enter default which will then allow you to move forward with your divorce without the other party.
One thing we’ve been seeing a lot of lately is people filling out all their forms at once. These are people that aren’t using our service and they’re getting their default rejected and here’s why.
Some forms aren’t filed quickly with the court, like when you go file your summons and petitions when you filed for divorce. That was filed relatively quickly. You went to the clerk, they stamped the forms, and it was filed.
The request to enter default works differently. If you mailed it in or if you take it to the clerk, that’s not something that they’re going to look at and stamp and get back to you right away.
It will be taken under submission, meaning, they’re going to give it to probably the clerk in the court room, they have to pull your file and make sure proper procedure has been met up to that point.
So, it can sit on their desk for weeks, maybe even a month or two months. We’ve had some take three months.
So, what they’re going to look at, they don’t know when they actually got that document received, they’re going to look at the date that you put on your request to enter default.
If you fill that form out earlier and that’s fine. You can. Just don’t date it, make sure the date on that request to enter default is thirty days or thirty one or forty days after the other person was served, your spouse was served.
Because of they get that request to enter default and they review it and let’s say it’s December 1st and you filed on November 1st and you turn that paperwork in even any time after that thirty days but you dated it any time before the thirty days have elapsed. Then they’re going to reject it.
Basically what I’m saying is. I think I’m going off on a tangent here. Don’t date that form within that thirty day period. Date it thirty days after because even if you submitted it six months down the road.
They’re going to look at the date on your form and say, they did this too soon and they’re going to reject your request to enter default.
Now, on that note as well. If you’re going to strategically default the other party, and we do this a lot of times and we say there’s no property, there’s no assets, no debts, it’s a very simple case.
There’s no reason to even involve the other party. Let’s get them served and let’s just finish this up on our own because we really have nothing to divide so what’s the point of having them involved. So that’s much easier to do.
Submit the default with the judgment. You don’t have to submit the default, wait months on in, get the default approved and then submit the judgment. When you are going to default someone strategically, submit the default with all your judgment forms. That way it’ll be treated as a hybrid or a default without agreement and they’ll all understand it’s all right there.
Here’s the request to enter default, here’s the judgment and they can probably get it all approved at the same time even though the six months hasn’t passed.
Give me a call if you have questions on that. I’d be happy to discuss that. I’m sure it’s on one of our videos. Of course we are a paid service.
If you’d like to use our service to help you finish up your divorce or even start it if you’ve come across this video. We’ll be happy to help you.
My name is Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com.
You can reach me direct at 661-281-0266. Please visit our website at divorce661.com. We have hundreds of videos, pod casts. We’re on iTunes under divorce master radio. If you want to learn more about our company, I’d be happy to help you.
