What happens if your spouse does not agree to getting divorce and they say they won’t give you a divorce?

Well in California, the short answer is that is just does not matter if your spouse does not agree to give you a divorce.  That’s right, you can complete the California divorce without any participation from your spouse.

In Fact the California Courts say that in California, it is not necessary for both spouses to agree to the divorce.  Either spouse can decide to end their marriage.  It is not necessary that the other spouse agree to give you a divorce.

If your spouse does not want to give you a divorce, there is nothing they can do to stop you by refusing to participate in the divorce case.  The other spouse does not have to sign anything that says they agree to the divorce.

If your spouse does not participate in the divorce case, you will still be able to get a default judgment and the divorce will still go through.

There are few reasons why one would proceed via a default judgment.  One reasons would be that the other spouse just does not care to participate.  In this case the filing party could simply proceed without the other spouse using the default judgment.  Another reason would be if your spouse is not opposed to getting divorced and is in agreement.  Sometimes there are benefits to not participating in the divorce through the default judgment such as costs.

You see, if your spouse was to respond, they would also have to pay a filing fee.  If you both agree to the terms of the divorce, there may be no reason for the other party to enter the case.

This can be achieved by other means as well.   The Hybrid Judgment is another way for the parties to get divorced without having to file a response.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in the divorce process.  We can complete your California divorce at a price you can afford.

We are located in Santa Clarita, California and provide a 100% online virtual divorce process.  Because we complete the divorce process completely online, we are able to serve all the Courts in California and help you get through the divorce process smoothly.

What Is A Mediated Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce

A divorce mediator is a neutral third party who sits down with the divorcing couple together to try and help you resolve some or all of the issues of your divorce.

It is not up to the mediator to make any decisions for you, rather they simply mediate by keeping the communication lines open between you so you can continue to negotiate the terms of the divorce and come to an agreement on any remaining issues.

Why would you want to use a mediator?  Because it costs less than hiring an attorney and going to court, for one.  Mediation is a less costly alternative than going to court and hiring attorneys.  While you can still expect to pay attorney type hourly fees in the several hundred dollars per hour area, you are only paying one person as opposed to two separate attorneys.

More important than money, perhaps, is that mediation is a good way to work through the issues.  Ultimately, if you do not agree to the issues among yourselves, you will have to leave it up to a judge to decide.  I don’t think a judge can make a better decision about your family than you can.  Do you?

Now there is really no reason you have to hire a professional mediator in some cases.  Why not just try to sit down at the kitchen table and try and work it out.  That is what I tell my clients.  The more time you spend at the kitchen table trying to work out your issues, even thought it will be difficult, will save you time and money in the long run.  Not to mention lessen the emotional toll divorce can take on you.

And before you run out an spend money on a divorce mediator, remember that there are court facilitators at the court that is free of charge.  So if you have some issues with child custody or visitation or spousal support, for instance, you can always make an appointment with the court to have them help you resolve your issues.

Divorce Attorneys On Youtube | Santa Clarita

I promote my business completely online.  In fact, I do all my own marketing.  Whether it be my blog, Youtube videos or divorce webinars, I am the one at the helm doing all the writing and lead generation.

On occasion, I will go various attorney blogs or YouTube videos and comment on their articles or videos.  Nothing more than encouraging them to do more videos or write more legal blog posts.

You see, the legal field is very slow to adapt to technology.  This includes marketing and using video and blogs to market their companies.  This has made it possible for me to step right in and dominate the legal blogosphere with my blogs and YouTube advertising.

What happens is that divorce attorneys tend to take offense at my marketing.  And I am not sure if they are mad because I am out-performing them in marketing or if they think I am stealing business from them.

It is kind of sad that an attorney would think that I am stealing business from them.  I am not even an attorney.  We just provide affordable divorce options for folks who do not need attorneys.  We also advocate to folks to advise that most people don’t even need an attorney to get through the divorce process.

Well today, I made a comment on an attorney’s YouTube video and simply said, “hey, good job, not a lot of attorney’s doing video or blogging.”  That was it!  Almost instantly I received a response to my comment that was essentially stating how their services were superior to mine.

I laughed at first knowing that we don’t even provide the same service.  They are an attorney and give legal advice and represent people in court.  We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that provides affordable self help divorce services.

Hopefully divorce attorneys will learn that I compliment the legal field and am not a threat to them.  In fact, I am a good referral source for attorneys.

There is plenty of business for everyone.

He who markets most wins.  And I know how to market….

We are a licensed and bonded legal document assistant specializing in the divorce process.  Give us a call for more information about our services.

 

Los Angeles PACT Class Now Online | Santa Clarita Divorce

 

On July 31, 2012 the Los Angeles County Family Law Courts announced that the mediation program is now available online.  Called the”Our children First” program is the Court’s new orientation mediation class.

Taking the class online satisfies the Court’s requirement for parents to complete a mediation orientation.  If you have already attended the in-class PACT class, you do not have to take the online class.

Parents are required by law to attend the mediation orientation also known as parent education program and a mediation session prior to appearing at an Order to Show Cause or a Trial regarding the custody or visitation of their children.

Parents only have to complete this online program once.

The online PACT class must be completed in one sitting to ensure that you receive the required information in the clearest possible manner.  It is the expectation that after you have completed this program you will have all the answers and information necessary to attend your mediation session.

The online Our Children First Program will take approximately 60 minutes and will include a variety of activities.

This class is required prior to attending your mediation and prior to attending any hearing.  So this PACT class should be the first class you take prior to both.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in the divorce process.  For more information about our divorce services please give us a call.  We provide a 100% online divorce process, the first to do this in Los Angeles County.

 

Are There Any Good Divorce Attorneys In Santa Clarita

I get asked this question from time to time.  People calling me, knowing that I am a neutral third party and don’t have anything vested in giving an answer to this question.

My answer is, “of course”.  Of course there are good lawyers in Santa Clarita.  In fact, we probably have some of the best attorneys in Los Angeles County.

I think the questions people should be asking is whether there are any attorneys that will represent them without stirring the post, so to speak.

You see, there are plenty of bulldog lawyers out there that will fight to the death for you.  And you will pay for it.  We don’t advocate that here.  We advocate for a compromised, uncontested and cooperative divorce process.

So when someone asks me if there are any good lawyers in Santa Clarita, my first question is, “why do you need a good lawyer in the first place”?

See, if you are asking for a good lawyer, that most likely means that your are already heading down a path of conflict, issues and plenty of attorney fees.

Here is an interesting thing about those that hire attorneys and want to crush their opponent. Once they start getting billed by their attorneys and really see how high the cost of having that “good attorney”, they quickly realize it may be better to settle than a drag out fight.  Because in the end of a drag out fight, nobody wins.

I have seen it a million times when I worked for a law firm.  A client comes in and wants slam their spouse.  Usually, because there is so much emotion and anger at first.  Then they start getting billed and realize that might not have been the best course of action.  Sometimes the bill they got from the law firm was the only thing to knock some sense into them so they will begin to work on the real issues of the divorce instead of the plan to insult and injure their spouse.

The only winners in these cases are the attorney involved.  Think about what your going to do to your family before you retain a divorce attorney.

What Do Your Own Divorce Means | Santa Clarita

So what does it really mean to do your own divorce?  There are actually two answers to this questions.

First, there is the paperwork part of the divorce.  The paperwork of a divorce can be confusing and difficult to figure out. What with all the different forms that need to be completed.  And don’t forget about the fact that certain forms need to be served and filed and it all has to be done correctly and in a certain order.

Then there is the part of the divorce where you need to make decisions about certain aspects of the divorce.  This means making informed decisions, exploring options, compromising with your spouse and taking responsibility for your divorce case, all the decisions and what happens in your life.

This means having frequent and detailed discussion with your spouse about the terms of the divorce.  So while the paperwork issue of the divorce has its own challenges, the decision making process comes with its own host of challenges

Doing your own divorce means that you do so without hiring or retaining an attorney.  When you file for divorce, your filing fee pays for the use of the courts facilitators and mediators to help you come to agreements when you need help deciding what to do.

We continue to say that there are only a handful of reasons you truly need a lawyer during a divorce.  First, is to obtain legal advice and the other if to represent you in court.  Other than that, you should be the one making the decision on the terms of your divorce.  This is why we say you should consult with a divorce attorney but not retain them.

When it comes to the paperwork part of the divorce process, that is where a legal document preparation firm such as us can step in.  Don’t let all your hard work of negotiating and compromising with your spouse go to waste by not preparing the divorce paperwork correctly.

We specialize in the divorce process.  Let seasoned divorce specialists step in and prepare your divorce paperwork for you.

 

When folks call me, the conversation usually tends to go in the direction of what happened to cause the current marital issues that are going on.

In some cases, this conversation leads to me being asked if there is any point in bringing up what the other party did to cause the marriage to end.

For instance, where one spouse cheats on the other.  Does the non-cheating spouse have any upper hand during the divorce?

To answer that questions, we turn to the phrase called, “No Fault Divorce.”

California is a no fault divorce State and as the name suggests, no fault divorce permits the termination of a marriage without the finding that either party has violated one of the rules that are the grounds for a fault-based divorce.

So in essence, not only do you not have to have a reason to get divorce, but if someone could technically be blamed for the marriage ending, the California Courts are not interested in hearing it nor is any position gained or lost for either spouse.

Typically, states require only that the marriage be demonstrated to have been broken down irremediably.  Put another way, that the spouses are no longer compatible and that irreconcilable differences exists.

Thus, when it comes to filing for divorce, it does not matter who is the Petitioner and who is the Respondent.  It does not matter who files for divorce.  It could be the one who caused the breakup or the one who feels they were not at fault.  The court only uses the terms to distinguish between the spouses.

This is probably why they use the words Petitioner instead of Plaintiff and Respondent instead of Defendant.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in the divorce process.  We are the only divorce service that offers a 100% online divorce service in Los Angeles County.  Please give us a call for more information.

Uncontested Divorce In Santa Clarita

The definition of an uncontested divorce is when both parties are in agreement to the terms of the divorce and have been able to come to those terms without the need for a trial and without the need for the judge to make orders. A divorce case can be considered uncontested in three ways.

1. Your spouse did not file a response and you do not have an agreement.  This is referred to as a true default case.
2. Your spouse did not file a response and you have an agreement.  This is referred to as a hybrid judgement.
3. Your spouse did file a Response and you have an agreement.  This is referred to as an uncontested judgment.

If your divorce case proceeded by any of the above means, your divorce case is considered to be uncontested. An uncontested divorce case does not mean that you will not have some disagreements with your spouse.  It just means that at the end of the day you were able to come to an agreement outside of court. It is best that you spend as much time at the kitchen table trying to hash out whatever remaining issues you have before throwing in the towel and allowing a judge to make a decision on the matter. It will probably feel like you are giving more than you are getting when trying to get through the issues related to your divorce.  Any time spent trying to figure things out on your own will be time well spent because the only other way to settle it is to have a judge make decisions about your family. We specialize in preparing uncontested divorce cases.  We can help you get through the divorce process for one flat rate.  Please give us a call for more information about our divorce document preparation service.