How To Demand Financial Disclosures During Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When going through a divorce there are many forms that have to be filed and served on the other party.  It can get very confusing which divorce forms to fill out.

But what do you do when the other party is not completing the divorce forms they are supposed to complete?

This article deals specifically with how to request the preliminary declaration of disclosure.  This is the schedule of assets and debts and income and expense declaration.

If you are going to file a uncontested divorce or hybrid divorce, both parties will need to complete their financial disclosures.  The divorce process cannot proceed until both parties have completed this step of disclosing their finances and served them on the other party.  It is mandatory that both parties to the divorce complete this step.

Sometimes one of the spouses will not want to complete this step for one reason or another.  But because it is necessary, you will need to nudge them a little.

Here is what we do to ask for someone to complete their financial disclosures.

First, don’t ask for theirs until you have filed and served yours.  So complete your set of disclosures.  When you serve them on your spouse, include a letter that asks that they complete their disclosure withing 30 days.

Wait the 30 days and if no response or no disclosures completed, you can take the next step.  This would be to file a demand with the court.  You would file a “Demand For Production Of Preliminary Declaration Of Disclosure” on the other party.

It is not a discovery request, but rather a demand that they complete their preliminary declaration of disclosure.  This form is filed with the court and then served on the other party.  This lets them know that you mean business and that the court is aware of the request.

In the demand for production of Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure you will indicate the same thing you did in the letter.  Let them know that pursuant to Family Code Section 2104 and 2107 that they have 30 days to complete their disclosures and that failure to comply with this demand may result in you filing a motion with the court to compel such production.

Hopefully, these steps will get your spouses attention and they will complete the necessary documents so you can complete your divorce.

We are a licensed divorce service located at 27240 Turnberry Lane, Ste. 200 Valencia, CA 91355.  Please call us if you would like more information about our services.

Don’t Start Your Divorce On Your Own | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

As a self help divorce service in Santa Clarita, we are big proponents of doing your own divorce.  But we don’t recommend you actually do it yourself. Rather we suggest you use a divorce preparation service such as ours.

What we mean by saying we are proponents of doing your own divorce , we mean that you don’t need to hire an attorney to complete your divorce.  You can use our divorce service and because we don’t represent you, you are considered to be doing your own divorce.

We want to make a recommendation.  We suggest that you don’t attempt to do your own divorce without assistance.  We have found that many people start the divorce process, but are never able to finish it.

They are told that it is easy and they can do it themselves.  While this is technically true, it is a rare occasion when someone actually navigates the divorce process successfully on their own.

For those that do attempt to start their divorce, we find that when they come to us for help, it is much more work for us to fix the mistakes you have made on the paperwork than had we just prepared the entire divorce package.

We have clients who call us and want to know how much it would cost to finish their divorce and that they “have already completed most of the paperwork”.  Well, we have learned that the more paperwork “that has been completed” the more work it will actually be for us.

We have never had a client come to us, who had prepared some of the paperwork, where we did not have to fix something.

So what we do in these cases where someone has prepared some of their documents is to complete a case review.  We will look at everything you have done so far and make any corrections and amend the forms as necessary.

So don’t start your own divorce.  Because even if you come to us after doing some of the forms, we are likely going to have to spend more time fixing them.

We Prepare File and Serve Your Divorce Papers | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Are you looking for a divorce service in Santa Clarita that can take care of your entire divorce?  We are just that company.  We take care of everything from preparing your forms to serving them and filing them with the court.

We are your one stop shop and full service divorce company serving all of Los Angeles County and centrally located in Santa Clarita.

There are divorce services online where all they do is send you the divorce forms.  You can order the divorce papers totally blank or you can use some automated document assembly to prepare your forms.

There are many problems with this.  There is nobody to review your documents before you have them printed.  I can’t tell you how many clients I have who came to me after using one of these online divorce services.  They basically just through away their money.

The next problem with this is that you are not aware of the court procedure on how to file and serve your divorce forms.  This is where people really have trouble.

The interesting thing is that we don’t charge that much more than these online companies charge and we provide so much more.  Our divorce service has such tremendous value.  Not to mention that we can save you $435 on the costs of filing your divorce when you use our service.

We are the only full service divorce company that will prepare, file and serve your divorce papers in Los Angeles County.  We operate just like a law firm does and prepare all the forms exactly the same way.  This way if you ever needed an attorney for some reason, most of your paperwork will already have been completed.

Give us a call to discuss your particular situation.  We will be happy to provide you with a free over the phone consultation.

So You Want To Learn About Divorce In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you want to learn about divorce in Santa Clarita you have come to the right spot.  We are Santa Clarita’s authority on divorce.

If you are considering getting a divorce you will want to do your homework to learn about the process and what it is going to take to get through the process.

We have provided many tools for you to use to conduct your research about the divorce process.  We feel it is important that you understand the process of divorce so you can decide how you are going to go about it.

Are you going to hire and attorney?  Are you going to attempt to complete your divorce on your own?  Or maybe you want to use a divorce service like we provide.  Either way, you should know what your options are before you decide to do anything.

So, we have lots of tools for you to use when researching information about divorce.

First, you have our blog. You are on it right now.  We have written over 500 articles about divorce, the divorce process including self help tips and “How To” articles.

The next thing you can utilize is our YouTube channel.  We have done lots of videos about divorce.  You will find a link on our website or you can use this link. Santa Clarita Divorce Videos.

Now, if you are driving your car or don’t have access to your computer, you can always listen to our podcasts.  We try to duplicate a lot of the material we write about and do videos on and include them in our podcasts so you can listen to the information instead of reading it or watching it.  You can visit our PodCast by going to this link.  Santa Clarita Divorce Podcast.  You will also see a link on our site to our SoundCloud podcasts on divorce.

So whether you enjoy reading, watching or listening, we got you covered.  When you are ready to talk and have your questions answered please give us a call.

How To Dismiss Your California Divorce Case | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I had two clients in the last 2 months decide they wanted to reconcile with their spouse.  This article will discuss how you go about dismissing or cancelling your California Divorce case.

The six month cooling off period in California is there for exactly this reason.  Imagine if you could divorce in one day.  How many people would have to get remarried.  People do decide to try and make their marriage work after one of the parties have filed for divorce.

Before we talk about the exact way to file for a dismissal to cancel your case, you should consider this.

If you cancel your divorce case, and later decide it is not going to work out, you will have to re-file for divorce.  This means paying the filing fee again and having to do all the paperwork again.  Essentially, you will have to start over.

One thing you may want to consider is to just let the divorce case sit with the court while you attempt to work things out.  If your spouse has been served already then it is unlikely that the courts will send you anything in the mail or request you to go to a hearing.  However, if you have not had your spouse served, you can expect that they will set a hearing to follow up on how the process is going.

If after reading this you still want to file for a dismissal of your California divorce, here is what you do.  You will need to file a form CIV-110 – Request For Dismissal.  This is a generic form that is used for many types of cases, not just divorce cases.  If you need to get a free copy of the form, simply search for “Fillable CIV-110” and you will be able to download a copy.

Here is a couple of rules to follow when filing a CIV-110 – Request For Dismissal of your family law case.

If you have filed and your spouse has not filed a response then only you (the Petitioner) need complete, sign and file the dismissal.  If your spouse has filed a Response in the family law case, they too will have to sign the consent to dismiss the case.

The reason for this is because your spouse can decide they want to continue with the divorce, even if you want to reconcile your marriage.  So you will have to get your spouses agreement to dismiss your divorce if there has been both a Petition and Response filed with the court.

Divorce Can Be A Tough Business In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Being in the business of helping people divorce can be tough sometimes.  Most of our divorce cases are amicable, but we do have a few that have clients that are upset and get angry at each other.  I think this is normal.

We definitely don’t get as many angry or upset clients as I did when I worked at a law firm here in Santa Clarita.  By its very nature, when you get n divorce attorney involved, the divorce case is going to have a much higher emotional impact.

Most of our clients are at least someone in agreement and are somewhat trying to work together to complete their divorce case.  Lets put it this way.  Our clients are not mortal enemies like you find when they hire attorneys.

So that leaves us to work between the clients to facilitate the divorce process.  Because we often help both clients we will hear the complaints on both sides.  Our job is not to mediate your divorce, but we are here to make things easier and keep the divorce process moving.

Divorce is a tough business because we don’t sell widgets that make people happy.  Most people purchase products or services that make them happy.  However, the second biggest purchasing motivations is to reduce pain.  And I think that is where our divorce service comes into play.  We reduce pain, meaning that we help you complete a process, that when finished, will hopefully relieve some pain and stress in your life.

Some of my clients are funny in that they can’t wait to celebrate completing their divorce.  Maybe it was a very short divorce or that “Vegas wedding”.  Yeah, we get some of those.

In any event, people just want to get their divorce over and done with a fast as possible and with as little problems as possible.  And that is what we do.

We are a professional divorce service that will help facilitate the completion of your divorce.  We complete all the necessary forms, file all your documents, go to court for you and complete the entire divorce process from start to finish for one affordable flat rate.

I Need Help With My Divorce Papers | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you have thought or uttered the words, “I need help with my divorce papers“, you are not alone.

The divorce process is confusing and frustrating at best, if you are trying to self prepare your own divorce.  While not recommended, it is possible.

Many people need help with their divorce.  Some realize that right from the get-go and others struggle through many phases of the paperwork before throwing in the towel.

Getting help with your divorce papers is a smart thing to do.  Not only because I own t his business, but because I see so many people struggle for months and sometimes years attempting to do their divorce papers on their own, only to realize they have wasted  countless hours and days of their life and  still are no closer to finishing  their divorce.

We recommend you get help immediately.  But if you started the divorce process and then later realized that you need help with your divorce papers, that is okay too.  It is never to late to get help with filing your divorce papers.

The folks that have come to us after spending several grueling months attempting it on their own feel a great sense of relief when they turn their divorce over to us to complete.  Some of the best compliments we receive are during the first meeting in our office or conversation on the phone with our clients. They can’t believe how much time they have wasted trying to complete their own divorce.

They say they are so glad the talked to us and are using our service.  They realize how much they really did not know about the divorce process and how we made it so clear and understandable and broke things down in plain English for them.

If you find yourself needing help with your divorce papers in Santa Clarita or anywhere in Los Angeles, please give us a call.  We would be happy to discuss helping you prepare your divorce and pick up where you left off.

SCV Divorce Service Serves All Divorce Courts In Los Angeles

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Just because our divorce service is headquartered in Santa Clarita does not mean we only assist people in Santa Clarita.

Our SCV divorce service serves all the courts in Los Angeles County.  Did you know there are 10 district branches in Los Angeles County with the Central Court House in Downtown LA being the main branch?  We serve all of these divorce courts.

We have filed divorce cases in all the district branches in Los Angeles.  From Antelope Valley to the North to Long Beach to the South and Pomona to the East and San Fernando to the West and everything in between.

So how exactly are we able to serve clients everywhere in Los Angeles?  Easy!

While many clients come to our office in Santa Clarita, we do a great deal of divorce business remotely over the phone and via email, etc.  We have many clients all through out Los Angeles.  Folks like the fact that we have streamlined the divorce process which allows them the option to come into our office or complete their divorce right over the phone.  It really is your option.

So regardless of where you live, you can use our divorce service.  We are still considering opening another office in Los Angeles or further south, but we are still doing our due diligence research to see if there is enough business that would suggest opening another office makes sense.

Until then, we will continue to serve our divorcing clients in Los Angeles remotely.  Please know that the divorce service we provide is no less professional when done via phone and email.  Because we do so much business this way, we have a smooth divorce process with clients as far away as Africa, Germany and Australia who use our divorce service.

We look forward to helping your through your divorce regardless of where you live in Los Angeles County.  Please give our office a call and we will discuss how our divorce service can help you.

Should You Use A Divorce Self Help Book | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There are tons of self help divorce books on the market these days.  But is a book the best way to get through a complicated divorce process even if you are using the self help divorce book to complete your own divorce?

I recently went to the Santa Clarita Library and checked out at least 10 different “How To Divorce” books to see if they would be helpful to someone who was trying to complete their divorce on their own.  Here is what I learned.

First let me say that I know a lot about filing out divorce forms and divorce procedure.  That said, these do-it-yourself divorce books were super confusing.  I had to double check several times to see what they were talking about.

First off, they all start off by talking a little bit about California Law.  They give you a few tidbits about spousal support and child support and other general information.

Then comes the worst part.  The part where they show you how to complete the divorce forms.  This was very funny to me because it the pages looked more like a geometry lesson.

There were lines drawn from words of instruction  on one page to spots on the form they were talking about.  There were lines and arrows all over the page explaining what goes where and a lot of “if this, then that” scenarios.   It was very confusing and i would feel bad for anyone that spent money on these books.

Most of the self help divorce books included a CD (that was missing because I went to the library) but the common theme throughout each of the books was that their was a phone number you could call if you needed help.  They are all written by lawyers and the number you would call was to their law firm or lawyer referral group.

It makes me wonder, due the confusing nature of the books, if they really want to help people going through divorce or just want to make a little money on the sale of the book and hope people call for divorce assistance when they can’t figure it out form using the divorce self help book.  Sort of a lead generation tool if you will.

If you are looking for assistance with your divorce, there are better ways than using a book.  Books are so old fashion anyways.  For instance, how about blogs or videos about divorce.  We have both blogs and videos about divorce and the process and how to fill out the divorce forms.  Don’t you think a video will be much easier to understand?

And if you get tired of watching our how-to-divorce-videos, you can always give us a call, and we can assist you in preparing your divorce for a flat fee.  No attorneys here to charge you by the hour.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation company that specializes in divorce in Los Angeles County and look forward to helping your complete your divorce.

Should You Do Your Own Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There are a couple of factors you can use to determine if you should do your own divorce or if you should hire a company to complete your divorce for you.

The first thing to figure out is if you have the money to hire a divorce service in Santa Clarita to help you.  When people call, this is what I tell them.  If you have more time than money, then you may want to consider attempting to complete your own divorce.  It can be done, however it will be a long frustrating process.

There are free services out there such as the Court’s self help centers, but the services are limited and they are extremely busy.  Using the self help centers will takes many  trips and you will experience a lot of frustration along the way.  But it is is free.  So if you are short on funds and perhaps unemployed, this may be your only option.

So lets assume you have the money and hiring our service is an option.  But you are still thinking that you could save the money and complete it on your own.  The next thing to consider is what your time is worth.  How much time are you willing to spend on the weekends and on the evenings, researching and trying to figure out what divorce forms to complete?

Some look at the initial divorce forms and feel like they can complete it, and you probably can.  The thing about the divorce process is that the paperwork gets more complicated as you go along.  Sure the initial documents are easy enough, but then comes the financial disclosures.  Those are a bit tougher to figure out, especially with how to serve them and what documents to attach.  Which forms to file and which ones get served.  You will have lots of questions, trust me.

If you get through the first two phases of the divorce paperwork, the most difficult part is the judgment.  The judgment consists of about 25 pages of attachments.  There is a lot of information you have to cover and it is easy to make mistakes.  Many people fail to complete the judgment correctly several times which causes significant delays and frustrations on your part.

I have clients that come to me at various stages of the divorce process.  Those just starting out that that immediately realize that they cannot or do not want to attempt this on their own.  Then there are those that start the process and later realize they need help.  Then there are those that attempted to complete the entire divorce process by themselves and submit the judgment.

I will be honest with you, there ends up being more work when clients come to us after trying to get all the way through the divorce process on their own.  Usually we will have to re file many of the documents from the beginning and amend the divorce forms that were filed because they were done wrong.

We recommend that you hire us from the beginning.  In most cases the cost will be the same, regardless of where you are at in the process.  But we can pick up where you left off.

Give us a call if you would like more information about our Santa Clarita Divorce Service.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, California and serve all the courts in Los Angeles County.