How Long Do I Have To Serve Divorce Papers In Los Angeles

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I get asked quite a bit, how long does someone have to serve divorce papers in Los Angeles after you have filed them? Is there a time limit by which you have to serve the papers?

The reason this is important to know is because you don't want the court dismissing the divorce case causing you to refile and to pay the filing fee again.

I did some research on the time limits regarding serving your divorce papers and this is what I found.

I found that there is no real time limit to serve your divorce papers. Some attorneys have said that in California the time frame is anywhere between 2 to 3 years and if nothing is done within 5 years the court will automatically dismiss the case.

But there is one thing to watch out for that we are seeing in the Los Angeles divorce courts. We have had a few clients who have filed for divorce then decided to wait for whatever reason. Perhaps they were not 100% sure or wanted the holidays to pass, etc.

What has happened is the courts are setting Case Management Conferences for those who have not served the divorce papers within 3 to 4 months. The case management conferences are nothing to be concerned with as the court just wants to see what is going on.

The letter you receive in the mail may even go as far as to say that you need to appear at the case management conference or risk having your case dismissed. They may even state that you need to have you divorce papers served prior to attending the case management conference.

It is important to keep in mind that if you file for divorce and then don't serve them on your spouse for whatever reason that the court may send a letter in the mail. If you have not served your spouse, you probably have not told them you filed for divorce.

Imagine your spouse finding out you filed for divorce 3 months ago and the reason you did not serve them was because things had taken a turn for the better. Now what if your spouse opens this letter from the court? You will probably have a lot of explaining to do.

Filing Contempt For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What is contempt of court. In laymen terms it simply means that the judge signed an order and one of the parties is not complying with the judges order.

in divorce cases, this can be a temporary order or permanent order. Lets talk about how to file a motion for contempt when one of the spouses does not comply with the final judgment in the divorce.

I recently helped a client do exactly this. Let me give you a little background. The divorce was finalized more than 2 years ago. This was a stipulated agreements (both parties agreed at the time) to everything in the order. The Judge's signature only made if official.

The orders in the judgment covered everything regarding the disposition of assets and debts as well as orders pertaining to their children such as child support, etc.

In this case the spouse ordered to pay spousal support had not done so for quite some time and our client was left helpless not knowing what to do.

Prior to hiring our company to file for contempt, he wanted to first try it on his own. So he went to the self help center in downtown LA's Central court. He explained what was happening and they said he needed to file an Order To Show Cause and Affidavit for Contempt.

They gave him the form, he filled it out, signed it and filed it with the court. The problem is that there is much more to do than just filling out the application. He had missed providing all the other attachments and proof of missed payments and a declaration stating the facts and why his spouse is in contempt.

If you are going to file an affidavit for contempt on your divorce, make sure to fill out the correct forms, check the correct boxes and follow the instructions. You can find many of the instructions online, but it can be a little tricky. Especially making sure that you list each and every missed payment as each one counts as a contempt charge.

 

Divorce Forms You Have To Complete After Hearing – Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Lately, I have had a lot of clients go to court for hearings to get some temporary orders. There are certain forms one has to complete after a hearing and wanted to discuss that with you.

When you go to court and ask the judge to make orders, say on a request for order, if order are made, you will have to fill out what is called an order after hearing.

An order after hearing is exactly what it sounds like… An order after the hearing. This is where you will fill out the form and indicate what orders the court made so the judge can sign it and make is official.

So here is how it works You go to court. The judge makes orders. Then these orders have to be placed on the order after hearing forms. Sounds easy, but there are some rules on how to do this which I will explain now.

Once the hearing is over, you will need to obtain a copy of the minute order. The minute order contains the information you will need and is a summary of what was ordered at your hearing. Usually, this will take about 3 days for the clerk to enter so you will have to go back to court to get it.

Once you have the minute order, you can complete the order after hearing. The order after hearing form has several attachments depending on what was ordered so make sure to check the appropriate boxes and attach the correct forms.

Then what you have to do is mail the order after hearing to the other party who needs to review it and sign it. They have 10 days to sign it or otherwise tell you there is something wrong with the language. Once it is agreed and the other party signs the order after hearing, it can be submitted to the judge for signature. Once the judge signs it, it will become an official order.

 

How To Complete Fee Waiver For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been helping a lot of folks over the last few weeks going through divorce in Santa Clarita to get fee waivers so they can avoid paying the filing fee for divorce.

The courts allow you to apply for a fee waiver if you meet certain requirements. Watch this short video which will explain more about fee waivers.

The courts provide a few different ways you can qualify for a fee waiver. Some are automatic qualifiers and others need to be decided by the court. Let's talk about a few of these.

When you are filling out the fee waiver request, the first way you can qualify is if you are one some type of government financial assistance. So if you are receiving food stamps, SSI, on welfare or most any other type of assistance, you will qualify for the free waiver. I am not exactly sure why, but my instinct tells me that if you are receiving these types of assistance, your income is obviously low and has been verified by some government agency.

The next way you can qualify is if your household income falls below the minimums as indicated on the fee waiver application. If so, simply mark the box that applies.

If you don't qualify under these first two options, you can apply by indicating that, despite having an income, that you cannot afford to pay the filing and pay your bills.

Essentially, you will have to complete a short financial declaration that will show your income, persons who lives with you and assets and debts. You will have to go into the courtroom and see the clerk and possibly the judge. They will review your fee waiver application and either approve it, deny it or allow you to make payments on the filing fee so you can file your divorce case.

 

Do You Need A Divorce Minute Order | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What is a divorce minute order, when will you need one and how do you get one.  All that and more is answered by the article by Tim Blankenship with https://divorce661.com and discussed in the below video.

First off, let’s talk about what a divorce minute order is. A minute order is simply the court clerks detailed notes of what happened in a hearing or trial.  So you won’t have a minute order unless you have been to court.  So if you have had a trial or hearing and need to know what orders the court made on that date, you would get a copy of the minute order.

Now, why would you need one?   Most people will never need a minute order, but there are circumstances where you will.  One such circumstance is if you go to a hearing at divorce court asking the judge to make order after you had filed a motion.  So let’s say you filed a motion for spousal support or child support, the hearing was held and the judge made orders.

If you are representing yourself, the judge may ask you to prepare what is called an Order After Hearing.  It essentially is a “Order… After… The hearing.  You have to type of the order of the court and would use the minute order to get the exact language of what the judge ordered during the hearing.  When you submit the order after hearing back to the court for the judge’s signature, they will verify the language of the order matched that of the minute order.

In the video above we go into a little more detail about how to complete the order after hearing, but that will be for another blog post and another video down the road.

Now, now to you get a minute order.  This is quite simple.  All you need to do is go to the court room your case was heard in (if it was recent) and give the court clerk the date of the hearing and request the minute order.  If it has been several weeks and there are no future hearings, your file may have made it back to the storage area, in which case you would request it from the court clerk’s office.

We specialize in divorce in Los Angeles County and are centrally located in Santa Clarita, CA.  Please give us a call if you would like to learn more about our divorce services.

Need A Divorce Attorney In Santa Clarita? Start Your Divorce With Us Anyways

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been working on getting the word out that you can still use our divorce document preparation service in Santa Clarita even if you know you will later need a divorce attorney in Santa Clarita.  In fact, it might be one of the smartest decisions you make during your divorce.

You see, when you start your divorce, essentially it is simply a lot of paperwork.  I say simply, with a grain of salt.  What I mean to say is that it does not take a divorce attorney to complete these initial set of divorce documents for you.  In fact, none of the divorce documents have to be completed by a divorce attorney.   It just takes a company like us that specializes in divorce preparation to take care of it for you.

So what we want to impress upon you is two things. First, if you absolutely without a doubt will need an attorney for one reason or another, why not start the divorce with out and save a ton of money.  No need to involve an attorney from the beginning if it is just paperwork, right?   Were not saying don’t consult with an attorney, but you should understand when you need an attorney and when you don’t.

The other thing we wanted to say regarding this was to those folks who start with us and then later needed to hire an attorney.  This happens as well.  People call us and start working with our divorce service in Santa Clarita and then something goes sideways and they need an attorney.  This is okay too?

I tell people that fall into either of these two situations that even if they ultimately need a divorce attorney after using our services, they have already saved countless thousands of dollars in the process by not using a divorce attorney up to this point.  It is a win-win either way.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and provide a superior divorce service.  We are here to assist you with your divorce either before, during or after you have hired and attorney.  Call us for more information.

Ditch Your Attorney And Start Your Santa Clarita Divorce With Us

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

So you know you are going to get divorced and need some help. But who do you go to? Attorney? Mediator? Divorce document preparation company?

The answer really depends on your situation. Or does it?

The first reaction to thinking about divorce is to consider getting an attorney. But in this article we want to make a suggestion that will save you some money on your divorce.

This article is for folks who feel they will, at some point, need an attorney for their divorce. This means that you feel that no matter what, you will need someone to represent your interests and there is no way you and your spouse are going to agree on everything.

Under this assumption that you will need an attorney for your divorce, do you feel that you need to start your divorce case with an attorney? Why not start your Santa Clarita Divorce using our divorce document preparation service instead and save some money on your divorce.

Attorneys do two things. They represent you in court and give legal advice. Do you need either one of these right away? Perhaps you need an attorney consultation about your divorce, but very few cases, if any, go immediately to court.

The initial steps to divorce are all about completing paperwork. Filing out forms, filling them with the court and completing mostly procedural steps such as serving the divorce papers on your spouse. Using an attorney to complete the routine tasks can cost you a small fortune.

What we suggest is this. Go ahead and get a divorce consultation with an attorney. Get your legal questions answered. Then give us a call so we can start the divorce for you. We will prepare your summons and petition, file it with the court and assist you in getting your spouse served. Then, we would help you prepare your financial disclosures. These two steps do not require a law degree so why would you pay lawyer fees for this service?

We estimate the time it takes to complete these 2 steps if done with an attorney to about 5 hours of work. If you take the average cost of a divorce attorney at say $300 per hour, you are looking at $1,500 just to get these initial documents prepared. Wouldn't you rather spend that money on your attorney when he or she is doing what they do best, instead of paying them to prepare forms?

What you do is ultimately up to you. We just wanted to throw this out there for you to consider.

As licensed and bonded legal document assistants specializing in divorce in Santa Clarita, we help people save money on their divorce. Let us get you as far as we can before you spend the big money on an attorney.

And you never know. Maybe you will find that you never needed a divorce attorney in the first place.

California Hybrid Divorce Judgment Checklist

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The last thing you will do in your divorce when representing yourself is to prepare the divorce judgment forms.  Which divorce judgment forms you submit will vary depending on what transpired up to this point.  Meaning whether your spouse filed a response and whether there is an agreement.

In this post we are talking about the California Hybrid Divorce Judgment and providing you with a PDF Checklist the Courts use to make sure you have included all the proper forms.

The Hybrid divorce judgment checklist will be used when you have filed a Petition, the case is proceeding by default, and the parties have a written agreement.  Yes, it is possible for you to have a written agreement even if your spouse has not filed a response.  It is called a hybrid because it is a cross between a true default case (where there is no response and no agreement) and an uncontested case (where a response was filed and there is an agreement)

Depending on the type of divorce judgement you submitting the judgment forms required to ensure your divorce is not rejected are all different.  We have several videos covering the various ways and different forms necessary to file your divorce depending on the circumstances.

If you want to download the PDF attachment you can click on this link “Hybrid Dissolution Judgment Checklist California Divorce“.  We recommend that you print it out and use it as a checklist both to ensure you have all the necessary documents, but it also lets the court know what kind of divorce judgment you are filing and will help in getting it approved and not rejected.

We are licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm specializing in divorce.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, California and can assist you with you divorce anywhere in California.

California Uncontested Divorce Form Judgment Checklist – Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have put together a comprehensive video on what documents you need in order to properly submit your California Uncontested Divorce Forms.

We are also including a link at the bottom of the post so you can actually print out and attach the uncontested divorce judgment checklist which is a good practice.  This is a good practice for two reasons.  First, you can check off the forms as you go when compiling the divorce judgment.  Second, it lets the court know what kind of divorce judgment you are submitting so they understand why you have submitted the documents you have submitted.

We have prepared a separate video and blog post for each of the different types of California divorce judgments you may have.  The California Uncontested Divorce judgment checklist will be used under the following circumstances. A Petition was filed, a Response was filed, and the parties have a written agreement.

Yes, it is still considered uncontested, even if your spouse filed a response.  To use this type of judgment, you have to comply with the specific rules prior to submitting the judgment.  Make sure you have filed the proof of service of summons, because you will have to submit that with the judgment as proof.  In addition, make sure both of you have served your Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure (PDD’s) and filed the FL-141 (Declaration Regarding Service Of Preliminary Declaration Of Disclosure) and also submit a filed copy along with your judgment paperwork.

Use this link to download a copy of the Uncontested Dissolution Judgment Checklist For California.

Make sure to print it out, write your name at the top and check off the documents as you go.  Don’t forget to follow all the instructions as far as submitting it with paid postage and making three copies of everything.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, California and serve all the courts.  Give us a call for more information.

 

California Divorce Tip # 1 – A Cheaper Way To Divorce In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Sometimes I feel like I am the only one that talks about divorce on our blogs. I think because i am. At least about how to save money on divorce and how the divorce process works in California.

I decided to do a daily or weekly tip on divorce that will talk about just about anything from home to complete forms to have to save money, etc.

Today's tip is about something we talk about fairly often, but could always use more exposure. This is about the benefits of filing a hybrid divorce. We know we are starting to get some traction and getting the word out about hybrid divorces in California because we are starting to get calls from new clients saying they watched our video and want to file a hybrid divorce.

A hybrid divorce is simply a cross between a default divorce and a divorce where your spouse filed a response. Most people (attorneys that is) will tell you that you have to file a response if you want to be involved in the case. This is not true.

Here is the definition of a hybrid divorce. “The Petitioner filed for divorce, and no response was filed. The parties will complete their financial disclosures and enter into a written agreement”.

So what the courts are telling us is that it is possible to enter into a written agreement in your divorce without having to file a response.

In all of my divorce cases, I prepare a hybrid divorce for my clients. Doing so, allows the parties to save over $400 in filing fees.

People have come to us because they don't want to spend money on attorneys fees. So obviously cost is a concern. That is why we have made a point of discussing these money savings tips about divorce and a cheaper way of getting divorced in California.

We are are a licensed and bonded legal document assistant firm headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA. We serve all the courts in Los Angeles County and California.

Please give us a call if you would like to learn more about the hybrid divorce process as a cheaper way to get divorced in California.