New Girlfriend Is Motivation For Divorce | Santa Clarita

I can’t tell you how many calls I get from the new girlfriend of a man that is still married.  I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way, but guys, you know, sometimes the women have to keep us in check.

I love when the new girlfriend calls.  They are so motivated to see that their man gets divorced so they can move on with their relationship.

Hey guys ( or gals that never finished your divorce) you’re not alone.  We work with clients that have been separated for up to 20 years.  Some of which don’t even know where the other person lives anymore.

It makes for an interesting process, because of the fact that you have been separated for so long.  Let me explain.

When people get separated, they have already divided all their property long ago.  But what about all the property each of you have accumulated over the period you have been separated?  Well, you still have to declare it, as you are still legally married.

I know, it seems weird that you have to disclose your financials to someone you barely know because you have been separated for 3, 4 or 5 years or more.  A lot of things can happen during that time.  It is almost like you are telling a stranger about your assets and debts.

No doubt, period of long separation make for an awkward feeling when having to disclose how much money you may.

Trust me, you are not the only one who is asking me if this is necessary.  It is, and I understand that it is strange that you have to prepare your financial disclosures when there has been such a long period of separation.

I understand that you don’t want to have to deal with your divorce.  That is why it has been several years and you have still not completed your divorce.

But like I said at the beginning, the new girlfriend is motivation for divorce.  In fact, they are the one’s who normally are calling me to see what it will take to get their man divorced so they can move on with their lives.

We can help you get through your divorce in Santa Clarita.  It does not matter if you have a long term separation or not.

LegalZoom Refers The Most Divorce Clients | Santa Clarita

LegalZoom is a company with millions of dollars in advertising that smaller companies like us could never compete with.  They offer legal forms for just about anything you could think of.

It is true that they provide the forms and will even fill them out for you.  Unfortunately, despite the fact that you paid for the service you received, it leaves a lot to be desired.

I am not saying Legal Zoom provides a bad product.  Are you kidding.  One lawsuit from them would put me out of business.  I am just saying that you will get exactly what you pay for when you use their service.

This is not speculation, rather is what I have experienced by speaking to the many clients that have used their service and now have come to me to clean up the mess.

A recent client used Legal Zoom for their divorce.  They paid their fee, answered the questionnaires they use and then LegalZoom sent them every divorce form known to man to file.  They do provide a lengthy description of the process, but even me, with all my experience with divorce, was like, “WTH – What the hell!”  You know the three letters I wanted to say, right?

So this client thought they were following the directions, filed their forms and their judgment and thought they were done.  Only to learn later that their divorce judgment was rejected.

When they came to our office, I reviewed all the forms that Legal Zoom had completed.  Want to know something?  They were all wrong. 

It is not that Legal Zoom did anything wrong.  No!  They typed in the forms, just like you asked.  But where you did something wrong, they just typed it up anyways without a second thought.

If that is the type of service you want, go right ahead.  Either way, I’m sure our paths will cross when you call us to fix the problems.

When I say LegalZoom refers me a lot of business, I mean that a lot of people come to me for help after using Legal Zooms services.

 

Divorce Without A Lawyer In Santa Clarita

Did you know that you can get divorced without a lawyer?  Most people are aware that divorce lawyers are not a necessary part of getting divorced.

If you are going to get divorced without a lawyer, let us make one recommendation.  Even though you are not going to use a lawyer for your divorce, you should still get the professional assistance and guidance from our divorce legal document preparation firm.

With out service, you can avoid using a lawyer for your divorce and still get attorney-quality divorce documents prepare for you.  When it comes to divorce, there is a lot you need to know and understand about the process and how to fill out the forms.

We have seen too many folks who have attempted to complete their own divorce fail to make it to the end.  Even those that do have the intestinal fortitude to complete it all and submit their judgment to the court, later find that the court rejected their entire case and they had to start over from square one.

Don’t let the fact that you are going to get divorced without a lawyer make you think as though you have to complete the divorce process by yourself. 

I talk to people day in and day out about the process of getting divorced without a divorce lawyer in Santa Clarita. Folks are surprised to find out how well we are able to help them navigate the court system and get through what issues they are having.

Where we do run into issues that may require professional mediation or counselling services, we are happy to refer you to people in that field.  Once those issues are dealt with you simply come right back to us to complete the process.

Whatever steps you take to avoid using an attorney for your divorce will save you time, frustration and ultimately, money.

Divorce without a lawyer in Santa Clarita is possible and thousands of people use our service and get through their divorce.  Give us a call, we would be glad to help you out.

What Property Do You List During Divorce | Santa Clarita

When it comes to getting divorced, there is a lot of confusion on what property you are supposed to list when you complete your financial disclosures.

Most people are under the impression that they only list what property is theirs or that they are going to keep.  This is not the case.

When you are completing the financial disclosures which are the income and expense declaration and schedule of assets and debts, you are supposed to list all property, regardless of which spouse it belong too and regardless of when it was purchased or the debt was accrued.  It also does not matter if the asset or debts in one persons name only.

So, in essence, the financial disclosures will be used as a template for the totality of the assets and debts between the spouses which can be later used to determine how you want to divide it.

For instance, when you are completing the schedule of assets and debts you will notice that their is a space after where you list the property to say whether it is separate property and when the property was acquired.  This can be used to help determine who should get the property.

So if you want to say that a certain vehicle should go to the Petitioner, you simply place a “P” in the separate property box. If you want to say that something belongs to the Respondent or should be assigned to the Respondent you would place a “R”.

In many cases, you will not know how you want to divide up most of the property.  In the uncontested divorce cases I handle, we deal with the division of assets and debts after both spouses have filed and served their preliminary declaration of disclosure.  The division can be documents on the judgment forms that deal with the property accumulated before marriage, during marriage and after separation.

For more information about going through divorce or with understanding the divorce forms, please feel free to give us a call.  We are a local legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce.

More Divorce Form Rejection News | Santa Clarita

I met a client to day who filed their own divorce in 2009.  They thought they did it all correctly however a few months after they submitted their judgment to the court, they received the entire package back in the mail.

This is called having your divorce judgment rejected and it is really upsetting to people.  They fill out all the forms and everything seems okay. Then your divorce is rejected and you get a laundry list of thing you did wrong.

Then, when looking at your divorce reject sheet, which is a pre-printed form with check boxes for the clerk to mark off what is missing or wrong,  you notice that the items they said were wrong, were things you filed in the very beginning of your divorce case.  Why didn’t they tell you then, you ask?

This is because it is not the clerk who stamps your forms to tell you that you did something wrong, even if they see it!

That is the problem with the divorce courts.  They allow you to represent yourself, but don’t tell you when you do something wrong, at least, not until the very end.

Imagine struggling to complete your own divorce ( or if you are reading this because you have, no imagination required).  You spend countless hours figuring out the forms.  You file them, serve them and eventually submit your judgment.  You think to yourself how much more free time you know have and are glad this is behind you.  So much time goes by that you forget about it and if you do, assume everything is fine.

Then, 3 months later (yes it is taking that long) you get everything back in the mail with a list of reasons why your divorce was rejected.  To say people are frustrated is an understatement.

A large portion of my client base calls me for exactly this reason.  They absolutely don’t what to attempt it again and are really glad they found our service so they can literally dump everything in our lap.

Go ahead and dump it on us.  That is what we do best.

We are a full service divorce document preparation service.  Call us for more information about your specific case.

 

Issues You May Have When Self Completing Divorce Forms | Santa Clarita

I have been getting a lot of people calling me because they have attempted to complete their own divorce or used some black market paralegal service to help them complete their divorce only to find out it was done completely wrong.

The client had used LegalZoom to prepare all the documents.  The way LegalZoom works is you fill out a questionnaire and then the program automatically fills in the divorce forms.

Because you are not paying for any type of assistance regarding filing or how the process works, you are on your own in that regard.  You got what you paid for.  The forms completed and nothing else. Why do you think it is so cheap?

The problem here, is that the automated forms that they complete leave some blanks for you to complete.  If you don’t know (and how would you?) that there is more to complete on some of the forms, they will be wrong.

As I have mentioned countless times, it is not up to the court clerk to verify you have completed the divorce forms correctly.  It is not their job.  They will simply stamp your forms, even if they know they are wrong.

Case in point.  The forms this client filed using Legal Zoom were all wrong.  They were either missing the dates of service (very important) or missing the box they were supposed to check saying what form had been served.  But for the laymen, the form looks complete.

So I pointed out all the issues with the forms this client had filed.  What we have to do know is correct everything she has done .  Starting over would be easier, but since the forms were already filed, we will have to file amended forms of everything.

The sad part about this is that this client had already paid LegalZoom for the forms.  LegalZoom did not rip her off, she got exactly what she paid for.  She got document preparation and nothing more.

When you use our divorce document preparation you get full support, we complete all the forms, file all the forms and advise you of court procedure.  We are a full service divorce document preparation service that will take care of everything so you don’t have to go  through what this client did.

Non Attorney Divorce Service Santa Clarita

I recently read an article by the California State Bar that, among other things, said that attorneys are not serving the demand of the vast majority of citizens when it comes to their legal needs.

I am not saying I am smarter than they are, but I realized this a long time ago.  People just can’t afford the high cost of attorneys, whether it be for divorce or any other type of legal matter.

That is where my business model comes in handy.  While we are restricted from giving legal advice, we can share with you our knowledge of the law, things we have learned by reading and researching the readily available free information on courts websites, etc.

In essence, we are not giving legal advice in any way.  We are simply sharing with you, that information which we have found published by legal authorities.  Namely the courts.

It’s funny really.  Everyone says that there is a huge gray area between what is considered giving legal advice and what is not.  We are not trying to skirt around this nor do we want to give anyone legal advice.

But is it giving legal advice if we know something to be true because that is what the courts say on their published websites?  We don’t think so.  Especially, if we point you to the source of where we are getting the information.

Is it giving legal advice to make you aware of how a legal proceeding is held?  How to handle filing a motion? How to file paperwork?  No!  These are procedural court issues, they are not giving legal advice.

I know I am a little bit on a rant, but sometimes I just have to speak my mind as I grow tired of hearing attorney’s complain about completely legal, competent companies like ourselves that operate within the confines of the law and feel we are taking business away from them.

It’s just not true.  Most people just can’t afford your divorce attorney service is all.

Customer Service Matters During Divorce | Santa Clarita

It is often said that one of the biggest complaints in the legal profession (actually is was specifically addressed regarding attorneys) is the lack of customer service and not being able to get in touch with the person who is helping them.

We hear it from our clients all the time who previously worked with an attorney to complete their divorce.  They don’t come right out and complain, rather they usually comment on the fact that they were surprised that their phone call is answered every time or that we are really fast in responding to their emails.

Personally, I hate when I send an email to someone and don’t get a reply back within a certain amount of time.  If I am not with a client, I will usually at least say I received the email and will respond later when I have time.  That goes a long way toward providing good customer service.

We understand that you are going through a trying experience.  One that is complicated and unpleasant.  When you have a question, you want it answered.  You don’t want to have to wait several days for someone to get back to you, or to go to voicemail all the time.

These things don’t happen with us.  I mean, sometimes we won’t be able to address your concern right on the spot due to working with a client, but we do know that whatever you are calling us for is important to you, or you would not have called in the first place.

When you work with us, we  will work hard to address your concerns as quickly as possible.  From our full time reception staff to our knowledgeable legal document assistants, we will take good care of you.

Give us a call to discuss your specific divorce questions and concerns.

Buying A Home But Divorce Not Finalized | Santa Clarita

There are many people that procrastinate on finalizing their divorce.  Sometimes it takes a certain something to compel you to do it.  And nothing is more compelling then when you find out that in order to close on your home, you have to have your divorce finalized.

This issues has come up in a couple of different ways lately.

The first example was with a client who had started the divorce process many years ago, but never completed it.  They called us to help them out because one of the spouses was trying to buy a home and the lender advised her she could not close until the divorce was finalized.

And when I say finalized, we are talking about the divorce judgment signed off by the judge.  In this particular circumstance, we were able to get her to court by motion so the judge could enter the judgment.

In this next example, our client was not so lucky.  We had recently filed divorce documents for her which starts the clock ticking on the 6 month waiting period in California before a judge can sign off on your divorce.

Since we had just filed, there was going to be a full 6 months before her divorce could be finalized.  The problem was that her husband had moved out and she was left to pay the mortgage on the home herself.  So she called the lender to attempt to modify the loan.

Guess what they told her?  Yep, they needed to see a divorce judgement signed off by the judge.  And because she had just filed, there was absolutely no way that was going to happen any time soon.

So if you are one of the families that started your divorce but never finished it or are just getting around to filing for divorce, make sure you understand the potential pitfalls that can be caused by delaying completing the process.

Don’t Break The Bank Getting Divorced | Santa Clarita

We often comment on the costs of divorce and honestly feel that folks should not spend their savings or go into debt to get divorced.

That is why we started our divorce document preparation service in Santa Clarita in the first place.

You see, we have worked at the major law firms in and around Los Angeles and saw first hand how people could blow through money, and in most cases pile on debt.  This is not necessary.

I think the major reason people came to the law firm I worked at, is because they did not know there was any other way to get through the divorce process.  It has been ingrained in many people to first turn to attorneys for help with divorce when attorneys should be a last resort.

There are many options prior to having to hire an attorney for your divorce that are much more cost effective.  Services like ours that provide legal document preparation is by far the most affordable way to go.  And as more people learn of our services, more people are using us in lieu of hiring an attorney.

There are other options as well.  Sometimes, when we are working with our clients, they will need additional assistance in coming up with an agreement.  We will usually refer them to the courts free services, but where this is not appropriate, we will refer them to a local divorce mediation service.  Here, people can get assistance from an attorney who is not representing either one of you, but who will explain the law as a neutral third party to help the spouses come to an agreement.

Getting divorced does not have to be a major expense.  Our company and divorce service is proof of that.  We have many hundreds of clients