How We Are Disrupting The California Divorce Business

Posted by Tim Blankenship on


Have you heard the word “disruptive” used to describe some business’s or business models? Disruptive in this sense is defined as follows “A disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network”.

Here is what comes to mind when I hear disruptive innovations.  I am sure you have heard some of these and I will give you a little comparison.

Uber’s entry into the transportation industry effecting Taxi services.

Amazon’s effect on shopping.

Pandora’s effect on how we consume music.

Airbnb’s effect on options for hotels.

You can see how the introduction of these business models effected the business’s that had operated the same way for so many years without ever making changes to their business model.

So why do I bring this up.  I believe that our business is a disruptive business to the legal profession by providing affordable legal services to people.

When I first started this business, I did not feel that this business model was disruptive to law firms and attorneys. I felt that our client base was much different than the client base for attorneys.

However, as the years have gone by, I do notice some overlap. This overlap is in the shape of people who would have otherwise used an attorney for their divorce, but because we existed, they turned to us for help.  Many of these people never needed an attorney to begin with, they just didn’t know there was any other options.  And until we came along, there really was not anyone else out there doing what we are doing.

I am not saying that we created this industry.  Not at all.  The concept of independent paralegal services has been around a long time.  It was not until 12 or so plus years ago they put a new name to it, “Legal Document Assistant” to differentiate between what we do and what a paralegal does which is to be supervised by an attorney.

Anyway, our business model is a disruptive model to the lawyer and law firm business model. Many of our clients would have otherwise used an attorney had they not found us.  But this would have only been due to lack of options.  Many did not need an attorney or legal advice, but there was no other choice than to pay the big bucks for an attorney.

Here is a perfect example of a recent conversation that was disruptive to lawyers.

I received a call from a guy who had questions about attending a Trial Setting Conference. He was living out of state so he was looking for someone to attend the hearing on his behalf because he did not want to fly in.  He had called around and spoke to some attorneys and they were quoting him between $2,500 and $5,000 for a retainer fee.  This is pretty typical.

The one attorney said the $2,500 would only pay for her appearance at the TSC and anything else would be billed at $250 per hour.

Here is what I told him.  I told him that the Trial Setting Conference is not all that important and usually lasts about 15 minutes, if that.  I then told him it is possible to get permission from the court to appear telephonically.  ==>Here is the article which discusses more on that process<==

So he followed my advice and got permission for the court call. His total cost? $86.00…

$86.00 vs. $2,500.  And that money didn’t even go to me.  That went to the Company that provides the Court Call service.

You might say I have a bad business model.  I spent 30 minutes on the phone with this guy, looked up his court case number, provided him the number to the court and to court call.

I don’t think so though. This guy will call me back as his case progresses.  How can’t he after the help that was provided.

And that is how I operate my business.  I look out for the best interest of my clients, whether clients or not and whether I will make any money or not.  I think it will give me good Karma.

And I think it is a bad practice for an attorney to not tell someone that a hearing is only going to last 15 minutes and knowing he is out of state does not have any options so tries to bilk $2,500 out of him.

This is why attorneys have the reputation they have.

Santa Clarita Divorce | Appearing By Phone At Divorce Hearing

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When you are going through a divorce in California, there may be a time during the divorce process where you need to attend a hearing, but are out of state.  Let’s say you are on vacation or perhaps you moved out of the area entirely.

When this happens there is a process where you can ask the court to appear by telephone.  Keep in mind that the court needs to approve what is called the “court call” and you need to have a good reason to be requesting the court call.

Here is how you get approval for a telephone appearance or court call:

  1. Call the clerk in the actual courtroom and advise them that you have a hearing coming up (make sure to give as much notice as possible) and are requesting approval for a court call.
  2. Let them know the reason for the request.  For instance, if you now live out of state and flying in for a 15 minute Trial Setting Conference is not financially feasible would be a good reason.
  3. If they give you the okay, make sure to get their name and ID number, because you will need it when setting up the court call.
  4. if approved, you can go to Courtcall.com and either create and online account or call them.
  5. Court Call will need all the information to your case. Which court, the department, the case number, the parties involved, the judge and the clerk that gave you the approval.  They will walk you through the steps to set up the court call.

From our experience in the past, if you don’t have a good excuse or don’t live far enough away, the clerk will not approve your court call as they would prefer to have you there in person rather than on the phone.

You can anticipate that if you live within i would say 200 miles, they won’t approve the court call.  Of course every clerk is different, but they have been very strict in the past.

If they don’t approve the court call, and the date of the appearance is not convenient, your only other option is to request the court to continue the hearing to a different date, however this would take the agreement by both parties and a joint call to the clerk.

Santa Clarita Divorce | Can I Move After Filing For Divorce In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What do you do if you have filed for divorce in California and then learn that you will be moving out of State or even out of the County or Country?  Now, i am not talking about divorce cases where there will be numerous trials, but I am talking about a divorce case where you are mostly amicable with your spouse and trying to just get your divorce case  completed.

There are two questions I get about this issue.  The first is, ” Can i move out of the County or out of State if my divorce case is still pending?”  The answer is, “Yes.”  Keep in mind that I am not talking about you having kids and all that, just the fact that you don’t have to have your California divorce case completed prior to moving out of state.

The second question is, “Can we help someone who is living out of State to Complete their California divorce case?”  Again, the answer is, “Yes.”

If you are going to move out of the area at some point during the divorce process or find yourself not local to the court when going through a California divorce, you will need our service more than someone who is here.

Let me explain.  The only way to complete your divorce case in California is to prepare, file and serve all the necessary documents in order to complete your case.  This is challenging enough for people who are nearby and can obtain help when needed, but you are even more disadvantaged if you don’t live nearby.

Everything you do will have to be done by mail and that will be a real nightmare for sure.

So i will leave you with this.  If you are living out of state or plan on moving our of State and going through a divorce in California, we can assist you in completing your divorce case regardless of where you live.

Santa Clarita Divorce | Requesting Name Change During Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When you file for divorce one of the choices you will be able to make is whether or not you want to go back to your former name. This is part of the divorce petition (FL–100) and you simply indicate that you would like the court to order that your maiden name be restored.

What is nice about this is that you won’t have to go through a legal name change process down the road if you later decide to go back to your former name.

And keep in mind that you don’t have to change your name the minute the divorce becomes final.  You could hold on and say wait until your children are grown and out of school to do so.  Just make sure to keep a copy of your judgment so when you are ready to change your name you have the necessary paperwork to do so.

Also, I wrote about the changing your name with Social Security and the possibility that they might require a certified copy.  If you are going to wait to do the name change for several years and know you will most likely change your name down the  road, it would be a good idea to get a certified copy now before your case sits to long and is placed in archives.

Santa Clarita Divorce | Changing Name With Social Security After Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When you go through the divorce process, one of the options you will have is whether or not you want to change back to your former maiden name after the divorce.

The benefit of having your name converted back during the divorce is that you can use the divorce judgment as evidence of the name change which will make it easier when you go to change it with such places as the Social Security Administration.

The reason we are discussing this is because we recently had a client who said she had a problem when trying to change her name with the Social Security office.

What she reported is that the SSA office she went to were asking for a certified copy of the divorce judgment.  I was surprised to here this because over the last 4 to 5 years doing this I have never heard anyone having a problem changing their name with the Social Security office.

The issues was that this employee of the SSA was asking for a certified copy of the judgment.  The short story was our client went to Social Security, took time from work and then was turned away.  She was frustrated that they would not accept the judgment as is.

I had explained to our client that this has never been an issue and that the court does not issue certified copies of the divorce judgment when the divorce case is finished.

So i did a little research and came across the Social Security Website where is discusses what you need to make a change to your name with Social Security.  What i found it to say is that the only time you need a certified copy of anything is when producing documents and requesting an original Social Security card for the first time…

Nowhere does it say you need a certified copy of your judgment when changing your name after a divorce.  You can click here on this link to be directed to the Social Security website that discusses this issue.

In any event, i think it is wise to contact your local Social Security office you will be going to so you can verify their requirements prior to taking time off of work so you are not turned away once you are there.

Santa Clarita Divorce | Can I Remarry Before Divorce Finalized?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I don’t know if people’s ears are burning or what, but today I have taken 2 calls already where people have filed for divorce and never finished their divorce case in California.  I literally just finished an article on this very topic, but have written several articles on the subject as well as recorded video and radio shows about this.

While we have talked about not finishing your divorce case, I was asked a question today that was phrased a little different.  This person wanted to know if it is possible to get married before the divorce is finalized. (or in this case not even filed yet)

So here is how I answered this question.  I would never tell someone that it is alright to get married when still married, but what i said was that we have filed so many divorce cases in California where the folks never finished their divorce case and got remarried and even had children and nothing negative happened to them and nothing stopped them from getting married.

This persons reasoning for getting remarried was a valid one so the only issue would be if they were personally okay with getting married despite not being divorced.

As far as the law is concerned, nothing negative will happen.  This is one of those situations where the new husband could say that he wants the marriage annulled because he didn’t know that the spouse was already married under the “Preexisting Marriage” reason for having the marriage annulled.  But if the new husband is in agreement with this, there obviously isn’t going to be this problem.

If you find yourself already married, or in a situation where you thought you were already divorced and later learned you are not, don’t freak out.  We can help you get your original divorce finalized.

Give us a call at 661-281-0266 and we will answer your questions and get everything figured out for you.

 

Santa Clarita Divorce | Started But Never Finished My Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We get these calls all too often.  “Tim, I filed for divorce years ago and just found out my divorce was never finalized!”  What’s worse is that many of these folks have already gotten remarried.

While I know this is not something you want to find out, there is something that you can do about it.  The first thing I would recommend you do is to call us so we can look at your California divorce online summary and see what is going on as far as what documents have been filed.

We would then either have you send us what documents you have (if any) or order the filed documents from the court directly.

What we generally have to do is to take a look at what has been filed so we know what we need to complete to finalize your divorce case.  We also will need to review all divorce documents that were previously filed so we could make sure they were completed correctly and make any corrections as necessary.

What normally happens is that people file for divorce, do some, but not all of the paperwork and because the court never contacts them they figure their divorce is complete.

Here is what I have to say about that. Your divorce is not complete until you get the final divorce papers signed by the judge and it indicates a specific date your divorce will be finalized.

This article and podcast was created due to receiving yet another call from someone asking for our help to complete their divorce case who thought their divorce was finalized more than 10 years ago.

If you are going to file for divorce in California please call us to help you with your divorce.  We can help you from the very beginning or pick up where you left off in your California divorce.

We provide a full service divorce anywhere in California.

Santa Clarita Divorce Mediation In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce Mediation In Santa Clarita

We have written several articles about Santa Clarita divorce mediation and I have conducted interviews on my radio show about Santa Clarita divorce mediation.  While the podcasts are available throughout our website, I thought it would be a good idea to compile all the articles and podcast episodes here on a single page so you can find the information about Santa Clarita divorce mediation more easily from a single post.

Who Makes The Decisions During Divorce Mediation?  You or the Mediator?

Do Divorce Lawyers Understand Divorce Mediation?

Is Divorce Mediation For Wimps?

Does Divorce Mediation Take Longer Than Hiring A Divorce Attorney?

Can You Hire A Divorce Attorney And Divorce Mediator?

Do Men Have An Advantage During Divorce Mediation?

Does Either Spouse Have An Advantage During Divorce Mediation? 

Should Everyone Use Divorce Mediation?

If you have any questions or are looking for an affordable way to complete your divorce in Santa Clarita or anywhere in California make sure to give us a call.  We would be happy to help.

Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service

We are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce and serving Santa Monica CA. Our full service Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service takes care of your entire divorce from start to finish. Our Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service is flat-fee based so you don’t have to worry about hourly fees and high costs.

In this video we discuss our Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service.

Watch the short video below to learn more about Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service.

Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service

We are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce and serving Santa Monica CA. Our full service Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service takes care of your entire divorce from start to finish. Our Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service is flat-fee based so you don’t have to worry about hourly fees and high costs.

In this video we discuss our Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service.

Watch the short video below to learn more about Santa Monica CA Divorce Paralegal Service.

Santa Clarita Divorce | Punishment For California Contempt Of Court

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce | Punishment For California Contempt Of Court

I had just finished up writing an article about California Divorce and Contempt of Court and thought I would follow up by writing about what the punishment can be after the divorce court makes a finding of contempt of court.

The punishment for contempt of court comes from California Code of Civil Procedure 1218(c) which states that for each act of contempt, the convicted spouse or parent shall be fined up to $1000 and or imprisoned for up to five days. Notice that this is for each act of contempt. In support proceedings, each monthly payment is a separate act. The court also has the power to order community service.

he punishment in family law proceedings is mandatory.

On a first offense, the spouse or parent convicted of contempt must be ordered to perform community service for up to 120 hours or be imprisoned for 120 hours, which amounts to five days, for each count of contempt. Therefore, for example, if there was a failure to pay child support for 10 months, that is 10 separate counts or 50 days in jail.

If there is a second contempt finding, the rules become more severe, the punishment now becomes 120 hours of community service and imprisonment for up to 120 hours, for each act of contempt.

For a third and any further contempt findings, the convicted spouse or parent must be imprisoned for up to 240 hours (which amounts to 10 days) and ordered to perform up to 240 hours of community service, for each count of contempt.

There are also fees and costs associated with the contempt proceeding.

The court must take into account a spouse or parent’s employment schedule when ordering community service or jail. After all, how is a person found to have violated a court order, especially a support order, supposed to make support payments if your she loses his or her job?

The court is not mandated to award attorneys fees in California contempt of court proceedings. It is a discretionary function of the court.

If you need to file a contempt of court for your divorce case please give us a call for help.  We can prepare your contempt of court motion, file it with the court and serve your spouse to get you into court.

 

References

Farzad Family Law Blog

California Code of Civil Procedure