California Divorce | When You Have To Notarize Your Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There are  certain times that you have to notarize your divorce papers when filing your judgment in California.  So we wanted to clear up when you do and when you don’t need to have your signature notarized.

There is only one case where you will have to have a signature notarized.  And when I say case, i mean the way you proceeded through your divorce case and if you are filing an uncontested California divorce case, a True Default California divorce case or a Default With Agreement California divorce case.

Uncontested Divorce Does Not Require Notary

An uncontested divorce case is when one party files for divorce and the other party responds.   When this happens, both parties have officially entered the case.   The court knows that both parties are participating and you do not have to have your signatures notarized.

True Default Divorce Does Not Require Notary

A true default divorce case is one where you file for divorce and the other party is not involved at all.  They are not going to file a Response, they are not going to fill out any paperwork and they are not going to enter into a written agreement with you.  Your signature is not required when submitting your judgment.

Default With Agreement Divorce Does Need Notary

A default with agreement California divorce is one where you file for divorce, your spouse does not respond, but you are going to enter into a written agreement.  Yes, it is possible to enter into a written agreement without filing a response.

If you proceed with your California divorce in this manner, the Respondent will need to have their signature notarized when you submit the judgment.

The reason this is the case is because since the Respondent never filed a response, the Court wants to make sure that the Respondent is really the Respondent and not someone entirely else.

It is simply the way the court verifies that it is indeed the Respondent that signed the judgment as no response has been filed.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm (paralegal firm) that specializes in divorce in California.

Please give us a call if you would like assistance filing and completing your divorce paperwork.

SCV Divorce Case Finished In Time For Wedding

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This article is more to talk about our success in a recent divorce case here in Santa Clarita. One where we were able to pull off the unimaginable.

Okay, were not saving lives, but we were able to help our client finish their SCV divorce case just in the nick of time.

We had a client that had wanted to get divorced by a certain date.  I asked them what was so special about having the divorce finalized by this certain date.  He said he was getting married the day after.

I wrote a previous article which discuss the reasons you don’t want to plan your wedding until your divorce is finalized, and I still stick to that.

When we took this case on I made it very clear that we had no control over the courts time frames for approving judgments, but that we could ensure that the paperwork was done quickly and correctly so that we could get it submitted right away to get it in line to get reviewed.

And that is what we did.  We submitted the divorce paperwork as soon as we were allowed and we got the case approved by the judge!

We were filing what is called a “True Default” divorce case.  This is one where the other party does not respond and there is not going to be any agreement.  This are generally a little more harder to get approved in most cases.  But in this particular case, they did not have any property that the court had to dispose of.

On these types of divorce cases, you can actually submit the divorce judgment after 30 days have been passed.  You don’t have to wait 6 months to submit your judgment to the court.

The reason you want to submit your judgment as soon as possible (but not sooner than 30 days) is because the courts are so backed up.  It is taking the court as much as 9 months right now to approve judgments.

If you are having trouble getting your divorce approved or difficulty with the paperwork make sure to give us a call.  We specialize in divorce in California.

Our Santa Clarita Divorce Service Works With Both Spouses

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When you work with our Santa Clarita divorce service, we will work with both spouses for the same flat fee.  We wanted to clear that up as yesterday we were asked if the prices we advertise were “per person’.  I want to assure you that  they are not.

Because we are not attorneys and are not a law firm, we don’t represent either side.  We are here to facilitate the process the best way we can so we can complete your divorce as fast and painless as possible.

Because we are not representing either side, we act as a “neutral” to work with both parties to complete the divorce process.

This can be accomplished in a couple different ways.

First, both you and your spouse can come into our office together at the same time for the initial appointment with us.  This can be beneficial so all of us are on the same page from the beginning of the process so nobody feels like one party has the advantage over the other.

Another way is to come in alone to get the divorce process started.  It really does not matter to us if you come in alone to get the divorce started or bring your spouse with you.  I would say it is an even split on which way people decide.

I would say to do whatever you think would be best in your circumstances.  If you think coming in together would be better so you can both meet me and get a comfort level, great! If you have spoke to your spouse and have agreed on the divorce and you want to come alone, that is great also.

Just use your best judgment and let us know.  It won’t change anything we do.

In fact, there is nothing for the other spouse to do other than meeting us at the first appointment because there is nothing to sign.  All we need is the person who is going to file for divorce at the appointment.  The other spouse could come in a few days later to pick up a copy of the divorce papers after they have been filed.

Divorce does not have to be complicated.  We can help you navigate the divorce process.

We prepare, file, serve and complete your entire divorce case for both spouses for one flat fee.

Please give us a call for more information.

Santa Clarita Notary Service | Notary In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Because many of the divorce cases we file require the documents to be notarized we decided to offer a notary service as part of our divorce services here in Santa Clarita.

If you are looking for a notary for any other reason, we can certainly help you.  Please call for pricing.

When you file for divorce, you will ultimately have to submit your written agreement to the court and this written agreement or judgment will need to be notarized in most cases.

So lets talk about the instances that will require you to get your divorce judgment notarized.

If you file a hybrid divorce or default with agreement divorce in California, you will absolutely need to have the Respondent’s signature notarized.  Why you ask?

Because in a Hybrid or Default with Agreement case, the Respondent has not officially entered into the case.  They have not filed a Response in this type of divorce, so the court does not really know that the other party is involved.  So in cases where no response was filed, the Respondent will have to have their signature notarized.

This is mainly because the court wants to verify that it is truly you and that you are aware of the divorce.  Otherwise someone else could be signing your name and you would never know about it.  This is just the courts way to make sure you are really you!

There are two types of divorce cases where you won’t have to have your signature notarized.  This is on the True Default divorce cases and Uncontested cases.

A true default case is where the other party is not involved at all (no response, no agreement)  You would not have to have your signature notarized in this case.

Sames goes for the Uncontested case where you have filed and your spouse file a response.  The response officially entered the Respondent in the case and the court knows you are involved.  Again, no notary required.

Just keep in mind that if you are doing hybrid or default with agreement, the Respondent will need to have their signature notarized.

California Divorce | Wait 30 Days Before Filing Request To Enter Default

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are going through a California divorce and are trying to complete a True Default Divorce or Default With Agreement divorce case, you will need to file a request to enter default.

The difference between these two types of divorce cases is when you submit your request to enter default paperwork to the court.

Request To Enter Default When True Default Divorce Case

If you are going through a divorce which will be a true default, one where your spouse is not responding and will not enter into a written agreement, you will want to wait 30 days after your spouse has been served.  Not doing so will result in your request to enter default being rejected by the court and you will have to resubmit it.

The 30 days starts the day your spouse is personally served the divorce papers or if you used the notice of acknowledgment of receipt and mailed the divorce documents, you would use 30 days after they signed that form.

Request To Enter Default When Default With Agreement

If you are completing a divorce where you are going to have a default with agreement (also known as a Hybrid) you won’t want to file the Request To Enter Default form after 30 days.

In this case, you are going to want to file the Request To Enter Default along when you submit your divorce judgment to the court.  This way the court will know you are doing a hybrid divorce case.  If you submit it after the 30 days, the court will assume your are file a true default case.

When submitting your Request To Enter Default form, make sure not to sign it before the 30 days have passed.  We had a client who had their request to enter default rejected because they had signed it before the 30 days were passed.  They filed it after the 30 days, but because they dated it before the 30 days, the court rejected it and they had to refile it.

We specialize in divorce in California and are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA.  If you need assistance with your divorce please make sure to give us a call.

Filing For Legal Separation Is Not Faster | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been writing a lot about legal separation vs divorce lately because we are trying to clear some misconceptions up about legal separation.  In this article we are discussing why filing for legal separation is not faster than filing for divorce.

In the other articles we discussed the fact that Yes, we do handle legal separation cases and the differences between legal separation and divorce.

I received a call yesterday where the parties wanted to legally separate because they thought it would be faster than filing for divorce.  This is just not true.

The main reason people think that legal separation is faster in California is because unlike divorce, you don’t have the 6 month cooling off period.  Let me discuss what that is real quick.

When you go through a divorce in California, you have to wait 6 months before your divorce can be finalized.  That is not the case with legal separation.  However, the cooling off period is not the reason a divorce will take 6 months.

Currently, the Los Angeles County Courts are experiencing huge delays in filing of their divorce and legal separation cases.  To get your case reviewed and approved, it is taking up to 9 months to have your divorce or legal separation case completed.

Perfect World vs. Real World

In a perfect world, a legal separation case is technically faster because there is no waiting period before the judge can sign off on it.  So in a perfect world, you could file your legal separation case, serve your spouse, fill out all the remaining forms and walk up to the judge and get it signed.  And it would be done.  Your legal separation would be completed.

In the real world, this is just not possible.  You would file your legal separation case, serve your spouse, fill out all the remaining forms and then submit your judgment to the court.  Then you will wait…., wait…., and wait some more.  Right now as much as 9 months, but usually around 6 months due to the courts existing backlog.

With this being said, legal separation is going to take just as long as a divorce.

I hope that answers the question on whether legal separation is faster than divorce.  I know there is a lot of information out there but unfortunately they do not apply the information to real world scenarios.

Yes We Do Legal Separation Cases In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been getting a lot of calls from people who want to file for legal separation so I felt another article about legal separation was warranted.

First let me answer the first question we get about legal separation which is, “Do you guys (us) do Legal Separation cases?”.

The answer is, “Yes we do Legal Separation Cases”

But… Whenever someone calls us with legal separation questions, I always make sure to find out why they are thinking about filing for legal separation instead of divorce.

I wrote a great article about the differences between legal separation and divorce (click on that link to read it) and I usually talk people out of filing for legal separation.

Here is why.

There are only a few reasons why people should file for legal separation. The first being religious.  Some people’s religion prohibits or frowns upon divorce.  Another reason is for medical reasons.  If you get divorced your spouse is not longer a dependent and can no longer be on your healthcare.  Where a illness prevents them from getting their own insurance and you don’t plan on remarrying, this might be a good option.

Of all the calls we get for legal separation, only one really was a candidate for legal separation and had real reasons for the legal separati0n vs divorce.

Most of the people who have called for legal separation think it is better to first legally separate before filing for divorce.  Sometimes, they think doing the legal separation is faster, but it is not.

These folks have also said that they were later planning on divorcing after filing the legal separation.

Here is the problem with that.

The paperwork for divorce and separation are the same.  There is just one box that is checked differently.  If you go through the entire legal separation process and the judgment is approved and finalized and later you want to file for divorce, you will have to file an entirely new case.

You can’t just change a legal separation filing into divorce.  You would have to prepare a brand new divorce case, fill out all the same paperwork and pay the filing fees again.

We are a license and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce (and legal separation).  Please give us a call for more information.

 

 

How To File For Divorce In Palmdale | Lancaster CA

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Since we specialize in providing affordable divorce services and have a lot of clients in Palmdale and Lancaster, I thought I would write a quick “How To File For Divorce” article.

Now, just so you know, there is not much of a difference filing for divorce in Palmdale and Lancaster.  The process for filing divorce in Los Angeles County is pretty much the same, but the Lancaster Court has a few things they do different.

So lets get into it.

A mistake people make is thinking they can file their own divorce.  Wait! what do you mean I can’t file my own divorce?  Okay… Hold on.  What I mean to say is that it is possible to file your own divorce, but the odds of you “successfully” completing it is a different story.

The first thing you should do is find a reputable divorce paralegal service to help you with your divorce.  We are hoping that you decide to use our Lancaster divorce service and not one of the other antelope valley paralegal services that have a bad reputation and reviews.

If you decide to use our service you won’t have to worry about figuring out how to file for divorce in Palmdale or Lancaster.  We take care of the entire process for you.

Here is what we will do for you:

  • Prepare all your forms
  • We don’t use annoying questionnaires
  • We will file your case in Lancaster
  • We will serve your documents
  • Prepare all mandatory financial disclosures
  • Prepare final judgment (agreement)
  • Complete your entire case for one flat fee.

I realize that this article turned more into a “Why You Should Use Our Divorce Service” So for those of you that really want to know how to file for divorce in Palmdale and Lancaster please click on this link. You will find a video that will walk you step by step on how to fill out the divorce forms.

We are the only licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm in Los Angeles County that specializes in only divorce.  Make sure your divorce gets done right the first time and give us a call.

Steps To Filing A Divorce Motion | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been completing a lot of divorce motions for people here in Santa Clarita and thought we would talk about the steps for filing a motion in your divorce case in Los Angeles County.

When I say motion, I am referring to a Request For Order which would be used for getting temporary orders for just about anything.  The most common motions during a divorce case is for Spousal Support or Child Support, Child Custody and Visitation.  But an RFO is for any type of temporary order you would like to as the court for.

I say temporary, because any motion you file during your divorce case will result in temporary orders that will be in effect until you submit your judgment or until further order of the court.

Those orders can them be included in the final order or you can change the orders all together, if by agreement.

So I wanted to go over the steps of things you will need to do if you want to file a motion in your divorce case.

First, you will need to complete a RFO (Request for Order) form.  This is form FL-300.  We won’t get into the details of actually filling out the form, rather, I wanted to discuss what is all involved.

If Request For Order Is Involving Children

If your motion has anything to do with children or child support etc., you will need to get a mediation date.  I recommend that you do not attempt to call the court for this. They rarely answer the phone at the courthouse and if you happen to reach someone, they will just tell you to request the mediation date online.

Here is the link to the Los Angeles County  Family Court Service Mediation Appointment Request Form which in another article we will discuss how to fill it out.

You will have to wait until you get your mediation date before you can file your motion.

Another thing you will need to do if your motion has anything to do with children is complete the PACT class which thankfully is now online.  Here is a link to the Our Children First Program online class.

If Request For Order Involves Money

If your request for order has anything to do with money such as child or spousal support, etc. you will also need to fill out an income and Expense Declaration Form FL-150.

If you do not follow these instruction you will have a very difficult time filing your motion.  Meaning it will be rejected by the court in most cases.

Have Us Prepare Your Motion

We specialize in preparing divorce motions for just about anything.  We will prepare everything for you, including your declaration and get your mediation date, file your motion with the court, get your hearing date and serve the papers on the other party.  All for one flat fee.

We are located in Santa Clarita, CA and can help you anywhere in Los Angeles.

Lot’s Of Santa Clarita Divorce Cases With Young Children Lately

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We handle a lot of divorce cases in Santa Clarita and we pretty much see everything you could think of.  Lately, however, we have been getting an few divorce cases with very young children.

Two divorce cases this week were with children only 2 months old.  The youngest, I guess, would have been a divorce case where the mom was pregnant.

It is probably just a coincidence that these two cases came into our offices the same week.  But it was enough for me to take notice and the time to write this article.

When it comes to divorce, there is no right or wrong time I guess.  In both cases, the parties had talked and decided it was best if they divorced now.  What else were they supposed to do?  Stay married for the kids for 18 years?

In an earlier article this week, we discussed whether families should stay together or not for the kids. It just depends on the circumstances of what the right choice is.

When people come to our Santa Clarita divorce offices, we don’t usually get into the what or why people are getting divorced, especially when both are here in our office.  I am sure they know and we certainly don’t need to know.

Don’t want to open that can of worms in our office, or we wont get anything done.

Regardless of the timing or your divorce, it will never be a perfect time.  Sometimes it is just best to move on.  The hardest part is admitting it is over and taking the first step to calling our office and coming in to get the divorce process started.

If you are looking for an affordable way to get divorced, we can certainly help you.  Our office is located at 27240 Turnberry Lane, Ste. 200 Valencia, CA 91355.  We can be reached at 661-281-0266 and work by appointment only.  Feel free to give us a call to set up your appointment.