How To Look Up Your California Divorce Case Summary

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Hi. My name is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist. We’re licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm, specializing in divorce.

Today I want to talk to you about your California divorce case summary. There are many instances where you want to refer to your case summary to look up what documents have been filed in regards to your divorce.

If you’re representing yourself or if you’re working with a legal document preparation firm, it’s important to check your case summary.  Anything that you file with the court, you’re going to want to ensure that that has been appropriately filed with the court, and the only way you’re able to do this is by looking at the case summary online.

We have a legal resource page with a direct link to the Los Angeles County Family Law Case summary page. All you do is click on that link for the legal resource page, go to the page summary look up and then you enter your case number.

You can use the case summary to look at what documents have been filed and this will be particularly important at the time of judgment. When you go to file your judgment, there are certain documents that need to be filed before the court will approve the judgment. They will generally look at the case summary to verify that certain documents have been filed with the court appropriately.

That said, when you submit your judgment, it’s always a good idea to print off a copy of your case summary and highlight the necessary documents, showing them that it was filed appropriately.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specialized in divorce in California.  Please give us a cal for more information.

3 Easy Steps To Divorce In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Hi. My name is Tim Blankenship. I’m the owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist and we are a licensed and bonded legal document assistant firm specializing in divorce.

Today, I want to talk to you about the three steps of the divorce process when you work with our firm. We’ve broken it down into three digestible steps because there is an enormous amount of paperwork and it can be confusing.

The first step is for us to file and serve the initial divorce documents. This would be the summons and petition and there’s some other paperwork if you have children.

After the documents are file and service are completed, the second step is to complete your financial disclosures. Both parties are required to file and serve their financial disclosures. Now, this financial disclosure of this process is one of the most unliked processes of the divorce.

This is because you have to go through all your finances before marriage, during marriage, and after separation and put it all down on paper. Most don’t find this to be a fun process at all. After that, we move into the judgment phase.

We can prepare the divorce documents, prepare the judgment, put everything on paper, as pre request, and this will be in regards to the distribution of assets and debts as well as the in-child custody, child visitation and any other language you want incorporated into the judgment.

If you have any more questions about the divorce process when you work with a paralegal firm such as ours, please give us a call or use our website to get more information.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, California, and can assist you with your divorce anywhere in California.  Please give us a call at 661-281-0266.

How Long Does The California Divorce Process Really Take?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How long does the California divorce process take you ask?  It is certainly a loaded question, but let’s take a look at a few answers.  I have also discussed this in my video below.  Please feel free to watch or continue reading below.

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The most common reference to this questions of how long the California divorce process takes is, “What is the fastest I can get divorced?”  This answer is easy. California has a cooling off period and says that your divorce cannot be finished until 6 months plus one day have elapsed since your spouse was served.  The purpose of this time frame is to allow the parties time to reconcile.

Imagine if you could get divorced in a day, how many people would be getting re-married!

The next common reference to how long the California divorce process takes is about the paperwork.  How long will it take to get all the paperwork done?

The divorce paperwork can be completed as fast as you can fill out the forms.  We have even completed all the paperwork in single sittings in our office where the parties are present and sign all the documents.  We just have to make sure to follow the procedure correctly as there is a certain order to  filing and serving the divorce forms.

The California divorce process can be very short or very long.  In fact, the divorce process isn’t all that difficult at all.  What makes the divorce process difficult and take a long time is the parties involved.

If you are willing to work together to get your divorce done amicably, then the process will be relatively smooth and will take only the 6 months.

If you are not cooperative and want to fight it out in court, it could take many years.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce.  We can help you anywhere in California.  Make sure to give us a call for assistance.

By Tim Blankenship

What To Do If Your California Default Divorce Is Rejected

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There are a few different ways you can file for divorce.  In this article we are specifically talking about the California Default Divorce.  This can be a True Default, where the other party is not involved at all or a Hybrid Divorce, where it is a Default, but you have an agreement.

More specifically, we are discussing the how to use the Request To Enter Default form with a default style divorce because we are seeing that people are having difficulty understanding how to use the form and when to submit it to the court.

Watch this quick video where I discuss what to do if your Request to Enter Default is rejected during your California divorce.

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If you are doing a true California default divorce, where the other party is not going to participate at all, you can file the Request to enter default form 30 days after the other party has been served.

But did you know that you can also submit your entire divorce judgment as well at the same time?

You sure can!

Most people think that they have to submit the request to enter default first, and then wait the 4-8 weeks or longer to see if it is approved before filing their judgment.  This is not necessary.

All you need to do is submit your entire California divorce judgment papers along with the Request To Enter Default forms.

When you are submitting a request to enter default for your California divorce, you may have to attach the FL-160’s (Property Declarations) if you have property.  Don’t forget, you need 2 sets of forms.  Once for community property and one for separate property.

We recommend you do one of each, even if there is no property, so the court knows that to be the case and don’t think you just forgot to do the forms.

Make sure to watch the video above, where I go into a little bit more detail about the Request to Enter Default and specifically about what you can do if your request to enter default is rejected during the California divorce process.

By Tim Blankenship

How To Receive Free Money For College When Going Through Divorce Or Already Divorced

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We handle a lot of divorce cases in California and with that comes other potential issues to think about.

One of those issues to consider is college planning!

So I asked to the owner of College Planning Experts, Brian Safdari, to address some of these questions you may have when going through a divorce.

How To Receive Free Money For College If You Are Going Through A Divorce Or Already Divorced

Written By: Brian Safdari

The daunting task of submitting and applying for Financial Aid for college can be an overwhelming chore to say the least. Now imagine if you and your family find
yourselves in a divorced situation. That’s right; it just got 3 times more confusing.  Numerous questions may be swirling in your head: Which parent do we file under.  Do the schools want both parents’ information? Do we have to provide EVERYTHING?

The questions can go on and on.

The good news is that in a divorce situation, you may just have many options in order to receive the most amount in financial aid, assuming you spend some time “planning” and gathering information from a credible source.

First things first are the forms used to apply for financial aid; the FAFSA and CSS Profile. These are the financial aid forms that most state and private schools use to determine financial aid eligibility. From your forms, you will receive a number called your EFC or expected family contribution. This number is used to determine your need. The way a school determines your need is they use your EFC and plug it into the  formula Cost of Attendance (The sticker price to attend college including everything) – EFC (Expected Family Contribution (A number that reflects the amount schools think you a can afford) = Need. Our goal is to reduce your EFC to increase your need. The higher your need, the higher your grants and scholarships.

Now, here come the questions; do you know how FAFSA requires what to list about a divorce family? Do you know legally and ethically how to give them the information but not divulge more than what they need in order to get more free money for college? For example, if you are attending a public university, depending on the specific college, you may be able to submit your financial aid form with one parent. You need to dig deep and know the specific strategies regarding their “non-custodial” rules. We had a student attending a public school that the rule was “Who does the student live with 51% of the time”? In this specific situation, we had the student 51% with the lower income and asset family and we were able to receive 26,000 in grants at UCLA, leaving the family with a total cost of $9,000 per year. No too bad, huh?

Another thing to keep in mind is that since colleges are businesses, they want to have you pay as much as possible for college. Also, we know that FAFSA and other Financial Aid forms have a high error rate. Avoiding mistakes and strategically planning will allow you to make college affordable without going broke.

There are three pillars in the college planning process. How to market and position your child to get accepted into the college of their choice. You will be shocked that colleges are not accepting students based on grades and test scores alone, but a big part is what makes your child “unique”. There are specific formulas to implement to increase your chances in getting accepted, even with a low grade point average (GPA). Pillar number 2 is get the most financial aid possible by understanding the financial aid formula we briefly talked about (COA-EFC = Need). All income level families can receive financial aid if you know how to utilize the financial aid formulas. Pillar number 3 is funding college. How are you going to pay your share for college? How much can you afford monthly? What type of loans and resources are available to ensure you don’t have to sacrifice using all your savings or jeopardizing your retirement?

Brian_Safdari_college_planning_experts
Brian Safdari, Founder & CEO, College Planning Experts

Brian Safdari, founder and CEO of www.CollegePlanningExperts.com made costly mistakes that cost him over $53,000 in student loan debt unknowingly and unnecessarily and attended his least desired college. After the mistakes he made, he devoted his life to share the truth about the higher education system and how to legally and ethically take control of the process in order to send kids into the college of their dreams and ensure the parent do not go broke.

If you’d like help navigating through this difficult and complicated process and want your questions answered, call us at College Planning Experts today to sign up for an College Planning Analysis. We can help you find out how to save thousands on college! This will be one of the wisest financial decisions you’ve ever made. Call us at (661) 295-9946 or visit our website at www.CollegePlanningExperts.com. Please make sure you reference “Tim Blankenship” as we have a special gift for you.

Get in touch with Tim Blankenship on Google+

Santa Clarita Divorce Service | Interview With Tim Blankenship

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We just wrapped up a live interview on Google + Hangouts on Air with Connor MacIvor, local Santa Clarita Realtor and Tim Blankenship, the owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist known as Divorce661.com

The interview was mostly about our business here and Connor is always such a good host, which makes the interview process seamless.

We spoke mostly a about divorce and the types of divorce cases we are able to handle.  The interview was recorded which you can view below.

Here is a breakdown of what was discussed in the interview.

  • Who we are and what kind of divorce cases we can handle.
  • That we can handle divorce cases anywhere in California.
  • How we save folks money on their divorce.
  • Why people fire their divorce attorney so we can wrap up their divorce case
  • How we provide tons of information on our website
  • About the 100’s of divorce videos we have produced
  • and much more…

The video is only about 15 minutes and I personally have watched it and it went really well.  It would give you some insights into our business and about the owner.

I really liked the format of Google’s Hangouts On Air because depending on who is speaking, the screen will change to show that person. I also liked that you could put up what Google calls a “lower third” which allows you to show your name and any other information you want to put o there such as a phone number or website.

If you are interested in us interviewing you and you have a business that somehow ties into divorce, please give us a call.  This could be a divorce mediation firm, divorce attorney, real estate agent, bankruptcy attorney, financial planner, etc.

Get in touch with Tim Blankenship on Google+

How To File A California Divorce Stipulation For Spousal Support (Slideshare)

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To File A California Divorce Stipulation For Spousal Support (Slideshare)

Yes, it is possible to get a judge to sign an order for spousal support in California without having to go to court or seeing a judge.

We specialize in preparing a Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon or you can attempt to do it yourself.

If you and your spouse agree on the amount of spousal support you can simply draft a “Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon” have both of you sign it and submit it to the court.  The court will review and sign the stipulation which will make it an order of the Court.

Don’t forget to check with your County for fees for submitting a Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon, as there are usually fees involved if you ask the judge to sign something.

It’s not bad, usually $20.00 in most counties.  At least it is here in Los Angeles County.

We have uploaded a copy of a  Stipulation Regarding Spousal Support and Order Thereon for you to review to get an idea of how it is drafted.  We have also embedded it into this post below.

We specialize in California divorce and can help you with anything related to your divorce case.
If you are looking for assistance with you California divorce we can help you anywhere in California. We are headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, but can help you wherever you are at.
We can help you at any point in your divorce.  From the very beginning or where you have trouble, if you have attempted to do it on your own.
Give us a call for more information or feel free to read more articles that we have written, videos we have done or podcasts we have recorded.

Get in touch with Tim Blankenship on Google+

Santa Clarita Divorce Service Gearing Up For 2014

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

It is a usual occurrence every year that business slows down just a enough to start focusing on 2014 goals and getting ready for “Divorce Season”

Yes, I have to admit that there is such a thing.  It is caused by those folks who are thinking about getting divorced but hold off until the holidays are over.

Just about the first week of 2014 we will see an onslaught of new divorce cases in record numbers that will push all the way through September.

In October we start to see a slowdown of new divorce cases in Santa Clarita, but the call volume remains high as people are still gathering the information they will need to file for divorce in Santa Clarita in 2014.

This was a big year for us.  We grew quite quickly as folks realized we were the best solution for getting their divorce completed.  We hired several new employees and expanded our offices this past year.

We are ready for 2014 to kick off as we have employees in place and sufficient office space.

Knowing that things slow down a bit starting in October, we take this time to catch up an wrap up the cases we started in 2013 in Santa Clarita.  We have been getting a lot of divorce judgments completed and approve by the courts these last few weeks and that will continue into December.

We have also been working on our 2014 marketing strategies which will continue to consist of blogs, video, podcasts and our radio show.

If I had to guess, I would say that this year we wrote over 500 articles about divorce in Santa Clarita and we know have 200 divorce videos on our YouTube channel. Our blogs and videos have been the cornerstone of our business.

Our clients and potential clients love that we provide so much information on our blogs for free.

If you are one of those people waiting until 2014 to file for divorce, you are not alone. Just keep in mind that you and everyone else will be filing at the same time and the process of divorcing will take longer with the courts as they will be very busy.

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.

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.