Myth vs. Fact: Hiding Assets During California Divorce : Los Angeles Divorce

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Myth vs. Fact: Hiding Assets During Divorce

Divorce can be a complex and emotionally challenging process. However, it is important to approach it with honesty and transparency. Unfortunately, some individuals may attempt to hide assets during a divorce in order to prevent their division. In this blog, we will debunk the myth that hiding assets is an effective strategy and shed light on the severe consequences that can result from such actions.

The Illegality and Consequences of Hiding Assets

Let’s set the record straight – attempting to hide assets during a divorce is illegal and can lead to severe consequences. Engaging in such behavior can result in fines, penalties, and even potential criminal charges. Therefore, it is crucial to understand that the potential short-term gain is far outweighed by the long-term consequences.

Exposing the Reality: Asset Disclosure

At our firm, we prioritize the importance of asset disclosure and ensure our clients are fully aware of the implications of hiding assets. Throughout the divorce process, our clients engage in a thorough disclosure process, where they provide comprehensive information about all their assets and debts. This transparent approach allows for a fair and equitable division of property.

While it is unfortunate, we have encountered numerous cases where individuals attempted to hide assets. This often leads to complicated legal proceedings where forensic accountants are brought in, and documents are subpoenaed. Not only does this make the divorce process more contentious, but it also incurs substantial financial costs.

The Pitfalls of Hiding Assets: A Lesson on Pensions

One common area where individuals try to hide assets is their pension plans. Some may falsely believe that omitting their pension from the asset list will allow them to retain full ownership. However, this is far from the truth.

Let’s say you decide not to disclose your pension during the divorce process, thinking that you can keep it all to yourself. When you eventually reach retirement age, the pension company will require a copy of your divorce decree. When they discover that your pension was not included in the settlement, they will take action.

The pension company will freeze the pension and assign a portion to your spouse as their rightful share of the community property. This means that you will not be able to collect the full amount you had anticipated. In some cases, individuals have been caught off guard by this consequence, not realizing that their pension would be subject to division.

The Importance of Full Disclosure

It is crucial to emphasize that even if you believe you are entitled to keep 100% of your pension, it still needs to be included in the settlement agreement. Failure to address it explicitly will result in the assumption that community property laws apply. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that silence equates to ownership.

To rectify situations where assets were unintentionally omitted, we have facilitated modifications to judgments. By doing so, we ensure that the missing asset, such as a pension, is confirmed as separate property for the petitioner or respondent. This updated judgment can then be submitted to the pension plan, clearly indicating that the spouse will not receive any portion of the pension.

It is disheartening to witness cases where individuals have been delayed in their retirement plans due to inadequate documentation in their settlement agreement. Taking the necessary steps to ensure all assets are properly addressed can prevent unnecessary complications and delays down the line.

Conclusion

In summary, attempting to hide assets during a divorce is not only unethical but also illegal. The consequences of such actions can have dire financial and legal implications. It is essential to approach the divorce process with honesty, transparency, and full disclosure. By doing so, individuals can achieve a fair and equitable resolution while avoiding the costly and contentious battles that arise from attempting to hide assets.

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child support calculator Los Angeles

Child Support Calculator Los Angeles | Divorce661.Com

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Child Support Calculator Los Angeles

In this article we discuss how the child support calculator works.  This is also referred to as a “Dissomaster”

Why “Dissomaster”?

All I can tell you is that the word “Disso” is short for dissolution and everyone in the legal industry refers to any child support or spousal support calculation as a “Dissomaster”

When Is A Child Support Calculator Needed

A dissomaster or child support calculator is needed in many cases.

First, whenever you are submitting a divorce judgment to court you have to attach a child support calculation.

The court needs to see the income of the parties and the timeshare and the resulting amount of child support that should be ordered under what is called “Guideline”.  Guideline is just is just referring to the calculation result itself.

Second, a child support calculator or Dissomaster is needed when you want to see what child support might be if you were to go to court.

We provide a child support calculation to our clients so they can see what the court may order for child support.

Then they can decide on their own how much child support they want to agree to.  The court does not get involved in making a decision on the amount of child support if the parties agree.

Even if this amount is more or less than the guideline amount of child support that was calculated.

What If You Want No Child Support?

Many of our clients do not want child support as part of their divorce.

Our clients will say something like, “We have an easy divorce, neither of us want child support”

The interesting thing about that is that if they went to court to do their own divorce the court would enforce child support from one party to the other.

So how do we obtain no child support for our clients?

It’s asking for what’s called a non-guideline child support order.

Here Is How It Works

If you have an amicable divorce and you and your spouse agree to it, you can have zero child support as part of your judgment.

Even though child support is mandatory in California, you are allowed to stipulate or agree that despite the child support calculator showing a guideline amount of child support to be paid, that you want it to be zero or some other amount.

Do You Have An Amicable Divorce?

If you have an amicable divorce you and your spouse get to call all the shots and make all the decisions.

At Divorce661.com  we will package up your agreements with whatever terms you want.  Again, so long as you both agree to them, we can write up pretty much anything.

You just have to know how to write it up properly.

We have a lot of clients that come to us after they tried to do their own divorce and found the court forcing them to make decisions they didn’t really want to do.

If you find yourself in this situation please give us a call.

We handle amicable divorce cases anywhere in California.

santa clarita veterans day 2022 divorce661

Thanks To All Veterans From A Veteran Family | Divorce661.Com

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Here at the Blankenship household we celebrated not only the Marine Corps birthday on November 10th, but today we also celebrate Veteran’s Day.

We come from a long line of Veterans that served.

My father and my grandfather both served in the Army.

I served in the Marine corps from 90-98 and my son is currently in the Marine Corps.

In the past we’ve gone camping on Veterans day weekend.  We’d usually take our motorhome down to Camp Pendleton. Can’t beat the ocean front views or the price.

I was really glad when the started allowing Disabled Veterans such as myself access to the base a few years ago, including the campgrounds.

This year we stayed home.  And obviously working.

But my son and I did carve out some time to honor our Veterans by completing the CrossFit Hero WOD honoring Chad Wilkinson.  This involves 1000 box steps wearing a 45 pound ruck.

Anyways, it was fun to get a workout in with my son on Veterans day.

Any extra time we can sneak in with our son we’ll take.

Hoping you are also enjoying your Veterans Day.

Santa Clarita Divorce Process

Santa Clarita Divorce Process Explained

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce Process Explained

Is the the Santa Clarita divorce process confusing? Sure.  Can it be made simple in plain English?  Absolutely.

That’s what we do here at Divorce661.  We turn the complicated divorce process into an easily understandable process.

You see, when you have an amicable divorce in Santa Clarita, the process is entirely different.  We are all used to hearing the horror stories about divorce and how they can take years.

With our clients we are talking about days or weeks at the most.

Here is an example of how we completed a divorce in 1 day.

Don’t get me wrong.  A Santa Clarita  divorce process can still be a nightmare. Especially if you are trying to do your own divorce.

I mean, can you do it?  Sure, possibly, it depends.  Do some people get through the process?

Yes. Some Do.  But most do not.

How do we know this?  Because half our business is helping those that tried to do their own Santa Clarita Divorce.

And I understand why you would want to try to do your own divorce.

It is either to save money or because you think your divorce will be easy because you are in agreement.

And you would think the process would be easy if you are in agreement.

COMPLICATED EVEN IF AMICABLE

It is still complicated.  It is a court of law with specific rules that have to be followed.

Are you trying to save money by doing your own divorce?  Watch this short video where I explain that you will pay with either your time (doing your own paperwork) or your money (hiring us to have it done professionally)

Here is the video => Doing You Own Divorce Is Not Free <=

Below is the vide where we discuss the Santa Clarita Divorce process.

We are explaining it as it would occur with an amicable divorce.

When you use our service we don’t break the divorce process into separate pieces.  We complete the entire divorce process in a single step.

Give us a call if you would like assistance with your divorce in Santa Clarita.  We serve all divorce courts in California.

 

Divorce661 is located in Santa Clarita, CA and serves all the courts in California.

California divorce petition mistakes Santa Clarita

Divorce Petition Mistakes To Avoid In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Petition Mistakes To Avoid In California

I created a video series you can find below that discusses the top petition mistakes people make when filing their own divorce. It is a compilation of 17 videos that are just 15 seconds each.

The Petition is one of the first forms you will prepare when filing your California divorce.

AMENDING YOUR DIVORCE PETITION CAUSES DELAYS

It is critical that you not make these mistakes on your petition.  While you do get one chance to amend your divorce petition, doing so cause a delay on when your divorce can be finalized.

Not to mention, if you amend to your divorce petition you also have to have it re-served and are essentially starting the process again.

And then you have the problem of correctly preparing the proof of service of amended summons and petition which always trips people up.

What a lot of people don’t understand when they file the petition is that the clerk is not there to make sure you prepared it correctly. They will simply take your money and stamp your petition leaving you to think you prepared it correctly.

The paperwork you prepare for your divorce is not ever reviewed until you turn in your judgment.

This is when people will usually have their judgment rejected.  Many times it is because of how or what they included in the  petition.

50% OF OUR BUSSINES IS CORRECTING JUDGMENTS

A lot of our business in from clients that had their judgment rejected. We always make sure we review all documents previously filed.  This includes the Petition.

We cannot assume that the petition or other documents were prepared correctly.  It would be very likely that the judgment would get rejected as well.

At least half the time we do a review of a judgment rejection we are having to amend the petition. This results in us usually having to start at beginning of the divorce case.

If you would like assistance with your divorce or if you have had your California divorce judgment rejected please give us a call.

We can assist you in finalizing your California divorce case.

 

Santa Clarita Divorce File Response Amicable

Amicable Santa Clarita Divorce? What Not To Do

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Amicable Santa Clarita Divorce?  What Not To Do

Hi there, Tim Blankenship with Divorce661.com and in this article I want to discuss that if you have an amicable Santa Clarita divorce what options you have as far as not filing a response and why you would consider not doing that.

In short, I am going to explain why you don’t want to file a Response (Form FL-120) when you have an amicable divorce in Santa Clarita.

I need to be very clear, we are talking about amicable divorce cases only!
Save Money

Okay, let’s get into it…

What a lot of people don’t understand is that there are two court fees in an uncontested divorce case.  The terms “uncontested” to the court literally means, “a Petition and a Response were filed”.

To you this probably means that you guys are in agreement and don’t need to go to court.

That said, the first reason you don’t want to file a Response if you have an amicable Santa Clarita Divorce is because it will trigger a second court filing fee.

That’s right, as I mentioned above, a lot of people are not aware that if you file a response there is a second court fee. And if you amicable, there is a court procedure known as default.

DEFAULT WITH AGREEMENT

But, there are two types of defaults and I want to be clear what I am talking about because a lot of people get this wrong.

When people hear default, they instantly think that they are going to complete their amicable Santa Clarita divorce without involving the other party at all.  This is not what I am referring to and if you listen to my videos on Youtube, you know I talk about that A LOT.

I am specifically talking about the process of a default, BUT with the other party fully participating and and signing a marital settlement agreement, just without triggering the 2nd court fee because we are purposely not filing the response.

DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE

Don’t get me wrong, it is not a mistake to file your Response.  I know, the summons you received that if you don’t file a Response in 30 days you are totally screwed.  I get that…

And this is likely your first divorce and you want to follow the rules.  Of course you do.

But, there are two sets of rules the court does not tell you about.

DO THIS INSTEAD

The reason I bring this up so often, is while we get a ton of calls with clients asking us to take over their amicable case and finalize for them, we get just as many people who have called us AFTER they have filed the response.

And when I speak to them and ask why they filed their Response if they were amicable, the answer is always, “That’s what the court instructions were.

So I am trying to get out in front of this and save you some money.

The hope is that you are reading this article BEFORE you file your response.  We are all about saving our clients money when it comes to their amicable divorce.

Please give us a call if you need assistance with your amicable divorce anywhere in California.

6 Month Cooling Off Period | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

6 Month Cooling Off Period | Santa Clarita Divorce

The question we get a lot at Divorce661 is regarding the 6 month cooling off period when it comes to divorce in California.

The question specifically is “do we have to wait the 6 months if we have already been separated for a period of time?”

It makes sense to me also that if you have been separated, say for 6 months or longer the chance of you reconciling with your spouse are probably dwindling.

Why The 6 Month Cooling Off Period Exists

That is the whole point behind the 6 month cooling off period in California. They want to provide an opportunity for the spouses to get back together before the divorce is finalized.

So why make couples wait if they’ve already been apart for as long as the court would require them had they still been living together.

Some of our clients have been separated for years, some as long as 20 years before filing for divorce.

This happens for a variety of reasons…

But to answer the question, Yes – you still have to wait the 6 months even if you have been separated.

The length of separation has no bearing on the final divorce date.

What starts the 6 months is the filing of the divorce and then the actual date that paperwork is SERVED.

How To Finalize Your Divorce Faster

So if you are in a hurry to have your divorce finalized, the best thing you can do is have the divorce paperwork served shortly after you have filed it.

What I tell our clients who find themselves in this position is that it has already been XXX number of years since they’ve been separated, what is another 6 months going to matter.

It really doesn’t, but I get it – once you decide it is time to file for divorce, you want it over and done with as quickly as possible.

what happens after FL-165 filed california divorce

What Happens After FL-165 Is Filed? | Divorce661.com

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What Happens After FL-165 Is Filed? | Divorce661.com

You filed your request to enter default form FL-165, but what happens after the FL-165 is filed?

The Request To Enter Default form FL-165 is a form that is signed by the petitioner when you are going through either a true default or default with written agreement type California divorce case.

The word default simply means that no response was filed and therefore that party, the respondent has defaulted by not appearing in the case.

This is not a bad thing if this was the intention of the parties.

For instance, with our clients, we purposely and strategically file our divorce judgements as a default with written agreement.

We do this to save our clients money.  We work with both parties on their amicable divorce.

What a lot of people don’t know is that by filing the response form it triggers another court filing fee.

What Happens After FL-165 Is Filed?

But the real purpose for this article was to explain what happens after the FL-165 is filed.

This depends on a few things.

IF YOU HAVE AN AMICABLE DIVORCE

If you have an amicable California divorce and intentionally filed the request to enter default then the filing of the FL-165 simply means that the court is beginning to process your judgment.

This assumes that you filed your request to enter default FL-165 along with your judgment package as we recommend.

If you filed your request to enter default FL-165 as a separate document then once the default is entered you can now submit your judgment.

But there really is no reason to break them up into separate filings.

The type of case described above is called a Default with written agreement.

IF YOUR DIVORCE IS NOT AMICABLE

But what if your case is not amicable?

If your case is not amicable and you are contesting the terms of the divorce petition you’d normally want to file your response within the allotted time.

This prevents the request to enter default from being filed in the first place.

Some respondents for one reason or another don’t get their response filed in time and the request to enter default FL-165 ends up getting filed.

This has the result of blocking you from filing a Response.

There is a cure for this. You can file a motion to set aside the request to enter default and in my experience the court will generally approve this request.

Then you can file your Response.

HOW WE PROCESS OUR AMICABLE DIVORCE CLIENTS CASES

As I mentioned above we purposely process our clients cases as a default with written agreement. We do this to save our clients money.

So in the case of our clients, what happens after the FL-165 is filed?

For our clients it is good news.  It is just part of the default with written agreement process we put you through and means the court is actively processing your judgment.

LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF HOME REQUIRED ON DIVORCE JUDGMENT

Legal Description Of Property Required On Divorce Judgment | Divorce661.com

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Legal Description Of Property Required On Divorce Judgment

Tim Blankenship here with Divorce661.com and what we’re talking about in this video is legal descriptions for real property.

So were talking about your home, condo, any real property asset that you own.

So when going through a divorce in California, when you submit your judgment to the court and you indicate, for instance, you’re keeping 100% of real property at 123 Main Street. Or,  house will be divided equally or house will be sold and proceeds divided equally.

If you list any type of real property the legal description of property is required on the divorce judgment.

So if it’s your home, obviously you can just get a copy of your deed, make a copy of that, and you will attach that behind the property order as a court will require that to be there to list the legal description

If you turn it in without the legal description, your judgment will be rejected.

Los Angeles County Family Centered Case Resolution Hearings

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Los Angeles County Family Centered Case Resolution Hearings

Tim Blankenship here with Divorce661.com and what we’re answering in this video is what is Los Angeles County’s Family Centered case resolution hearings that you may see on your summary, on your case summary related to your divorce and this is only for Los Angeles County.

So what happened was people were filing for divorce thinking their divorce cases were finished and never had any communication from the court whatsoever in the past.

And then around 2013 they implemented this family-centered case resolution process. And it’s basically the court setting a hearing and they need to set a hearing at least once every hundred and eighty days in this is just to bring the case before the court to the court, can see what’s going on and then make any recommended solutions to moving your case forward either by sending notices out to come in and court or provide you updates of what needs to happen in order to finish your divorce so they don’t have so many cases not being finished by parties going through divorce on their own.