When you work with our experienced divorce legal document assistants, you will complete the exact same divorce documents and process as you would have using an expensive attorney. The majority of our services are performed via phone, email and fax and only on very rare occasions do we have to meet with you in person.
Here is the step by step guide to how the divorce process and our legal document service works.
Initial Phone Consultation
It is important that we have a good understanding of your particular divorce circumstances. We like to take the time understand your specific divorce situation and help you to further understand how we can help you. If you have already started your divorce, we will complete a case review to see where you are and what needs to be completed.
Review Client Agreement
As a licensed and bonded legal document assistant company we are required to send you a specific agreement for you to read and sign which details the services that we will perform for you. The agreement is sent via email and you have the ability to sign using our electronic signature software.
Step 1 – File Summons and Petition
After you have signed the agreement and paid for our services, you will be sent an email requesting some initial information so we can begin the divorce process. We will prepare the initial divorce paperwork and send to you for review and signature. We will file your divorce paperwork with the court. Once the court issues a case number, your paperwork will be ready to be served on the other party.
Step 2 – Service of Process
The Summons and Petition usually needs to be personally served. This can be avoided by having the other party sign a form that indicates to the court that they received it. This is a good way to help keep the divorce amicable. Where this is not possible, we can arrange for a process server to personally serve your spouse.
Step 3 – File Response
In most cases, your spouse will need to file a response. Because we are a neutral third party, we often help both spouses through the divorce process. If it is determined that a response will be filed, we can help prepare the response paperwork as well.
Step 4 – Prepare Financial Disclosures
There are required financial disclosures that are necessary to complete. We will send you a list of needed documents and prepare your disclosures for you. Once complete we will serve the disclosures on your spouse. If we are working with both spouses, we will prepare the financial disclosures for both parties.
Step 5 – Prepare Judgment
Once both parties have filed and served their financial disclosures, we can begin preparing the judgment. The judgment is essentially a written agreement to the terms of the divorce and will outline the division of assets and debts, child custody and visitation, spousal support and any other terms and conditions.
Will I Have To Go To Court?
Most of our clients will never set foot in a courtroom. The only time you will have to go to court is if you need the court to make orders in for items you cannot agree on. This could be child Custody, Child Support, Spousal Support, division of property or for any other things you cannot come to an agreement on.
Getting divorce is an emotionally charged event. There will be times where you don’t agree. Even if you agree initially, you may hit some sticking points. When this happens, we can instruct you on how to use the free services of the Court Mediator or Family Law Facilitators office.
How Long Will This Take?
The preparation of the divorce paperwork can be completed as fast as you can get it to us. However, in California there is a month “cooling off” period of 6 months. So while we can prepare and submit your paperwork to the court as soon as it is complete, the Judge will not sign off on the judgment until 6 months have elapsed.
Ready To Get Started?
You have made a great decision to use our professional divorce document preparation service. You will save $1,000’s of dollars on your divorce by eliminating attorneys from the equation.
We look forward to speaking to you and helping you get through this difficult process.