California Divorce Judgment Rejected | FL-170 Wrong or Missing

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Ok, another article and podcast on how to handle the issues when your California divorce judgment is rejected. This one is about form FL-170. This is a mandatory, what I call “procedural” form. It essentially lets the court know what type of divorce case you are filing. Is your case a default with agreement, default without agreement or uncontested divorce case.

The other thing it advises the court is what the status of your financial disclosures are. Meaning, you both disclosed and is a uncontested case or is it a default with agreement where you both agree to waive your final declaration of disclosures.

California Divorce Judgment Rejected | FL-141 Missing Or Wrong

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce Judgment Rejected | FL-141 Missing Or Wrong

Having your California divorce case rejected is never fun. However, this article will discuss what to do if your California divorce judgment is rejected for the following reasons listed on the FAM-001.

Judicial Council form FL-141, Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure & Income and Expense Declaration [revised July 2013]

  1. must be submitted by the Petitioner as to the Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure (the Preliminary Declaration cannot be waived). See Family Code §2104.
  2. must be submitted by the Respondent as to the Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure (the Preliminary Declaration cannot be waived). See Family Code §2104.
  3. must be submitted by the Petitioner & the Respondent as to the Final Declaration of Disclosure & Income and Expense Declaration; in the alternative, the parties may stipulate to a mutual waiver of the requirements of 2105(a) concerning the final declaration of disclosure by execution of a waiver under penalty of perjury by separate stipulation by filing Judicial Council form FL-144, Stipulation and Waiver of Final Declaration of Disclosure [revised January 2007]. Please refer to Family Code §§2105, 2106.

This is a common error and is easy to fix. Most people forget about the form altogether, but when the form is submitted to the court the biggest problem is that people forget to fill in the date.

You see where it says on paragraph one that either the Petitioner or Respondent has served the other party their preliminary declaration of disclosures?  And then there is some white space between paragraph one and paragraph two? There is where you are supposed to put the date that the disclosures were served.

As usual, it is a poorly formatted form and just begs for mistakes to be made. Thankfully it is an easy fix, but is cause for rejection of your California divorce judgment.

When The Divorce Court Wants Your Matter Set For Hearing

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When The Divorce Court Wants Your Matter Set For Hearing

Okay, this is another article about helping you with issues related to submitting your divorce judgment in California. This article discusses what to do if the court rejects your judgment and advised you to set the your divorce case for a hearing using form FAM-031.

Listen to the podcast where I explain in detail why you received this notice and what you need to do.

The FAM-031 is a form you use to set your case for a hearing. The reject letter you receive that has this section marked simply means that the court found something in your divorce judgment that they have a question on and they want you to come to court so they can ask you about it.

We see this happen mostly on default divorce cases. Default divorce cases, either default with agreements or default without agreements also known as a true default.

Here is what you do…

File the request for default setting form FAM-031 and check off the boxes that apply. They will usually say what the issue is that will relate to one of the check boxes on the request for default setting form.

The most common issues and reasons we see the court setting hearing is as follows:

  1. You are trying to terminate spousal support on a long term marriage
  2. You are asking for a specific amount of support
  3. Request for no child visitation or supervised visitation
  4. Request for child support either for more or less than what the court would order
  5. Any other reason… If the court states the specific issue then use the “other box” If you don’t know the reason then use the “other box” and write “per court request”

Having your divorce judgment rejected is very frustrating and learning you now have to wait for a hearing (which can be as much as 90 days off or longer) will likely not make you happy especially considering you were opening the package from the court thinking your divorce case was finalized, only to learn it is not.

Please call us if you would like assistance with your divorce case.

High Net Worth & High Income Earners Using Divorce 661

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I had a client sign up for services that I just had to comment on. You see, their family was what I would call high net worth / high income earners. They earned around $25,000 a month from their business which i would consider to be a fairly high income.

When I first spoke with this family, I asked them why they had decided to use me instead of an attorney since they likely could afford it.

Their answer was one that I was familiar with. They said that once the divorce attorneys would look at their income and they spoke about their net worth and possessions that the attorneys seemed to feel they could get a lot more money out of them.

The clients actually said that even over the phone when they would speak to attorneys that they would ask where they live and that the attorneys would even comment and say something like, “oh, you are in that part of town” referencing the expensive homes in that particular neighborhood.

Make sure to listen to this quick podcast where I talk more about this issue. You can also download the pdf of this blog post below as well.

Divorce Judgment Rejection : Prior To Submission Of Judgment Default Must Be Entered

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Judgment Rejection : Prior To Submission Of Judgment Default Must Be Entered

In this article and podcast I am explaining how to correct the issue of having your divorce judgment rejected when you either don’t file the FL-165 or make errors when submitting the request to enter default form.

The exact language of the rejection notice says….

Prior to the submission of the Judgment, the Default must be entered. In the alternative, submit a Judicial Council form FL-130, Appearance, Stipulations and Waivers [revised January 2011] signed by both parties (and their counsel, if any) and include the first appearance fee of $ . Make check payable to L.A.S.C.

Below is the audio and written explanation

Here is how to fix the rejection on the FL-165

Today were talking about one of the reasons your judgment can be rejected. This article is talking about when you turn in your divorce judgment to the court and it is rejected because you did not file the request to enter default form FL 165.

You see when you turn in your divorce judgment and the other party has not responded this becomes what is known as a default case. It is a default case because the other party did not file a response. That is all it means when filing the default.

So to correct this issue if you had your judgment rejected because you did not file the request to enter default all you need to do is resubmit your judgment and then include the request to enter default form.

Make sure when you are filing a request to enter default that you have signed all four places on the form. I see often that people make the mistake of not signing the first line on the first page because they think it says attorney. But that signature line is for you to sign it’s written poorly and it makes it look like it should only be for an attorney but that is for you to sign.

Make sure to have an original and three copies of the request to enter default when you submit this to court with your judgment and don’t forget to include two envelopes each addressed to one of the parties and make sure to put postage on the envelope.

And finally, remember that you cannot submit The request to enter default any sooner than 30 days from the date of service of the petition. If you delete the request to enter default form any sooner than the 30 days from the date the other party was served your request to enter default will be rejected.

How To Process A QDRO | Preparing The QDRO Is Only 1/2 The Battle

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To Process A QDRO |Preparing The QDRO Is Only 1/2 The Battle

I received a call the other day from a guy who said he needed help with his QDRO. He said that he had paid someone to prepare it. But once the QDRO was prepared, he was mailed the QDRO with a list of instructions of what needed to be done.

You see, having the QDRO written up is just half the issue when handling QDRO’s and once it is prepared it has to go through several channels before it is finalized. I want to bring this up because when people call about our QDRO Service, which is a full service process, I tell them that it can take several months to finalize.

We do not just prepare the QDRO and then turn it over to you with instructions, although doing so would certainly be easier, but like with our full service divorce, getting the paperwork through the courts is challenging and we don’t want to leave that up to out clients.

Here is the various channels a QDRO will go down when being processed.

QDRO Process:

  1. Obtain Model QDRO Language from the Plan – Every pension or 401k has specific language that needs to be included in the QDRO.
  2. Draft Joinders and File with the Court (Read Here About Joinders)
  3. Serve filed Joinders and Draft QDRO to Plan for approval (This can take several months)
  4. Once QDRO Approved, Obtain signatures from clients.
  5. File QDRO with Court. (This can take several weeks)
  6. Once filed with Court, obtain certified copy of QDRO.
  7. Serve Certified copy of QDRO on plan.

So you can see, drafting the QDRO is just one small part of the overall process.  While the QDRO and Joinder can be “prepared” relatively quickly, it is the approval and court process that adds much time to the overall process.

So while you can find companies out there who will “prepare” your QDRO for a few hundred dollars, our Full-Serve QDRO service takes you all the way to being prepared, filed, and submitted to the plan.

Please give me a call for more information about our QDRO service.

Courts Require Joinder When Filing QDRO But The Plan May Not

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I have been getting a lot of calls regarding the Joinder and QDRO process and a few times it has come up where I am being advised by the client that the pension plan or 401k plan is not requiring the joinder. So I wanted to clear this issue up.

While the plan may not require the Joinder (and this is rare) it is the Court that requires the Joinder whenever you are dividing a pension and are going to file a QDRO. In fact, if you try to file a QDRO with the court without the Joinder, the Court will reject the QDRO filing and ask that you first file the Joinder.

Listen for more info on the Joinder / QDRO process and / or keep reading below…
I recorded this podcast while on a walk so there is a little background wind noise…

We had a new client call us the other day and say they tried to file their QDRO and it was rejected by the court. The court indicated that the plan needs to be first joined to the dissolution action. See below reject sheet.

QDRO Reject Letter
QDRO Reject Letter

But what does it mean to “Join?”  In the simplest terms it just means you are joining or bringing the QDRO process into the divorce case and essentially adding the plan as a party to the case.   So once the plan in joined to the divorce case, the court will be able to process the QDRO.

I also wrote another article about the actual QDRO process here.

If you have any questions about our service of preparing and handling your Joinder / QDRO please give us a call.

RV’ing At Carpenteria, Getting Sick & Working From Home

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

My wife and I love to get out to the Beach and take out our RV when we can. We hate the summer time for this because it is so crowded and not to mention hard to get a camping spot. What makes matters worse, is that neither of us are good planners.

So what I end up doing is every other day or so, I will go to Reserve America and look for last minute RV spots. What I have found is that people do cancel trips, even those trips booked out 6 months in advance which is what it takes to get some of the prime, beach front RV spots.

That is what happened for this weekend. It was last Tuesday and I took a look online to see what might be available and much to my surprise, there was a beach front RV spot available at Carpenteria and I snatched it up right away without seeing if we would even be able to go.

Well, we were able to make it and it turned into an awesome weekend. The weather was great, we had a great spot and Carpenteria State Beach is only an hour’s drive.

Here is the photo I posted on Facebook.

Weekend At Carpenteria
Weekend At Carpenteria

Now, the beach can help me forget about life for a while and allows my wife and I to plan the future, but that is short lived and we are quickly back to reality. What I am referring to is that if you have been following my personal posts, you may be aware that I suffered a bad back and shoulder problem.

Out of the blue, I started losing muscle in my left arm and started experiencing some pain. The pain was not like muscle soreness and was a type of pain I can’t explain. It got worse and I went to the doctors finally and after a couple doctors visits and then finally an MRI, it turns out I have a bulged disk in my L5/L6 and what was supposedly causing the pain.

I was told it was either surgery or get better naturally. So I started aggressively going to Accupuncture and the Chiropractor. I did this for several weeks until I had a bit of easing of the pain, but it then worsened where I had to start taking some pain meds. I had terrible pain from the middle of the back which radiated all the way down my left arm and caused 3 of my fingers to go totally numb. And this was the condition I have been in for about 8 weeks.

Then, while camping in Carpenteria this weekend, I noticed that I did not have to take my pain medicine at hour 6 which was about how often I needed to take the pain meds. That was Friday morning. Normally, I would wake up in a lot of pain, and the pain is what would wake me up around 3 am. But I woke up Saturday at 6 a.m., and not in pain. I was so confused.

Then Saturday I did not take any pain meds and here we are Monday and still no pain meds.

I am glad the pain is gone, but now I feel sick, tired and just worn down. My wife, who had her own bout of nerve related issues, says now is the healing time and why I am feeling sick and tired.

And while I could not get myself into work today, I am sitting here with my Mac on my lap while is rest in bed and knock out this blog post and try to reply to some of my clients emails.  That is the one thing about owning your own business, that when you are not able to come in, business comes to a halt for the most part.  I still have my reception staff answering the phones, but I am the one that people want to speak to and I understand that.

I am just glad for technology that allows one to stay connected and hope to be back in the office on Tuesday. Actually, I will need to go in regardless as there are several time sensitive issues I need to work on.

So if you are reading this and I did not happen to return your email today, this is why. I really try to keep my clients and future clients informed about what I am doing and think that I am probably the only one that is so transparent with his life in the legal services arena.

I think people are so secretive these days. Really, try to find out personal information about someones life that provides legal services. Most have a business page where they post, but very few make their personal lives available to their clients.

Why do I do this? Because I want people to know that I am a real person just like them, and not just a guy on the end of the phone.

And I know that people read these articles, probably more than I think. I often get comments or an email where a client or even a prospective client emails me and starts the email off with a comment about a recent personal post I wrote and I think it just makes me more relatable.

I hope you are having an awesome Monday. 🙂

How Would You Like Divorce661 Signs In Your Valencia Neighborhood??

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How Would You Like Divorce661 Signs In Your Valencia Neighborhood??

I don’t know about you but it really bothers me when people or business’s place these “bandit” signs around Valencia. I don’t know what goes through people’s minds when they think, “Let me have some signs made and plaster them all over the city.

I personally feel that it is low class to do this and I think other people feel the same way.  I also think that when I see these signs, I think to myself that the business must not be doing good if they have to resort to this type of advertising.

A few months ago, I was walking my dog Hudson along McBean Pkwy and Northpark Drive and came across another sign. I snapped a photo and said some choice words on Facebook. (see below)

Today I saw another sign and this one was from 1-800-got-junk.  It was posted right in the grass, right on Northpark drive.

It made me think how these people would fee about me posting a Divorce661 sign in their neighborhood. (more below photo)

I don’t think they would like it very much if I put a Divorce661 sign in their neighborhood.

Now you may be thinking that this does not look so bad. For those of us that live in Santa Clarita, we don’t have to see things like this everyday or even that often.

But take a drive down to the San Fernando Valley and drive down any major street. The streets are littered with these bandit signs all over the place and it looks terrible. Not that there is anything wrong with the San Fernando Valley, but I don’t want Santa Clarita to look like that.

I remember when I was an Police Officer back in the day working Devonshire Division and patrolling the streets. I would see all these bandit signs and think just how awful it looked.  I was glad to be able to drive home to my house in Santa Clarita after my shifts, that is for sure.

What was interesting about the post I did on Facebook is that there were actually people who defended the company that posted the sign, saying maybe they didn’t know or maybe they hired someone.  That is just bull. Whether they physically placed it there themselves or hired someone to do it, they are still responsible.

And if you are the one that did this and read this post, you know exactly how I feel. And I still need to go back and pluck that 1-800-got-junk sign right out of the ground!

Have a nice day 🙂

California Divorce Massive Backlog Of Divorce Cases Similar To New York But Reasons Different

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The New York Post published and article yesterday that stated that New York has a massive backlog of divorce cases. I thought this was interesting because of the reasons they cited for causing the backlog of divorce cases.

The New York Post stated that the reason for the massive backlog of divorce cases in New York was due to the fact that in 2010, New York went from a state where you had to prove fault “Fault-State” such as cruelty or infidelity to a no-fault state which simply means you can get divorced without the need for having a reason.

There are three things I wanted to comment on here. First, is that there are several states in the U.S. that are still fault states; states where you have to prove the other person did something wrong in order to get divorced.  I just find this to be so wrong. Maybe it is because I live in California and deal with divorce everyday where couples file for divorce without the need for posing a reason.

In fact, in my book, “Why You Don’t Need A Divorce Attorney“, I even speak about how odd it would be if you had to really have a reason to file for divorce and that many couples getting a divorce cannot really put a finger on why they are getting divorce, just that they are “not happy”.

No imagine that these people that had no real reason to file for divorce could not get divorced for “not happy” but had to prove that “something happened” such is the case in New York and other “Fault” divorce states.

The second thing I wanted to comment about is the backlog they say is occurring now that they are a no-fault state.  This just goes to show that there are many people out there that are not happy in their marriage but where something has not really “happened” to cause it, but they are still not happy enough to stay in the marriage.

These people in these unhappy relationships are forced to remain married simply because of the laws of the land they live in that says they have to remain married.  Sort of makes you want to investigate a States policy on divorce before you move there, doesn’t it.

The last thing I wanted to state is about the backlog. In California, we have always had a backlog of divorce cases. This is for 2 reasons. First, the court’s are under staffed.  I know when I worked for the Divorce Courts in the San Fernando Court which is is now in Chatsworth Superior Court, the Court’s calendars were so full that it would take about a year to get to trial for your case.

And this is just one problem. The other issue is in regards to California’s 6 month “Cooling Off Period” which states that your divorce cannot be completed any sooner than 6 months. I think that this is a good policy for those people that get upset with their spouse and run out and file for divorce. What would happen if you could divorce in a day? There are many people that make this mistake and would have to be married if this policy was not in place.

But what about those people that have been separated for many years? I have many clients who have been separated for a year, 2 years and even 10 years or longer. How silly is it that those people should have to wait for 6 months to get divorced. Obviously, they have had plenty of time to think about it.

I believe that there should be an exemption for those people who want to file for divorce and who have already separated. They should be able to file for divorce and not have to with the 6 months in this case I believe.  And I know that people in this position would agree with me because when I tell them they have to wait 6 months for their divorce to be finalized, they always ask, “Why, if we have already been living apart for X amount of years?”

In any event, I thought this was an interesting article in the New York Post which you can find here to read the entire article and wanted to add my 2 cents.