Valencia Divorce : A Better Way To Serve Divorce Documents

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We are all about amicable divorce cases in California. So it would make sense that we advocate better ways to do things, especially ones that save you money and help keep your case amicable.

In this article we are talking about better ways of serving your divorce papers. What we are discussing is the process of service. This is when you file your divorce case, namely the Summons and Petition) that after it has been filed, it needs to be served. Most will tell you that it HAS TO BE PERSONALLY SERVED. This is not always the case. And in fact, if you are using our company for your divorce, we will be talking about a better way to serve, which is by mail.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

What we are referring to here is a little known form called a Notice of Acknowledgment of Receipt. It is a form that allows the spouse being served to accept being served… to acknowledge receiving a copy of the summons and petition, without the need for a 3rd party process server to chase them down and knock on their home or work door and be embarrassed.

Now you still need to have a 3rd party (friend, relative over 18 years old) be the one to mail the forms along with the acknowledgment to your spouse. The notice of acknowledgment is then filed with the court along with a proof of service that specifies how it was served.

Valencia Divorce : I Have A Divorce Attorney & Case Is Going Nowhere

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I get so many calls where people have divorce attorneys in Valencia and they call me because their case is going nowhere. Their case is going nowhere and they have spent 1000’s of dollars on their divorce. In fact, I have had numerous clients who have tried to use an attorney and dropped a $5000 retainer only to have their case filed and not a whole lot else happening.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

There is a time for attorneys and there is a time to take a step back and try to figure everything out on your own. You were married for a period of time and were able to make that work for a time, so take just a few more days, weeks or months to work through your issues regarding your divorce.

The alternative is spending money to have someone else (divorce attorney) figure out your problems for you. An attorney will never help you more than you can help yourself. All they are is a conduit (and a bad one) between you and your spouse (and their attorney)

Did you ever do an experiment in school, grade school perhaps or even college, where you lined up and the person at the beginning whispered something into the ear of the person #1 and then each person had to whisper the same phrase to the next person?

If you did, you know the experiment was to show you that what comes out the other end, was not what was said in the beginning. When I was in school the phrase that came out the end wasn’t even close to what was said initially.

Why do you think this would be any different with attorneys. You tell your attorney something. It goes through their filter (meaning they try to figure out what you want and then filter it through their life experience and brain) then they say that to the other attorney (but usually through a letter, because they can charge you more money for a letter than a phone call) then the receiving attorney gets the letter your attorney wrote and then instead of calling their client, writes, their own letter to their client (because they can charge more to write a letter than calling their client) and out comes nothing close to what you said to begin with.

Sigh….

Divorce can be so much easier. And I have gotten way off topic.

The topic was supposed to be that if your Valencia divorce is going nowhere and you are wondering why, give us a call. Our recommendation is to take a step back from what got you to where you are at in your divorce and see if there is any way you and your spouse can come to some type of agreement.

Perhaps you can work towards some type of cooperation where you both decide to give in a little bit and get your divorce case settled.

That is my take on things anyways.

Valencia Divorce : How Long Is This Divorce Going To Take?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Oh my god! I get this questions every day, like 5 times a day, even though I scream it on this blog, social media, my podcast and everywhere else.

That’s okay, it comes with the territory.

Here is the answer….

It is going to take way longer than you think..

Here is another podcast I have done on the subject… again.. 🙂

But here is the real deal.

The soonest your divorce in Valencia can be finalized is 6 months after the case has been filed and served. Not after it is filed, but after it is served.

Oh and another thing I hear all the time which is not correct.

People think that since they have been separated for more than 6 months already prior to filing for divorce that the six months started when they separated. This is not the case. In fact, I am going to do an entire blog post just on this wrong information.

So it is 6 months after the case has been filed and served. And by the way, the case has to be filed before it can be served. I see a lot of people thinking they can complete the divorce paperwork and serve their spouse before the case has even been filed. Oh, and people are serving their own documents. You can’t do that either.

That is for another blog post as well.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

And here is the other thing you need to know. You don’t have to wait 6 months to turn in all your paperwork. 6 months refers to when the court will approve your judgment. This does not mean that you can’t turn your paperwork into the court prior to the six months. In fact, we turn our divorce cases as soon as 30 days after the case has been filed and served.

And guess what? We get our cases through the court in just about 3 months total, way before the 6 months. The thing is, the court will place an effective date of 6 months out from the date of service on your judgment paperwork.

Just give us a call and we’ll handle your divorce case for you.

That was easy!

Valencia Divorce & Spousal Support Calculations

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When you are going through a divorce and you are going the decision of having spousal support as part of your divorce agreement, you might want to find out what the court might order so you have a starting point of what agreements you want to come up with regarding spousal support.

I will tell you this, however. If you guys are in agreement, you don’t have to use the numbers that come out of the spousal support calculation.

In my opinion, and it is just my opinion, I believe the best way to figure out what the spousal support payment amount is, is to look at your finances (both of you) to figure out what the person receiving is going to need in order to make it financially.

As part of our full service divorce solution we do offer a free dissomaster calculation as part of the service we provide.

Now, I know what you may be thinking. The person paying is thinking that they don’t want to support some lavish lifestyle. And trust me you won’t. But here is what you will each think if you don’t do it this way. The person paying is going to feel like they are paying too much and the person receiving is going to feel that they are not receiving enough.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

The problem is that when you take 1 or 2 household incomes and then instead of having 2 household expenses instead of one, of course the money is not going to go as far. The financial situation after divorce, especially with one household income, is never going to be better than it was during the marriage. This is an unfortunate truth.

While we do offer the preparation of a dissomaster as part of our service ( a dissomaster is the calculator the courts use to calculate spousal support) we did find an online source you can use in the meantime as a guide.

I have written on this issue in the past (here is the link to the Spousal Support Calculation Article I wrote) that has the link to the website you can use for free.

Quit Claiming Home During Valencia Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Quit Claiming Home During Valencia Divorce

When you have a home and are going through a divorce, one of the ways to handle the house if one spouse is going to keep it is to quit claim it to the other spouse. This is the easiest way to get the other party off the home. There are pitfalls to this however.

We provide a quit claim service. If you need to quit claim your home please call us, we can help you.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

If you quit claim off a property you still remain on the loan, assuming you were on the loan in the first place. This is the only real drawback. So if you trust your spouse (ex-spouse) that they will not default on the loan then you won’t have any problems doing this.

The reason it is popular to do a quit claim during divorce is because sometimes it is the only viable option. This is because the only other way to remove yourself is to either refinance the property or sell it.

If you were a 2 income family and purchased the home and got the loan under 2 incomes, it may not be possible to refinance the home in one spouses name only. Again, this is why the quit claim process is popular. You should just be aware of the downside of continuing to be on the loan.

We provide a quit claim service. If you need to quit claim your home please call us, we can help you.

Can You Live Together During The Divorce Process? Valencia Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When going through a divorce in California and when you file for divorce you will be asked what your date of separation is. This confused a lot of people because many of the clients we help are still living together. So then they will either ask what date of separation to use or say that they are still living together.

The question then is, “can you live together during the divorce process?”

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

In California divorce there is no requirement that you actually live apart, separately or in separate households. When it comes to filing the divorce Petition, you will be required to decide on a date of separation even if you are till living together. So the date of separation, does not mean the date you started living separately, although it can be.

I would say many or most of our clients are still living together at the time of filing for divorce. The question about the date of separation throws them off. Here is what I tell them.

Examples dates you can use for the date of separation:

  • The date one of you moved out
  • The date you discussed getting a divorce
  • The date you file for divorce
  • These dates will be todays date or a date in the past

So the long answer to can you live together during the divorce process is Yes.  Any many do live together during the divorce process until there is that point which is a natural break.  I tell our clients that there will be a point in the process where it feels natural for the parties to physically separate.

Can My Spouse Stop The Divorce? Valencia Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We get asked by clients what happens when one spouse does not the divorce. What they are asking is, “Can my spouse stop the divorce?” In California divorce there is no requirement that the parties agree to actually get a divorce. Meaning, when one party files for divorce, there is no way to file a Response saying you don’t want the divorce as the other party.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

So what if your spouse does not want to get divorced? You would still file for divorce and have them served. Then you would have to wait 30 days to see if they Respond. The reason for doing this is because in California, there is a process called a “default”. A default is what happens when the other party has not responded to the divorce and 30 days has gone by.

The default process allows you to finalize the divorce process without the cooperation of the other party.

Now, I will tell you this. It is much easier to complete the divorce process by agreement. Even if you are the party that does not want the divorce, everything will go smoother if you both agree. If the two of you agree, you will not only be able to make decisions in both of your best interests, but you will also, in most cases, avoid having to go to court.

Franchised Divorce Paralegal Service In Valencia

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

You probably don’t know what I am talking about when I say franchised Divorce Paralegal Services, but what I am referring is the “We The People” type paralegal services and talk about the differences.

First of all, if you live in Valencia, CA, there is not a We The People document preparation service. This was a franchise location which essentially means the people that worked there were not actual skilled divorce paralegals. The franchised document preparation service works much different than what our service provides.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

The reason I bring this up is because we are often asked how we are different from other types of services. And we are able to distinguish ourselves from these franchised services in the following ways.

We are the ones that hold the legal document registration and have the experience specializing in divorce. Not only do we only handle divorce and family law related issues, but we have worked for the courts, worked in the court’s divorce self help centers and worked for some of Los Angeles Counties largest divorce law firms.

This is not the case with franchised types legal services or even the folks that provide numerous different legal document preparation services.

The folks that purchase franchise legal service business don’t have the experience to handle your divorce case. In fact, they don’t even handle the divorce paperwork at their location. They are usually just a conduit between you and the people actually preparing the divorce paperwork. This means that you are completing a questionnaire that is sent (out of state in some cases) and prepared by people employed for the master franchise owner.

Here is why you should be concerned with this. Who do you ask when you have questions? If you are not working with someone who has experience working with the courts and understands procedures, how do you expect to successfully negotiate the divorce process.

I felt I needed to bring this to light because we get way to many calls where people have gone to other services before finding us and who were not able to get their divorce case completed because they either lacked the skills to complete their divorce or the people they paid to help them with their divorce or they never got a return call once they gave their money to them.

The point it to use a service that is licenses, who has experience and who will get the job done.

Here is a pointer. It won’t be the cheapest guy on the block!

Valencia Divorce : No Fault Divorce Means It Does Not Matter The Reason

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

It is a well known fact that in California, it does not matter who the wrong-doer is, if there is one, and the court’s do not care who did what or what the cause of the divorce is. I know that it is insensitive to say that, but nobody cares why you are getting divorce.

It is not that nobody cares, in that sense, but that it makes no difference with the outcome of your divorce who did what and does not matter who files for divorce.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

There are some clients of ours that despite the fact that it does not matter who did what to cause the divorce, that people still feel principled in who files for divorce.

First, let me say that it does not matter who files for divorce first. It does not matter. I don’t care what a divorce attorney told you. If a divorce attorney is telling you that you should be the first to file for divorce, you can bet that they are trying to find a way to make you retain them by putting pressure on you to file. (okay, got that out of my system)

So it does not matter who files for divorce. But (getting back to my point) some people feel that if the other spouse did something wrong, that they want to be the one to file the divorce case. As if they are filing against them because they were in the right and the other person did them wrong.

I hope I am explaining that right. Let me try to be clear here. Even if you feel that you are the one that your spouse wronged, you may feel that you need to be the one to file for divorce first because you were wronged, but it does not matter. Despite this being the case, there are those that want the feeling of “I was the one that filed for divorce” and not my spouse.

While this is fine, and again, does not make any difference, hopefully you will be able to put this emotion behind shortly thereafter so that you and your spouse can get through the divorce process amicable and without having to hire attorneys for your divorce just because you are emotional and mad at your spouse.

Valencia Non-Attorney Divorces Exceed Those With Attorneys

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Did you know that more that 60% of all divorce cases are completed without either party having an attorney for their divorce? It seems with all the stories we hear from our friends and our co-workers who all got screwed over by their attorney or spouse, we forget about all the people who decide not to go the route of hiring attorneys and find a more amicable way of doing things.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

The legal system is called the adversarial system for a reason. Attorneys being involved with your divorce immediately puts you at odds with your spouse. This is because of the very nature of an attorney by their oath having to do everything in your best interest and fight for your rights, while your spouse’s attorney is doing the exact same thing.

This is the exact opposite of compromising during your divorce which i discussed in the last article.

Look, there is a time for an attorney when going through a divorce. This is when one spouse is not honest, is hiding assets, closing accounts and doing things to the other party that are unethical or meant to hurt the other party. Unfortunately, you will need an attorney to fight for your rights in these circumstances.

But we are not talking about these types of divorce cases. We are talking about the more than 60% of divorce cases where people do not use an attorney and I will bet that many of the people that used and attorney actually did not need one in the first place, which would put the percentage of people who actually needed a divorce attorney even lower.

There are much better options than using an attorney for your divorce. Our clients go through our office and don’t need attorneys and don’t need to go to court. Please call us for a free consultation to see if we would be a good choice for helping you and your family through the divorce process in California.