California divorce form FL-140 is known as the Declaration of Disclosure. It is essentially a cover sheet to the financial disclosures you will need to complete as part of your California divorce. This process of the divorce is called the Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure.
Your preliminary declaration of disclosure is made up of the following divorce forms.
Declaration of Disclosure FL-140
Income And Expense Declaration FL-150
Schedule of Assets and Debts FL-142
This is a post to introduce you to California Divorce Tutor which is our online self help version of our California divorce service. We show you exactly what you get when you join California Divorce Tutor and how we help you complete your California divorce step by step.
This video shows you how we help you prepare the California divorce form FL-105 which is a divorce form you will need if you have minor children. The courts want to know where your children have lived for the last 5 years and with whom. They essentially want to make sure that they (the courts) have the jurisdiction over the children in order to make custody and visitation orders.
This is an introduction to California Divorce Tutor to show you how the online California divorce service works. This is s tutorial to show you a behind the scenes on how to complete California Divorce form FL-110 which is the summons.
The California divorce form FL-110 is a fairly simple form to complete and there is not a whole lot of information to complete, but there is some important information regarding the ATRO’s also known as Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders.
This is a behind the scenes tutorial of of California Divorce Tutor which is an online divorce self help website where I walk you step by step on how to prepare your entire divorce on your own.
This video is about the behind the scenes form completion of the FL-100 for your California Divorce. I show you how I walk you through the completion of the FL-100 when you are looking to complete your own divorce.
This service is better than going to the court’s self help center for several reasons. First, it is done right from your home or office which means no driving to the court and waiting in line. Second, it is very cost effective. You will not have to miss work on several occasions to go down to the court house. Watch this brief video on how to prepare your own divorce using California Divorce Tutor.
Yesterday was my birthday, but you wouldn’t know it. It was just a regular day. I guess that is the way it has been and is when you are in your 40’s. Son went off to school, daughter is off to college and the wife is off to work by 6 am and does not get home until 8 pm.
For me, I just ended up working, but was trying to take it easy. The plan was to work a half day or remotely as I did not have any clients coming into the office. I was hoping to go for a run and hit the gym, but in the end spent my day handling clients, new clients and having to tell potential clients they were not a good fit for our company.
It was not an overly difficult day, but I had to handle clients that we have had for a while that have just been super challenging. Clients we just can’t make happy no matter what happens and tend to complain even when things are going well for them. I am just glad these types of clients are few and far between because I get tired of being a punching bag and just because you paid us for a service does not give you a right to speak to people that way. I do a pretty good job of interviewing our clients to make sure they are a good fit for us, but sometimes people slip through the cracks.
I also had to tell someone who was interested in our service that he was not a good fit for our company. It started of with free phone consultation. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with him and we came up with a plan to prepare a request for order for him. He later emailed and made an appointment.
The appointment was for yesterday at 10. Around 8:30 I received and email from him saying he was canceling the appointment. No reason, just canceling. Then around noon he emails me again and is questioning the price I quoted him for our service and said it did not make sense, “and to explain it to him so it makes sense.”
This is a red flag for me right away. I have dealt with people in the past who do not see the value of what we do and that makes for a poor relationship and never turns out well. Folks who are not willing to pay for our experience and knowledge in our profession are always problematic, complain and take too much of my time.
So I cut him loose by responding to his email by explaining exactly that and advising him he was not a good fit for out company.
In the Santa Clarita Valley, we are the ONLY Corporately Registered Legal Document Assistant Company. One needs to be registered as a Legal Document Assistant to perform these functions without the supervision of an attorney.
There are other “paralegals” out here, but they are not registered or licensed as we are, to do what we do.
So if you want to roll the dice and work with someone who does this part time or works out of their home to save a few bucks, go right ahead.
But don’t be surprised when the results are poor and the service bad.
I don’t know where I got it from or when it happened, but I have always had a thing with needing to be on time to things. Probably from the Marine Corps and further amplified by working as a Police Officer for LAPD where you respond to calls and when you get somewhere matters.
And this translates into me thinking that everyone thinks the same way I do which can cause frustration. For instance, if I tell someone I am going to be somewhere at a certain time, I am. And if something happens that prevents me from getting there on time, like my wife, I get frustrated, but more than that fell a sort of panic set in. It is weird.
I think part of my New Years Resolution for 2016 will help. I had only one new years resolution. And that was to just try to make the best out of every situation. When things don’t go my way or if things don’t go the way I had planned, to just make the best of it.
This has helped in many ways. I don’t get so frustrated or panic stricken if am late or things don’t go my way.
A perfect example is right now and why I decided to write this post today. I have an appointment with my computer guy today at 9 a.m. I got in early to get some work done before we go offline for a few hours while he swaps out a computer. It is 9:35 and he is still not here. I text him and he says it will be another 30 minutes. Keep in mind that i book morning appointments so there are no delays from previous calls.
So normally I would be pulling my hair out, and caught myself getting a little frustrated. Thankfully, I did catch myself and took a deep breath. How to make the best of this situation? By realizing that nothing I do will matter. So might as well relax and realize not everyone is the same as me and the world will still go round and round, even if he shows up late.
On Another rant and just venting is in regards to where my son attends high school. He goes to Valencia High School and we have had a terrible time with his Counselor, Ms. White. I don’t know why people stay in jobs that they obviously don’t like. We have had so many issues with her that when we asked for a different counselor the Principal said he would step in. That didn’t work either as he has the same philosophy it seems.
I once went in to meet with Ms. White and she refused to even step out of her little office. Instead, while i stood 5 feet away, advised another staff member to tell me something. I said to her, “she can’t even step out of her office 5 feet to tell me that? So rude.
So starting the 2016 semester, we needed to have Ms. White sign a form so our son can take a class at Valencia Tutors. When she refused to sign the form, we advised Valencia Tutors and they said, “is it Ms. White”. Yep, she sure has a reputation for being difficult and downright worthless.
Okay, done with the ranting. Still waiting on the computer guy. Breath!
Talk to you tomorrow. Tim
How long does the divorce process take? When it comes to answering that question with regards to our office, we can get your divorce case completed in a single sitting and as fast as you can get the information to us.
But keep in mind that we are still constrained by the courts rules and timeframes. So even if we complete your entire divorce case in a single day or single meeting, we still need to process your paperwork with the divorce court per their timetables.
I explain more in this video and podcast.
People are surprised (happily) that they will not have to come up with a specific child custody agreement as part of their Santa Clarita divorce. Some people want a specific child custody agreement, but many of our clients do not. In fact, many of our child custody agreements simply say that the spouses will each have joint legal and joint physical custody and will co parent on an ongoing basis in the best interest of the children. That’s it.
Watch the video or listen to the podcast where I discuss.
So let me start by saying that we do not give legal advice. But, I had a client ask me if it was necessary to state if you have assets and debts if both spouses are in total agreement regarding their assets and debts.
Here is what I stated. Nobody but the two of you know what you guys have. I don’t know and the Court does not know. If you don’t disclose your assets and debts, nobody is going to know. You will be signing a documents that says you complied with this requirement. The problem is that if you later have a disagreement with your spouse regarding the disposition of assets and debts you will have a court order from the divorce that does not indicate anything.
Watch the video or listen to the podcast where I explain.
Okay, just so you know, i am not giving legal advice here. Just talking about ways to save money and we are talking only about Santa Clarita divorce cases which are amicable and both parties are in total agreement.
If you are in total agreement and your Santa Clarita divorce case is amicable, then filing a response is just a waste of money. People fail to realize that when they go to file their divorce Response, they are going to be require to pay the divorce court fee as well. It is just a waste of money if you are in agreement.
With our clients, we purposely don’t have the Response filed for this reason. Watch this video or listen to the podcast where I explain.