034: How Does Mediation Work During California Divorce

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In this episode, we’re going to talk about what divorce mediation really is, how mediation works and what to expect from mediation when going through a divorce in California?

There are people who are confused about what mediation is. And when we start asking them questions of what they need as far as our service then we realized that most people are thinking mediation but what they really need is our service to prepare their documents because they’re already in agreement.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast to know more about mediation in California.

033: Avoid Having Your California Divorce Rejected

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In this episode, we’re going to talk to the people out there. This episode is for you really if you are in the middle of your divorce, you file for divorce, you’ve done some part of your divorce and you’ve got started and you’ve gotten to the judgment phase.

The judgment phase is the last part of the process. And I’ll just give you the kind of the three steps we break it down in to so you’ll know what I’m talking about.

But I want to talk specifically about the judgment phase in this because this is going to be the most difficult part of your divorce paperwork processing if you’re doing this yourself obviously.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast.

032: Questions To Ask Before You Hire A California Divorce Paralegal Firm

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In this episode, we will talk about the questions you should ask before you hire a divorce paralegal firm in California to help you with your California divorce, make sure to ask these questions that we address in the podcast, as you want to make sure you are working with a licensed and bonded divorce firm.

One of the most frustrating things that I have to do on a daily basis is talk to clients who call for our service who have previously hired a paralegal service who did not get the job done, who did not know what they were doing, who to be honest with you who are unlicensed and shouldn’t even been providing service and they have a bad taste in their mouth.

And that’s a frustrating process for us to help people who previously hired a paralegal service and was not able to help the client. Because people don’t know us and they don’t know if there’s any difference between us from any other company.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast.

031: How Do Online California Divorce Services Work

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In this episode, we will talk about how online divorce services work in California and discuss if they are a good option for getting a divorce in California.

Today I’m talking about something that really is a pet peeve of mine. It’s something that bothers me because I feel that the services that are offered in this particular scenario are not to par.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about online divorce services. And I want to explain a little bit about how they work and what you can expect because they are an alternative for getting your divorce completed.

They’re not a good alternative for a lot of people. And I want to help you save money if you’re considering using an online divorce service. And there are hundreds of them out there. I want to talk to you exactly what you’re getting yourself in to and then some alternatives.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast.

030: Is There Any Advantage To The Person Who Files For California Divorce First

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In this episode, we will talk about the question of if there is any advantage to filing for divorce first in California. Some would say yes and others would say there is no advantage to filing for divorce first.

It’s basically just a way to name the parties so the courts know who each of the parties is–if you’re going to be the petitioner or the respondent.

It’s more of just a label so you’re not using your name. It’s more just of a label not to say that any one person did anything wrong even though on the summons to the respondent it says you are being sued.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast.

Divorce In A Day In California

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Divorce In A Day In California

Today we are talking a little bit more about our divorce in a day program.

Ever since the courts in California started announcing this plan of trying to do divorce in a day which in my previous video I’ve said it’s pretty much a misnomer you can’t really get divorced in a day.

We have been getting some calls on it and people asking how this can be achieved.

So what we started doing is instead of the normal procedure and process of divorce in doing paperwork in a series of steps.

We got people coming to our office and say we like to just get these taken care of in one appointment. Can we do that?

And so that is we’ve all been doing and people seem to appreciate the fact that they can come in and about an hour to an hour and a half we can get through an entire divorce, we can get through all the paperwork, we can get through all the signatures and of course after everything is signed and the folks leave our office, we do have to go through the procedure of filing and serving and doing all that and have to wait the customary six months here in California.

But we are able to get them done with everything in one appointment. So you don’t have to come back through our office.

And this is usual if you guys have agreements to everything regarding custody visitation spousal support, child support if you have all these agreements in place. We can graph it right on the spot.

And this is particularly good if you have a very simple divorce perhaps no kids, no property, and it’s just a matter of undoing what you did, and living what you came into with and so on.

So we are doing this more and more it is fast, it’s easy, it’s painless about an hour and half we can have all the paper work done with your case and you’d be officially done with the paperwork.

However, you just have to complete the procedure and the processes with the court you still have to wait the six months and until it’s effective.

So, if you have a very simple divorce and you want to get this taken care of a single appointment we’d be happy to do that just let us know that that is your plan so we can allow for a lecture time for your appointment.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com helping you with your California divorce.

Feel free to call the number on your screen or visit our website for more information.

California Divorce Use Court Forms For Judgment Not Marital Settlement Agreement

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce Use Court Forms For Judgment Not Marital Settlement Agreement

Today we are talking about the easiest way of preparing your judgment.

And the reason I bring this up is because yesterday I had a client in my office that came in and they had this long written agreement it’s called the marital settlement agreement or settlement agreement.

And it was a long drawn out settlement agreement. And some of these you’ll find through other online services, they provide these 10 or 15 page legal documents and a lot of them are legally insufficient so we got away from using those.

And then we also have people who come in who have a written agreement were they basically took out a piece of paper and said, this is what I want to keep, this is our agreement, this is what the other parties are going to keep, and this is the agreement

And a lot of those are being rejected by the court because they need to have specific legal language in them.

You can’t just hand-write or type up an agreement, there has to be a specific language in those agreements. So what we’re doing is we’re getting away from doing those.

In fact we haven’t done them in years. Because the courts now have the court forums that you can use that already have all the legal language and all you need to do is check the check boxes that are applicable. So let me give you an example.

We are talking about the judgment, when you have a judgment you have to have the FL-180, you have the judgment form, and then you just have your attachments for the applicable fields that you have.

So for instance, if you look at the judgment on page 2 you’ll see that you have issues of child custody, child supports, spousal supports, and property.

All of those have specific order forms that you can attach to the judgment which have all the specific language already in them.

So let’s talk about if have children you attached the child custody and the child support order form, and then you just go to this forms and check the boxes that are applicable and you don’t have to worry about is the language correct because it already has the correct court language.

Again, with spousal support and with property all you have to do is check the boxes it indicates which property is community property, which property is separate property, and who’s getting what.

So this is how we do our judgment, we just use the court forms because it doesn’t leave room for chance where you’re going to make a mistake and not put the correct legal language in your documents.

So where the lady came in yesterday she had a fifteen page agreement, we turned that into five pages of just forms.

Did it in about ten minutes just checking the boxes and it was a done deal.

So there is definitely a streamline way of doing this.

Unfortunately the courts do not make this very apparent and if you are looking at forms online and software services online, they’re going to misdirect you and it’s going to end up more difficult than just hiring a service like ours from the very beginning and letting us take care of your divorce for you here in California.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com, I hope that was helpful. Please call me.

I’ll be happy to give you a free consultation and explain what we can do for you and we will be happy to help. Please go to our website on the screen here at divorce661.com for more information.

California Divorce The Court Orders Good Cause Appearing

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California Divorce The Court Orders Good Cause Appearing

Today we’ve been talking about a lot different areas where people have trouble with their divorce judgment here in California.

Again we are talking about the FL-180 and in this particular case we are talking about what you put where it says the court orders good cause appearing on the FL-180 so we are going to talk about that quickly.

First up, I want to let you know we are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce in California.

So if you have been  working on your own and you may be because you are now watching this video and you are at the judgment phase which by the way is going to be the most difficult part of your divorce in California.

So give us call if you need assistance, we’d be happy to pick up where you left off and wrapped things up for you, again anywhere in California.

But on this specific area what do we mark, what do you put down where it says the court orders good cost appearing.

So what you are going to mark is the first box that says judgment of dissolution as entered marital or domestic partnership status is terminated and the parties are restored to the status of single person and then you are going to mark on a specific date.

Number one, that is what we always mark, that is what the court tells us to mark on a specific date. But then you don’t put that date in there you are going to leave that date blank.

And the court will fill in that date. But what we see is folks putting in a date and what their usually doing is the six months after the reserved date.

But does not necessarily going to be the date specially if you get your judgment submitted late, specially the courts here in Los Angeles County are backlogged their taking quite a while to get these reviewed.

So leave that blank at number four on the judgment form and you are just going to mark box A1 and the court will fill in the date.

I hope that was helpful in processing your judgment form, again a lot of folks have difficulty with that.

Tim Blankenship specializing in divorce in California and feel free to give us call.

We’d happy to help you with your divorce, 661-281-0266 or go to our website which is on your screen for more information.

California Divorce Spousal Support Stipulations To Show Income

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California Divorce Spousal Support Stipulations To Show Income

Today we are talking about stipulations, specifically stipulations for say child support or stipulations for spousal support.

Now first thing, let’s describe what a stipulation is during divorce, during the process or even after the divorce is concluded you and your spouse can enter into an agreement, this is also known as a stipulation.

Stipulations are usual if you needed some type of temporary order, maybe one spouse is moving out and they need evidence of income and they want to see some type of court order showing that you’re making some income.

Well, you can do that on a stipulations and then you can file with the court, get the judges’ signature and then that can be your evidence of income and that can be a good way to show income if you are trying to get an apartment or you are trying to move out and they are looking for evidence of income.

So regarding stipulations, if you need to have that done, it is something as simple as drawing up the agreements and there are some specific languages and some specific verbiage that needs to be in there for the court to sign up on it.

So if you need help with the stipulations, we can certainly put that together for you. It’s something we do quite a bit putting together either stipulations for spousal support or child support or combination of both.

029: What Information Is Needed To File For Divorce In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

In this episode we talk about what information you need to file for divorce in California. You will be surprised how little information is needed to start a divorce case in California and how little documentation you need as well.

We’re not talking about finishing your entire divorce paperwork. Obviously it’s a lot more forms. We’re just talking about to get your case number issued by the court, what information are you going to need and what documentation are you going to need.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast.