Divorce661.com | SCV Legal Doc Assist Search

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are searching for a divorce service in Santa Clarita online, you will most likely come across one of our blogs or Google adwords advertisements.  But today I was wondering how Google search was listing us when searching directly with our business name.

It takes trust and time to get in the good graces with Google.  And it takes a lot of people searching for your business to list you in the actual search bar.  We are glad to say that we have met those two parameters.

Take a look at the image below and you can see that Google already knows what I am searching for when I only partly enter our business name.

scv_legal_doc_assist_google_search_image

 

 

 

 

 

We have been serving Santa Clarita, providing affordable divorce services to the community.  Word is really catching on and we are processing about 10 divorce cases per week. I know that seems like a large number and I still can’t believe how many divorce cases are completed by our office here.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce and focuses on providing an affordable way to get your divorce completed.  As a neutral third party, we are able to work with both parties to get your divorce completed as quickly and painless as possible.

If you are considering getting divorced in Santa Clarita or anywhere in Los Angeles County, we can help.  We have even started taking cases throughout California.

If you have any questions about our service please feel free to give us a call.  We would be happy to explain our service to you so you are comfortable with working with us.

I think you will find us to be the most knowledgeable people in the industry as it pertains to divorce.  You can reach us at 661-281-0266.

Don’t Plan Wedding Until California Divorce Finalized

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I have two current clients that have planned their next wedding and their California divorce is not finalized yet.  If the issues of this are not obvious enough, I will discuss in detail why this is not a good idea.

But first, lets talk a little bit about why they ended up in this predicament.  Both of these clients had long been separated from their current spouses.  They just never got around to going through the divorce process and making their divorce official.

They both met new people, started dating which lead to getting engaged.  They both even set a wedding date.

Now they have to get their divorce completed and in a hurry. The problems this causes are many, and we wanted to address a few of them.

The first problem is that you cannot predict when your divorce will be finalized.  Everyone thinks that divorce takes 6 months when in fact  the 6 month figure is the SOONEST your divorce can be finalized.  It does not mean that your divorce will be finalized.  And if you live in California it is pretty much guaranteed that your divorce will take much longer than 6 months.

This is due to the layoffs and Court closures in California.  The Courts are severely impacted with tons of divorce cases and they just can’t get through them fast enough.

We are seeing divorce cases in Los Angeles County routinely take 8 to 10 months to complete.  And we are talking about 8 to 10 months from the time the final judgment or stipulation is filed with the court.

Okay, so we know the courts are slow.  So unless your wedding date is 2 years out, I would just not do it.

Make it a priority to get your existing marriage ended by filing for divorce right away so you don’t have to worry about these issues.  One of my clients I have has a wedding date in 3 weeks and the judgment has still not been signed off by the court and there is nothing you can do to speed up the process.  They are worried about hoping their divorce gets finalized and not on the their wedding.

Here is another issue.  Sometimes you will be required to prove that you are not married or if you were married have to prove that you are divorced by providing a court approved divorce judgment or decree.  They will not issue a marriage license in some cases, until you provide this proof.

One of my clients has told me that the church he wished to get married in will not even schedule their wedding until they their prior marriage is over.

So what is the moral of this story.  If you are one of those folks that has long been separated from your spouse and never finalized it, you should really consider getting it done.

And if you are  dating someone else, you better really make getting your divorce finalized a priority before things get serious.  You won’t want to find yourself in the same shoes as my current clients.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in California divorce.  We are headquartered in Los Angeles, CA and can help you with your divorce anywhere in California.

California Divorce | Not Filing Response To Save Money

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce | Not Filing Response To Save Money

If you are filing for divorce in California and your plan is to save money by not filing a Response to divorce and file a default case, you will want to read this.

There is a better way to file your California divorce if you are trying to save money by not filing a Response.  Let me explain.

I have had a few clients come to our office who had started the divorce process on their own.  They said they plan on filing a default type divorce because they don’t want the extra cost of having to pay the filing fee for filing the Response.

I ask them if they filing a default because their spouse is not cooperating or does not want to participate.  Their answer was, “No”.  They said their spouse is in agreement with the terms of the divorce and the only reason they are filing a default divorce is to save the money on the filing fees.

So these folks are using a default divorce as more of a strategy to save money, but not for the real reason the default divorce is there for.  It does work to save money, but there are some downsides to the default divorce.  Especially if you and your spouse are in agreement.

First, let me tell you about this better way to save money on the filing fees when you are in agreement on your California divorce.   It is called a California default divorce with agreement. We have written a complete article on that which you can read by clicking on the previous link.

With the California Default Divorce with agreement you will still be filing the Request To Enter Default, but you will be doing so not after 30 days, but along with the written agreement.  This way you and your spouse and file for divorce, save money by not paying a response fee and still enter into a written agreement.

The benefits to this are that divorce by agreement are much less scrutinized by the Courts and you can split up your assets pretty much however you decide.  If you file a true default case, the Court is going to require that you evenly distribute your assets and debts, even if is not a fair and equitable division.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in California divorce.  We can help complete your divorce case anywhere in California.

Please feel free to give us a call.

 

 

California Default Divorce With Agreement

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Default Divorce With Agreement

The California default divorce with agreement should be the most talked about type of divorce.  But it is not.

Why do I say this?  Because the California default divorce with agreement is the most cost effective way of completing your California divorce.

The California default divorce with agreement combines a “true default” style divorce where the responding party does not file a response and does not pay a filing fee with the Uncontested divorce case where the party is involved in the case and will sign a written agreement.

More easily said, you can file for divorce and enter into a written agreement with your spouse and they do not have to file a response to do this.

Let me say this another way.  One of you can file for divorce.  The other spouse does not need to file a response and you can both still be involved and signed a written agreement.

Why then would you ever want to respond in a divorce case?  If your divorce is contested and you have attorney’s you will almost always file a Response.

But when you are working together in your divorce, a Response is not necessary.  So why don’t the courts talk about this?  The simple answer is, “Money”.  The courts don’t want you to know that you can get divorce and have a divorce with agreement with no response filed because they want their filing fee.  They want the other party to respond and pay the fee.  That is the only reason I can think of.

The California default divorce with agreement is also known as a Hybrid divorce.  It is called a hybrid divorce because it is a Hybrid between the true default case and the uncontested case.  You won’t find any mention of a hybrid divorce or California default divorce with agreement anywhere on the Courts websites.  They talk only about the Default, Uncontested and Contested divorce cases in California.

If you and you and your spouse are going through a California divorce and are working together toward an agreement and want to save money I recommend you use the California default divorce with agreement.  It will save you money and you get all the advantages of submitting a divorce with agreement.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in California divorce.  We offer affordable flat fees and can help you prepare your California default divorce with agreement case anywhere in California.

 

Santa Clarita Divorce Service Slows Due To Government Shutdown 2013

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I did not give much thought to the Government shut down until it directly impacted my Santa Clarita divorce service.  As the Government shutdown went into its second week, I started to notice a little bit of a slowdown in the amount of calls our office received.

At first It did not cross my mind that there could be any impact on our Santa Clarita divorce service nor did I attribute the slower pace of new clients to the Government shutdown.

Then I received a call from Federal employee who was calling to get information on our divorce service in Santa Clarita.  He lived in Palmdale and said he was furloughed due to the shutdown.

He stated that he wanted to file for divorce, but now that he has not been at work for over 10 days, it was going to make it difficult to pay our fees and the Court fees.

This is when it struck me that the Government shut down was having an impact on my business.  I would have never thought that this would occur.

But what accounts for the slow week or two I have had?  Not all my clients are Federal employees, so there must be something else.  Is it the fact that it is October and we are starting into the holidays?

Or is it consumer confidence (or lack of consumer confidence) that is being created due to the Government shutdown.  Even stocks are taking a hit due to investor confidence.  Then when it seemed that there were some positive talks, the stock shot up 300 points.

I wonder if any other Santa Clarita small business owners have felt a slight slowing or thought that the Government shutdown might be responsible for a reduction in clients and sales.

These were just some rambling thoughts I had this Friday.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in providing affordable divorce services in Santa Clarita.

I Found Your California Divorce Service On YouTube

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Whenever people call me, I always make sure to ask how they heard about our California divorce service.  I know the answer is going to be “online”, but now that we have over 300 videos on Youtube, the answer we are getting more and more is, “I found you on Youtube”.

Youtube has been a great outlet for getting the California divorce information out to people.  We have always had the mindset that we should not be fearful of giving people free information.

Others in this industry feel that by giving out free information or telling people how to do something will result in not getting their business.

I think it is exactly the opposite.  But I don’t want to encourage others to do what I am doing as I am doing quite well being the only player, for the most part, giving out helpful information about California divorce on Youtube and other video channels.

We are glad people are finding us on Youtube and watching our videos.  We see that we are getting about 200 views per day which isn’t bad considering we are talking about a very narrow subject of divorce.

Our videos are mostly instructional, how to fill out forms and information about the divorce process, etc., so we are not expecting any of our YouTube videos to go viral, but we are satisfied when someone calls us saying they found us on Youtube and then decides to use our service.

So we encourage you to watch our videos on our Youtube channel.  Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/user/divorce661/videos

You can also watch our divorce videos by clicking on the navigation button on this website under “Videos”.

If you have any questions about divorce in California please make sure to give us a call.  We are able to help prepare your divorce case anywhere in California and are headquartered in Santa Clarita, California, just outside of Los Angeles.

 

Have You Asked A Divorce Question On AVVO.com

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are ever doing research or looking for information about divorce in California, you may come across a website called Avvo (dot) com.  I have found this site to be nothing more than lead generation tool for attorneys and not a resource for valuable information.

They say they are an expert only question and answer forum where people can ask legal questions of lawyers for free.  It is true that you can ask questions for free.  And attorneys will even answer the questions….  Or will they?

I read the answers that the divorce attorneys give and they are laughable.  I say this because their answers are so generic that they lack any real value.

It seems that the only reason that the attorneys are part of Avvo is so they can get their name in front of people looking for advice so they can hopefully get their business.  Attorneys are afraid that if they give the answer, the client will never need them.

This is so far from the truth.

I give out information all the time on how to complete the divorce process.  Some of the people use me and others are so grateful for the information, they end up using my service.

I have to admit that some of the questions asked by folks are not clear and therefore they do not get a clear answer, but I did a little test of my own.

I posted a very specific question that would require a very specific answer.

The answers not only did not give any helpful advice, but the attorneys that did answer ended their reply with “I suggest that you speak to an attorney for assistance”.

What you will notice throughout avvo is that all the attorneys will say you need to speak to an attorney.  So it appears that there is no real help to be obtained here, rather just a trap to get attorneys in front of you.

I am sure the divorce attorneys are paying a pretty penny to be a part of the forums being promised they can get clients from responding to potential clients needs.  I have a feeling nobody is getting what they thought they were getting.

We are a licensed and bonded divorce document preparation service that specializes in divorce.  If you have a question about divorce, feel free to call us.  You can find lots of information on this blog or by watching our videos.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, California and can help you with your divorce anywhere in California.

Establishing Paternity During California Divorce Process

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This article is about establishing paternity during the California divorce process.  This pertains to you if you had a child with your spouse before you were married.  In particular, we are going to discuss an often missed issue when filing the Petition in your California divorce.

If you are getting divorced and had a child born before you were married, you will have to establish paternity. This is basically a fancy way of having a legal proceeding where the court says that the father, is in fact, the father.

The good news is that if you are getting a divorce, you can establish paternity during the same divorce process. You won’t have to file a separate paternity action with the court.

What I want to discuss now is about filing the actual divorce Petition in California.  When you fill out the Petition, you have to state certain statistical facts such as the date of marriage, date of separation, who gets legal and physical custody, etc.

What a lot of people miss checking off is the box on page 2 of the Petition under number 7(d).  It says”

Determination of parentage of any children born to the Petitioner and Respondent prior to marriage.

If the two of you had a child born before the marriage you need to check this box.  If you do not check this box, the Court will not check to make sure you did or not.  The problem is if you do not check the box and try to finish your divorce, the entire case will be rejected when you go to submit your judgment.

Even worse is that you will have to file an amended Petition and re-serve the Petition on your spouse.  And guess what?  You now have to wait the 30 days again before you can file your judgment.

We are a licensed and bonded divorce paralegal service (legal document assistant firm) specializing in California divorce.  Please give us a call for more information or assistance with your divorce in California.

Santa Clarita Paternity Court Service | Establish Paternity

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We get a decent amount of Paternity cases in our divorce office in Santa Clarita and realized we don’t write much about it.  We are going to take a few days to discuss paternity and what it means.

If you have a child before you are married, you will need to establish paternity.  This means to have the father of the child officially determined by the court to be the father.

When you have a child prior to marriage, the mother is obviously known as she gave birth.  When you are married, the husband of the marriage is presumed to be the father.  But without being married, there is no presumption of who the father is.

This means Paternity needs to be established.  It Is important to establish paternity because technically, until the father has been established “as the father” they don’t have any real legal rights to custody or visitation, etc.

And if your are the mother, and hoping for child support, until who the father is, has been established, the court cannot make orders for child support.

A paternity case follows suit pretty much as the divorce process does.

The paperwork is different, of course, but how you file and serve and request order are pretty much the same.

You will need to first file a petition to establish paternity.  This petition will need to served on the other party.  In most the cases we have handled, there is no dispute over who the father is.  We are just working on officially having the father established.

In many cases, the father may appear on the birth certificate or may have signed a declaration of paternity in the hospital. These all help in establishing paternity with the courts, but you still have to file a paternity case with the court to officially establish who the father is.

Does Facebook Marketing For Divorce Services Work?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I have a divorce paralegal business in Santa Clarita, CA and have done well with online marketing.  I have been experimenting with Facebook advertising and wanted to share what I have learned and perhaps get comments from others in the divorce industry such as attorneys and mediators, etc.

I have spent more time than I would like to admit on testing Facebook marketing.  I have placed advertising on the right hand side of Facebook.  You know the annoying ads on the right hand side.  Honestly, I don’t even notice that there are ads there anymore.  I did get lots of clicks but no  conversions or phone calls that I can say translated into new business.

I then started seeing business’s market by using the “Related Posts” on Facebook.  After several hours I did figure out how to property use the promoted posts and I did get some business out of it.  I also got a lot of people liking my page.

It seemed like this was a good way of advertising at first, until I saw how much I was being charged.  I had set a daily budget of $100 and Facebook made sure to eat all that money up every day.  I could not figure out why my costs were so high when  the estimated price per click was supposed to be less than a dollar each.

What I learned is that folks clicking on the ad did not necessarily have to click on “like” which was what I was after.  So the net result was I was spending $7.00 per like on Facebook.

Unless someone has another thought on the matter, my impression is that it is not worth $7.00 just to have someone like my page.  I don’t even pay $7.00 per click on Google Adwords.

So do you think Facebook Marketing works for those providing divorce services?  I would have to say that my campaign was a wash.  The business generated on the promotion was just enough to pay for the ads.  Not something I necessarily want to duplicate.

We are a licensed and bonded divorce paralegal service (Legal Document Assistant).  We specialize in providing affordable divorce services in California.