Do You Have Better Chance At Divorce Hearing With Attorney Present | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I know this is a very open ended question, so let me clarify a bit what I am talking about.  I had a client call me who said he contacted an attorney because he needed to terminate spousal support.

His child had turned 18 and per the terms of the divorce judgment, he no longer had to pay child support.  In many cases, as with his, before the employer would stop taking the spousal support payments out of his check, they wanted an order from the court that said so.

Because an order was made when child support was ordered, you will need an order to terminate child support as well.

In order to do this you need to file a motion with the court. This would be a Request For Order and you will probably want to go in Ex-Parte so you can get the order signed faster.

If you want more information about how to terminate child support, please give us a call.  But for purposes of this article I want to discuss something intersting this client was told by an attorney.

This attorney essetially told him that he would have a better chance getting the child custody order signed if he had an attorney present. The reason he gave was that he (the attorney) would show up in court and testify that they gave proper Ex-Parte notice.  That is that they called the other party and let them know they would be going to court to request the termination of child support.

I thought that was an intersting sales pitch.  A Request For Order is simply a form you fill out and file with the court to ask for a hearing.  Giving Ex-Parte notice is simply a procedural process.  It requires you call the otherp party, generally 24 hours in advance, and let them know you are going to court.  This gives them a chance to appear.

What the attorney was trying to say is that without an attorney present, the judge may not hear the case because there would be nobody to testify that the Ex-Parte notice was given and there would be a chance the court would not hear the motion.

When you are representing yourself, In Pro Per, you do not have to hire an attorney simpy to give Ex-Parte notice and show up in court.  This attoreny was going to charge him $1,500 to fill out a single form and show up to court.

It is not necessary to hire an attorney for these types of divorce motions.  For an attorney to use the sales pitch that he will testify that Ex-Parte notice was properly given is hardly a reason to use an attorney for thi

We Make Divorce Understandable – Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The process of divorce is complex and has many moving parts. Even with all the information out there on the internet about divorce, it is still confusing to most. Even the Los Angeles Superior Court's websites attempt to explain the process of divorce, but even they have trouble making it clear.

Day in and day out we speak to clients who are trying to understand the divorce process. They are trying to wrap their head around how everything comes together. They have spent time on various websites and talking to friends who have been divorced, but still have lots of questions.

If you follow our blogs, you know that we write, talk and make videos about everything we can think about in regards to divorce. We have made the process of divorce just little more understandable.

But that can only take you so far. You see, the divorce process can change or be slightly different in each case. There is not a one size fits all process for divorce. There are lots of “what if's” that can drastically change the direction you need to take when going through your divorce.

That is what makes our divorce document preparation company so good. It is not just that we prepare, file and serve all your divorce documents, but the information we give you about how the divorce process works. When you work with us, you have someone in your corner, every step of the way, helping you understand the divorce process and answering all your “what if” type questions.

The information we give you, you just can't get out of a self help book. The information just is not specific enough to your exact situation.

People who call us or visit our office often say this. They say they have talked to an attorney and left their office more confused than when they walked in. When they leave our office, they say we made the divorce process understandable and took the confusion of the process.

We are licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce. We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and serve all the courts in Los Angeles County.

Sole And Community Property Must Be Disposed Of In Divorce Judgment | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This article addresses the the issue of your divorce judgment being rejected with the box marked, “All sole and community property listed in the Petition must be disposed of in the Judgment”

We will discuss how to fix your divorce judgment if it has been rejected for the this reason.  We have also completed a video on how to fix your divorce judgment is it was rejected because you did all your sole and community property that was listed on the Petition was not disposed of in the divorce judgment.

When you file your divorce Petition in California there are two areas that ask you to list your property.  The first asks you to list your separate property and the second area asks you to list your community property.  You can either list the property on the divorce Petition or use one of the allowed attachments or supplement with a property declaration where you can list all your property.

Regardless how you go about listing your property, you need to make sure that you dispose of all the property in the final divorce judgment.

The issues is this.  If you list property, whether it be an asset or debt, you are telling the court that this asset or debt exists.  If you don’t tell the court who is getting the property, then this property is just left sitting there with no owner.  If the judge were to sign this judgment, it would effectively leave this asset or debt not being assigned to either the Petitioner or Respondent.

Now this may seem like a small technicality if, say for instance, the asset was small such as a bank account with $10 in it.  But what if your forgot to assign a bank account with $10,000 in it?  Now, maybe you have an agreement with your spouse regarding who is going to keep it, but if it is not listed on the judgment when the judge signs, then technically the asset or debt does not below to anybody.

To correct this issue, all you need to do is make sure all sole and community property you listed on your divorce Petition is listed on the judgment.  If you completed a marital settlement agreement, you would simply add this to the list for whom it is going to.  If you are using the judgment attachments, you would add the property to the correct property attachment indicating who is getting the asset or debt.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the Los Angeles Area courts.  We specialize in helping people get through the divorce process.  Give us a call for more information.

Divorce Service With A Servants Heart – Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Okay, I have to admit that i stole the line, “With a servants heart”. But even though I stole it, does not mean it isn't true.

I am sitting here at the Oil Stop in Valencia, CA and writing the blog on my Ipad while sitting in my car. I come to Oil Stop because I enjoy the professional service and attentiveness I receive.

Today, i just happened to be sitting in the bay furthest to the left and there was a computer monitor that continuously showed the same commercial about Oil Stop and had employees saying throughout “with a servants heart”.

I find it hard to explain the type and level of service you receive with our divorce document preparation service. But when i heard those words, I thought it definitely was how i viewed the level of service we provide.

I can tell you that we provide a great service, a valuable service and will provide excellent customer service. But those words are so worn out and really don't mean much anymore.

What i wanted to impart in this article is we are here to serve your needs and assist you with getting you through your divorce or other family law related matter.

As I have been here writing I have lost track of the fact that I automatically say “no” to everything they try to sell me here at Oil Stop and think I bought all the extras today. I needed it and was happy to have a professional service take care of these needs, even if i had to pay slightly more than if i went someplace else.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce. We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the courts in Los Angeles Countu.

Please feel free to give us a call about any questions you may have about divorce. We promise to provide our divorce service with a servants heart

California Divorce Probability Calculator | What’s Your Chances Of Getting Divorced?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I am a regular Google Plus guy and spend time on this particular social media platform to communicate and connect with other people and share ideas and information.

Today I was searching to see if anybody had written any interesting articles about divorce in the last 24 hours or so.  So I was doing a hashtag search for #divorce and came upon a very interesting article written by a Pittsburgh Divorce Attorney named Lisa Marie Vari.

The article was interesting for two reasons.  First, because it mentioned “Divorce Insurance”.  I had never heard of that so wanted to learn more.  You can read the entire article about divorce insurance here.  But I was more interested in the discussion about a Divorce Probability Calculator.

So I went to check out this divorce probability calculator to see what it was all about.  This divorce calculator is not just for California.   This was just my little local search tactic.

So here is what I learned about the divorce probability calculator.  Their website says the formula was based on information gathered in face-to-face interviews with 10,847 women ages 15-44 in 1995 and 12,571 men and women aged 15-44 in 2002 and was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Disease Control and Prevention.

The calculator says they are correct with only a 13% margin of error.

I thought it would be interesting to take the test and see what kind of questions they were asking.  There were approximately 20 questions.  The initial questions had to do with if you a man or woman, age, race, if you have been married before, education level, employment status and income level, etc.  Essentially establishing a base.  Then the questions asked if you drink alcohol, have arguments with your wife, had children before marriage or shortly after getting married, if your parents were divorced, history of mental illness and so on.

So I went all the way through the divorce probability calculator and it gives you a score.  But the only way to know what your score means is to enter your email address.

As you go through the divorce probability calculator, you can see, based on the questions asked, who the more likely candidates for divorce are.  If anything, it was interesting.  Not sure what the plan is of the company for asking for your email address though.  Could be a lead generation source for them i suppose.  Why else would folks be on the site?

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the courts of Los Angeles and California.

We Have Answers To Your Divorce Questions – Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There is a lot to know about divorce and the divorce process in Santa Clarita. The first thing people start doing when considering a divorce is to get online and start looking for answers. Well, we have the answers to your divorce questions.

When we got into this business, we wanted to do things different. Instead of holding on to the information and expertise we have obtained about divorce and the divorce process, we thought we would share the information we learn through our blogs, video and podcasts.

Because we have been discussing what we learn about divorce in Santa Clarita everyday, there is a very good chance that if you live in Santa Clarita and are looking for answers to your divorce questions, you will have landed on one of our blogs. And we are glad you have.

If you are going to represent yourself in your own divorce and forego hiring an attorney, you need to be fully informed of how divorce works and what your options are in getting through it. What will be the challenges, how much will it cost and how long will it take are just a few examples.

What you will learn is getting an answer to one question will certainly lead you to another one. Many people spend a considerable amount of time on our blogs, reading articles and watching youtube videos. We love that people are learning about divorce by reading the stories we share about the process, procedure and issues that can come up during a divorce.

We even have a “ask us a question” on our blog that allows folks to simply type in a question they have. It asks you to leave your email so we can respond. Generally what we do is record a video email and send a personalized video to your inbox. We feel this is a personal touch and makes it easier to give a detailed answer to the question.

As a licensed and bonded legal document preparation company that specializes in divorce, our answers to your divorce questions revolve around everything except giving legal advice. We discuss procedure, how to fill out divorce forms, courts processes and just about anything else we can think of.

If you have a question about divorce, please let us know. Give us a call or shoot us an email. We would be happy to answer your divorce question.

Great Customer Service Critical During Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I am just amazed at the poor service some Santa Clarita business's have. You would think with todays review sites and complaint sites that a local company would take great strides to provide excellent customer service.

As i write this, I have been waiting at home for a service technician to show up for some repairs. Instead of talking negatively about a fellow business in Santa Clarita, i thought i would share my thoughts on the topic of giving good customer service.

Here was what i was reminded of and what we should all be striving for.

First call to the office – When someone calls your place of business, this is your first chance to set the stage and let them know that they are working with true professionals. When you call our Santa Clarita divorce service, you will be greeted by one of our two full time receptionists. We know your decision to use our service or not starts from the time the phone rings.

Initial phone call and consultation – This is your time to shine. To provide information and answers that help your potential client “fix” whatever problem they are trying to solve.

When people call us, they have generally spent quite a bit of time on our blogs and have some follow up questions. We are an outbound marketing company which means we attract clients to our business by providing information on our blogs. This continues on when you call us. It is our job to provide you with all the information on how we can help with your divorce situation and not to try to “sell” or “close” you.

Follow up – Follow up is good way to continue your customer service. The type of service you offer will dictate what kind of follow up you do. We provide a divorce service and we are considerate and understanding that this is not a pleasant issue you are dealing with. Our follow ups are simple. We reach out via email to see if there are any additional questions.

We feel that great customer service is critical in any business to survive. But this should not be the reason you provide great service. You should simply provide a level of service you would expect if you were on the other end of the phone.

We are a divorce service. “service” being the operative word. We are here to serve you and help you through your divorce or other family law related issues.

How Long Do I Have To Serve Divorce Papers In Los Angeles

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I get asked quite a bit, how long does someone have to serve divorce papers in Los Angeles after you have filed them? Is there a time limit by which you have to serve the papers?

The reason this is important to know is because you don't want the court dismissing the divorce case causing you to refile and to pay the filing fee again.

I did some research on the time limits regarding serving your divorce papers and this is what I found.

I found that there is no real time limit to serve your divorce papers. Some attorneys have said that in California the time frame is anywhere between 2 to 3 years and if nothing is done within 5 years the court will automatically dismiss the case.

But there is one thing to watch out for that we are seeing in the Los Angeles divorce courts. We have had a few clients who have filed for divorce then decided to wait for whatever reason. Perhaps they were not 100% sure or wanted the holidays to pass, etc.

What has happened is the courts are setting Case Management Conferences for those who have not served the divorce papers within 3 to 4 months. The case management conferences are nothing to be concerned with as the court just wants to see what is going on.

The letter you receive in the mail may even go as far as to say that you need to appear at the case management conference or risk having your case dismissed. They may even state that you need to have you divorce papers served prior to attending the case management conference.

It is important to keep in mind that if you file for divorce and then don't serve them on your spouse for whatever reason that the court may send a letter in the mail. If you have not served your spouse, you probably have not told them you filed for divorce.

Imagine your spouse finding out you filed for divorce 3 months ago and the reason you did not serve them was because things had taken a turn for the better. Now what if your spouse opens this letter from the court? You will probably have a lot of explaining to do.

Filing Contempt For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What is contempt of court. In laymen terms it simply means that the judge signed an order and one of the parties is not complying with the judges order.

in divorce cases, this can be a temporary order or permanent order. Lets talk about how to file a motion for contempt when one of the spouses does not comply with the final judgment in the divorce.

I recently helped a client do exactly this. Let me give you a little background. The divorce was finalized more than 2 years ago. This was a stipulated agreements (both parties agreed at the time) to everything in the order. The Judge's signature only made if official.

The orders in the judgment covered everything regarding the disposition of assets and debts as well as orders pertaining to their children such as child support, etc.

In this case the spouse ordered to pay spousal support had not done so for quite some time and our client was left helpless not knowing what to do.

Prior to hiring our company to file for contempt, he wanted to first try it on his own. So he went to the self help center in downtown LA's Central court. He explained what was happening and they said he needed to file an Order To Show Cause and Affidavit for Contempt.

They gave him the form, he filled it out, signed it and filed it with the court. The problem is that there is much more to do than just filling out the application. He had missed providing all the other attachments and proof of missed payments and a declaration stating the facts and why his spouse is in contempt.

If you are going to file an affidavit for contempt on your divorce, make sure to fill out the correct forms, check the correct boxes and follow the instructions. You can find many of the instructions online, but it can be a little tricky. Especially making sure that you list each and every missed payment as each one counts as a contempt charge.

 

Should You Sign Divorce Papers You Have Been Mailed – Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

So there is a lot of confusing about divorce, that much we can agree on. That is why i write all these articles on divorce and record videos. It is all about getting information out there to lessen the confusion.

Today we are talking about what you should do if you are mailed divorce papers and asked to sign for them. The reason we are explaining this is because people think that if they sign papers they received, that it means that they agree. This is not true.

What we are talking about here is the very first papers filed in a divorce. These first document have to be personally served on your spouse. But there is a way that you can simply mail the forms to your spouse if they are willing to sign a document which says they received them.

But here is the problem. Spouses receive the divorce documents and think by signing anything that they are agreeing to what is contained in the divorce papers. This could not be further from the truth.

The form we are talking about here is the notice of acknowledgment of receipt. It is a form one signs to acknowledge having received the paperwork. It says nothing to the effect that by signing you agree to anything. In fact, it says right on the form that this is not a response form and if you disagree with anything in the divorce papers you were served, that you need to file a response.

Let me help drive this point home. I previously stated that these initial divorce documents normally have to be served. So if your spouse hires a process server and has someone hand deliver them to you, does that mean you agree to what is contained in the divorce papers? Of course not.

Signing the notice of acknowledgment of receipt is not different. The only reason not to sign that you received the divorce papers is to be difficult. At least that is what i tell my clients when they say their spouse won't sign indicating they received the papers.

If people would just take a few seconds to actually read the forms they will realize that what i am saying it true.