Divorce Not A Simple Open And Shut Case In Los Angeles

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

While we understand and know the divorce process inside and out, there are always cases that throw us a curveball. This just goes to show that sometimes divorce is not a simple open and shut case.

An example of this, is a client we have been helping for about 6 months. When he called us he had been working on getting divorced for about 5 years. They both had slacked off on completing the divorce, but he had found a new love and now wanted to get things finished up. (we get a lot of clients this way)

The problem was that the wife was just not as motivated to get things done. When this happens, where one spouse is not doing the necessary steps, it is just a matter of getting the court involved so the court can tell the parties what they need to do. So this is what we did.

We started off by filing a request for trial setting. This is what you do if you need to get the court involved to help move things forward. The form is filed and a court date will be set. The parties are notified of the court date. This date will be the first time you speak to a judge and he or she will see where things are at and tell the parties what is to be completed before the next hearing.

Several hearings later, we finally have the last court appearance coming up in a few weeks. The judge advised what documents were to be completed prior to the hearing.

The good news is that this last hearing should prove to be the finalization of the divorce. The judge asked that the final disclosures be completed and that the judgment forms be prepared.

When he appears at this last hearing, the judge will accept the judgment and the divorce should be completed.

When we first started with this client, it was supposed to be an easy uncontested case. It turned out not to be so easy, but we were able to get him through it.

That is our promise when you sign up to work with us. We know not every divorce case is going to be perfectly smooth. Whatever happens, we will work to get your through the process.

The reason we are able to do this is because we have worked for the court system before, specifically in divorce, and understand what has to be done to move a case forward.

Low Cost Divorce With Attorney Assistance In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

While we have always been the place to provide affordable, low cost divorce services, we are also a company that can help you with attorney assistance.

We are not a law firm. I want that to be clear right away. We are a legal document preparation service that works without attorney supervision. We are our own entity.

However, when you work with us, one of the benefits is that you can obtain a free attorney consultation with a family law lawyer in Santa Clarita.

We are always working to provide a great divorce service here in Santa Clarita. To that end, we had some clients that could not afford and attorney, but were in need of an attorney consultation so they could get some off their legal questions answered.

We started to look for a local Santa Clarita attorney who would be willing to meet with our clients and provide a free consultation. Well, we found one and our clients have been getting free divorce consultations with a family law attorney ever since.

But here is the trick. You only get to have this free attorney consultation with this attorney if you are working with us.

Most divorce attorneys in the Santa Clarita Valley charge anywhere from $125 to $300 for a 1/2 hour or 1 hour divorce consultation. You won't have to pay those fees when you use our service. The best part is that the attorney is not only able to meet you at the beginning, but will also answer your questions (and mine) throughout the process, if needed.

This is just one more way we are bringing a valuable divorce service to Santa Clarita. The more services we can offer, the better value we bring to the table. This is especially true when it is free of charge.

For more information about our divorce services in Santa Clarita, please give us a call at 661-281-0266.

Divorce Is All We Do In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Is All We Do In Santa Clarita

That’s right. Divorce is all we do here in Santa Clarita. And to be honest with you, we wouldn’t have time to do anything else.

The word is out that we are the number one divorce document preparation firm in Los Angeles County and are right here in Santa Clarita.

Things pretty much took off once we opened up shop. We are not bragging, we are thankful actually. Of course, not that people are getting divorced, but that we have established a business that has met a huge need.

When we did our due diligence research on this business model, we learned that there was a huge void in legal services. There are attorneys, of course, who charge their outrageous fees and who only 10% of people can actually, truly afford.

Then there is the self help centers who provide free legal services to those folks with low incomes.

But what about us in the middle. This 80% of families who realize that attorneys fees are too much and who don’t qualify for government free assistance?

That is when we discovered the huge demand for affordable legal services in Los Angeles. And not just another paralegal service that provides an “okay” service, but a major player in the legal industry that can go head to head with attorneys as far as the quality of service we provide.

When you go to get divorced, make sure to use a company that is experienced in the game. We have been doing this for years and have worked in the self help centers, major area family law firms and are one of the only companies who have also worked for the Los Angeles Superior Courts family law departments.

Give us a call when you are ready to get started or would simply just like some answers to your questions about divorce.

Terminating Child Support In LA County | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Terminating Child Support In LA County | Santa Clarita Divorce

Today I wanted to talk to you about how to terminate a child support order.   I had a call over the weekend from a gentleman who needed to terminate child support so he didn’t have any overpayment of chils support when his child turned 18.

So let’s discuss how you go about getting the court to sign a termination of child support order.  To get the court to sign a termination of child support order you have to do one of a few things. The form you’re going to use his FL – 195 income withholding order.  At the top of the withholding order you will notice that there is a termination of child support box at the top.  That’s the box you will use to terminate child support.  This is the same form that was used when child support was ordered and will be the same form you use to submit to the court to get the judge to sign to terminate child support as well.

Here’s what we recommend you do.  Because the income withholding order will need to be signed by the judge you’ll either need to get a hearing date set so you can go into court to have the judge sign the order or you can attempt to mail a letter to the clerk with the evidence of a birth certificate the judgment and perhaps even a diploma of the child to show he is 18 in order to get them to sign the judgment.

In you want to send a letter to the clerk, what you need to do is to mail a letter to the actual department your case is in, instead of just mailing to the Court.  What you would do then is mail letter to the clerk explaining the circumstances along with a copy of the judgment that shows the order regarding when child support can be terminated.  Then you can attach a copy of your child’s birth certificates so they can determine that your child is in fact 18 and a copy of the high school diploma if it was part of the judgment agreement.

If that does not work, the last thing you can do is file a request for order with the court.  You can file a motion with the court indicating you would like the termination of child support order signed and go to the hearing date  and explain the circumstances to the judge and hope that he signs the termination of child support at the hearing itself.

If you have any more questions about how to terminate a child support order or need assistance in doing so please give us a call if you happy to help you.

Helping People Solve Their Divorce Problems In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Helping People Solve Their Divorce Problems In Santa Clarita

Our firm exists to help people going through divorce. We know that 1000’s of people read our blogs and articles everyday and are getting the answers to their questions about divorce from our blogs.

That is why we write and publish so many articles about divorce. So folks have an avenue and access to getting the hard to find information about divorce in California.

But what we know is that we are helping people solve their divorce problems. Whether it is a quick question they had or an involved process they were trying to figure out, we have the information out there for people to learn.

Divorce is on the rise it seems and effects over 50% of families in California. While we don’t promote divorce or hope people have to divorce, we do know that there is a need for affordable divorce services in our city of Santa Clarita, Los Angeles and California.

We hope you found the answers to your problems on our blogs. Where you are unable to find the answers to your problems, please feel free to give us a call. We welcome your calls and routinely spend hours on the phone every day with clients who have questions about divorce.

Please give us a call for more information about our affordable divorce services and how we can help you answer the questions and solve your problems about divorce.

Call Us When When You Need To Divorce Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Call Us When When You Need To Divorce Santa Clarita

By the time people call us to get started with their divorce, they have already spent some time on our blogs and websites learning about how we operate.

This is by design. It was our intention to put out as much information about divorce, that we would be the go-to-source for information on the internet and where people can learn about divorce for free.

When people actually pick up the phone to call us, they are generally calling us to set an appointment to get things started. That is the beauty of providing all the information on our blogs is that people are fully educated by the time they call us and are simply ready to get started with us.

So while we want you to call us when you need to get divorced, we also want you to spend some quality time on our websites and blogs and learn about the divorce process and how we can help. We have over 1000 articles published on the internet and almost 100 videos about divorce. Not to mention we also have a podcast where we broadcast live streaming audio.

We are doing anything and everything we can to get the information out there. We are one of the first to do this.

When you call us, we will answer all your questions. We understand that every circumstance and family is different and that your specific situation requires specific questions. We are always happy to discuss and provide helpful information, even if you eventually proceed without our assistance.

When you are ready to get started, please give us a call. We are not here to sell you anything. We are here to solve your problems.

Santa Clarita Divorce Blog

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce Blog

We have become the go to source for information about divorce in Santa Clarita. We publish information about divorce in Santa Clarita everyday in an attempt to help folks understand how to get divorced and how the divorce process works in California.

We have been one of the first companies to freely provide information about divorce in an effort to make clear the divorce process in Santa Clarita so folks are not so reliant upon having to hire attorneys when they are not necessary in most cases.

Our Santa Clarita divorce blog provide at least daily updates regarding divorce, the divorce process and helpful tips. In addition, we have numerous divorce videos and audio podcasts where we talk about divorce and information that is helpful to people who are trying to figure out what to do when they are thinking of filing for divorce.

We even go as far as having a form on our website that allows you to ask a question. We routinely get multiple questions per day for people who are looking for answers to their questions about divorce related to their specific situation.

In fact, whenever we get a question over the phone or via email, we try to connect with people by providing the answer to their question via video and on our blog.

Many people find out about our divorce paralegal service in Santa Clarita by searching online for answers to their divorce questions. Because we have answered many of these questions, our blog routinely shows up and helps them to understand divorce and perhaps even decide to use our divorce service.

Our Santa Clarita divorce blog is the only source of real information about divorce. If you have any questions about divorce we welcome your calls and emails.

Are You Looking For A Full Service Divorce Firm In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Are You Looking For A Full Service Divorce Firm In Santa Clarita

If you are looking for do it yourself type company to prepare your divorce documents, we are not it.

This is because we are a full service divorce company that will take care of everything that has to do with your divorce.

We take care of preparing all the divorce documents personally. Nothing is left up to you to prepare and we don’t ask you to fill out some questionnaire. Your divorce documents will be professionally prepared, exactly as if you were in a law firm (except for the cost!)

We will file all the documents with the court. There are many steps to getting divorced and we will file all the necessary documents along the way.

We were recently asked by a client if our service included postage when we mailed out documents to our clients. She said she would be happy to pay for postage if our costs did not account for that.

I thought it was funny, and so wrote her a funny email saying that she has hired a full service company and that we take care of everything. And this even includes the postage of mailing documents back and forth between our clients and the courts. And it’s a good thing too, because we mail a lot of documents on a daily basis and are certainly helping keep the post office from declaring bankruptcy.

So if you want to work with a great company that will take care of everything involving your divorce, make sure to give us a call.

If you are looking for some inferior company who is going to nickel and dime your are make you do most of the work, we are not that company.

Why Summary Dissolution Is Not Right For You | California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Why Summary Dissolution Is Not Right For You | California Divorce

Have you heard of a Summary Divorce?  It is often touted as an easy way to get divorced if you qualify.   It is also referred to as a cheaper way of getting divorced.  Neither of these statements are true.

We have covered what the qualifications are to using a summary divorce in other articles.  We are not going to cover those again here.  What we are going to do is discuss why using a summary dissolution is not right for you, even if you qualify.

First, let’s talk about the paperwork.  The divorce forms in a summary dissolution are not any easier for you if you are not familiar with how divorce works in the first place.  So if you are thinking about completing your own divorce, it is going to be just as confusing and difficult either way.

The next myth is that the summary dissolution process is less expensive.  In fact, the summary divorce is actually twice as expensive!  How is this, you say?  If you look at a normal divorce petition, there is only one Petitioner.   When the Petitioner files for divorce, he or she will pay the filing fee.  The filing fee in LA County is $435 and most of California follows suit or is higher.

The summary dissolution is actually called, “Joint Petition For Summary Dissolution”.  Joint as in both of you are Petitioner’s.  Joint as in both of you are going to pay a filing fee!

Yes, you heard that right.  If you file for summary dissolution, both you and your spouse have to pay a filing fee.  That just doubled your costs.

With a regular default case or hybrid style divorce, you are going to pay only one filing fee.  That is because in a hybrid or default, the other party does not file a response.

Don’t fall prey to being convinced to  use a summary dissolution.  I got a call yesterday from a client who stated he wanted to file a summary dissolution and had read up on it.  He had no idea it was going to cost him twice as much.

We specialize in California divorce and can assist you with preparing your divorce forms at an affordable price.

Divorce Process As Confusing As Divorce Paperwork – Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Process As Confusing As Divorce Paperwork – Santa Clarita

I had a call today from a gentleman that was asking some questions about how to fill out certain paperwork. I was happy to spend a few minutes on the phone with him, telling him what forms were necessary to complete.

Then I told him which forms had to be served, which had to be filed and which ones he did not have to fill out at all. That is when he said he had had enough. He hired us right there on the spot.

You see, the divorce paperwork, as difficult and confusing as it is, is just one part of the equation. The other half of the equation is the to make sure to follow proper procedure. Because if you are lucky enough to complete the paperwork correctly, you still stand a change of having your paperwork rejected for not following procedure.

So what are we talking about here? We are talking about such things at the process of service. For instance, the very first forms in a family law case have to be personally served. Then you have to file the proof of service with the court.

Another area people have difficulty is with the financial disclosures. You need to only serve those documents on your spouse, they are not file with the court in most cases. Then you need to file a totally different form with the court which says you complied with this step..

If you made this far, the worst is still to come. Now you have to tackle the judgment forms which are the most confusing of all. The best part (not!) about the completing the judgment is that you get to submit it and them wait 3 months to find out if you did everything correctly. Most folks who represent themselves and do their own paperwork do not fare very well in this process.

Give us a call and let the experts prepare your divorce paperwork. That is all w do, day in and day out. It’s not sexy, but we are the only legal document preparation firm in Los Angeles County that specializes in divorce.