How To Keep Your Divorce Amicable – Santa Clarita

How To Keep Your Divorce Amicable – Santa Clarita

There are lots of benefits of having an amicable divorce in Santa Clarita. Probably the biggest advantage is cost. With an amicable divorce, you don’t need to hire an attorney which will save you a ton of money.

There are some things you can do to help keep your divorce amicable throughout the process. The common theme throughout this will be communication.

First, prior to filing for divorce it is a good idea that you try to discuss getting divorced. Try to have a few conversations with your spouse and come up with a plan. Those with a plan of action fare much better.

This means deciding on when to file, who is going to file and agreeing on a divorce document preparation company like us to meet with.

One or both of you can meet with us to make sure you are comfortable using our service. When you meet with us, we will explain the divorce process in full so both parties understand exactly what to expect throughout the process.

The next thing to do to keep your divorce amicable is to avoid hiring a process server. Nobody like having some stranger walk up to them and be handed divorce papers and told they are being served. We can help you avoid having to do this. In fact, you could simply have the spouse that needs to be served come to our office and pick up the documents. We will complete the necessary forms to tell the court that service was completed.

Most issues that come up will be about custody and visitation of children or about money. We will show you how to use the courts free services to help you understand the law so you can make decisions on any issues that you are having trouble coming to an agreement on.

Using the ideas in the article will help keep your divorce amicable. Give us a call so we can come up with a plan for you to keep things running smooth during your divorce.

Getting Divorced And Spouse Avoiding Service Santa Clarita

Getting Divorced And Spouse Avoiding Service Santa Clarita

It only takes one to get divorce and there is nothing your spouse can do to top you. But they can make it more difficult.

In most cases getting the other spouse served the divorce papers is a non issue. You either hire a process server or mail the forms following the guidelines on doing so.

But sometimes the process is not so smooth when a spouse wants to play games or be difficult. The issue with delaying the process of service is that you cannot move on until they are served.

I have two such cases currently. The first is a young couple who’s husband is playing cat and mouse with the process server. He was told wife was filing and for unknown reasons is avoiding being served.

All this is causing is a delay in the case and costing his wife more money because the process server is spending a lot more time trying to serve him. They now have to sit outside the home and conduct surveillance and get him somewhere between the front door of the house and the car.

They have already been to the home several times and he lives with room mates. He does not come to the door and they can tell they have been instructed to tell him that the husband is not home.

In the other case, the wife is being difficult in being served. The process server waits outside the house for her to come home from work. She knows there is someone waiting to serve her so pulls into the garage and closes the door.

Again, all that happens is more time is spent trying to serve her. Because she is doing this, husband decided to serve her at work which will cause her a bit of embarrassment.

When you work with us we try to keep everything going smoothly and explain the process in detail so you understand the divorce process. We try to avoid having these contentious issues in the beginning or at all for that matter.

Do You Need A Process Server For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

Do You Need A Process Server For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

There are some misunderstandings about if you need a process server for your divorce. The reason is because the answer is yes and no and depends on the circumstances. We will explain here.

Normally, the first paper that is filed on your spouse needs to be done by personal service. This would mean hiring a process server or having someone over the age of 18 who is not involved in the case serve your papers.

For instance, if you were the one to file for divorce, you would have to have them served personally. It can even be a family member. One of my clients recently had their adult child hand her dad the papers. This was obviously an amicable divorce situation where everyone was on board.

But there are times where you can simply mail the initial divorce forms to your spouse. When possible, this is my preferred method of serving divorce papers.

There is a form you can use to send the initial divorce documents to your spouse. It is called a notice of acknowledgement of receipt. You have to mail it with 2 copies and have to make sure to check the boxes that says you are serving the summons and petition and any other forms you happen to be mailing to the respondent.

When you use this form, you still have to have to complete a proof of service of summons. This is another area i see where people have issues.

When you mail the initial documents using the notice of acknowledgment of receipt, you need to also complete the proof of service and file both forms with the court. You will check the box that says you used this form and complied with the rules when doing so.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation company that specializes in divorce.

 

Would You Go On Vacation To Get Divorced

Would You Go On Vacation To Get Divorced

People come up with some pretty crazy ideas in business sometimes to stand out from the crowd.   I listened to a Podcast today of an attorney who helps people get divorced through mediation.  But with one twist.  They go on vacation to a destination of their choice to complete their divorce.

The attorney Tracey Rosswurm out of Fort Wayne, Indiana says this is a  cost effective way to get through the divorce process.  At the very least it is getting her some attention.  Heck, she was interviewed by a radio show and now I am writing about it.

Here is how it works.  The couples decide that they would rather mediate their divorce rather than going to court.  They decide on a destination that they would enjoy and go there along with the attorney.

The idea is that you are in a nice place without the daily distractions of life.  You can focus on the issues of the divorce at hand and there is nowhere to go.

So what about the  cost.  The attorney says that the costs of the “destination divorce” is much less than that of going to court.  That would be true if the divorce ever ended up in court in the first place.  But certainly, mediation is more cost effective than both spouses hiring an attorney.

I think there will only be a few people that would choose to do this.  It is hard for me to wrap my head around this idea.  If I were going through a divorce, I would not want to ruin some vacation destination that I love by leaving memories of being there for finalizing a divorce.

I would love to hear your comments on this.  Would you go on vacation to get  divorced?  Do you think this is a sustainable business model or a short lived marketing ploy?

 

Another Post Judgment Child Support Motion In Central District

Another Post Judgment Child Support Motion In Central District

As legal document assistants we are authorized to work directly for folks in preparing their legal documents.  And lately we have been seeing a huge increase in post judgment motions being filed .

This particular motion is asking for a modification of child support and they want the other party to pay for their attorney fees.

The motion that was filed was a request for more child support and stated that the father was now making more money.  In most cases, you file a motion to modify child support if there is a change in circumstance such as a parent making more or less money.

In this case, the mother stated that father was making more money now and wanted the Court to order higher child support based on the guideline child support limits  and that she was earning less money.

It all comes down to how much the parties make and how much custody and visitation each of them have.  The problem sometimes is determining how much the parties truly make, especially when they own a business and are not receiving a paycheck that can be verified.

This motion also asked for the other party to pay for attorneys fees.  That never rubbed my right.  Tell me what you think about this.

A spouse hires an attorney to modify child support.  She works and had access to funds, but because father makes more money, makes a request in the motion that the husband is to pay for all her attorney fees.  If this motion is granted, then the husband has to pay for his wife’s attorney to file a motion against him.  And just to rub salt in the wound, he is not hiring an attorney himself.  He is going to have us prepare our firm prepare the response so he does not have to pay for an attorney he can’t afford.

We specialize in helping folks get through their divorce including preparing post judgment request for orders and motions.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and we serve all of Los Angeles County and all the Courts.

Cost Of Divorce Attorneys Unaffordable For Many In Santa Clarita

Cost Of Divorce Attorneys Unaffordable For Many In Santa Clarita

It’s a fact.  Many people cannot afford the cost of an attorney for their divorce.  Either they don’t have the money or, if they do, are not willing to spend it to get divorced.  That is where our divorce legal document assistance comes into play.

Here is an example of a client that, but for our service, would have been left to figure things out on his own.

A client was recently served with a Request For Order with the mom asking to move away with their child to another state.  He called me to see what we could do for him.  I advised him we would help him prepare a response to the motion along with a declaration, etc.

In his email to me, explaining what he wanted to address on the declaration, he asked me if I thought he would be okay representing himself.  I answered him honestly.  I told him that many people represent themselves.  I told him that because the mom had an attorney, he may be at a disadvantage in his case.

Then I answered his question with a question.  I asked him if he could afford to pay $5,000 to $7,500 for an attorney to prepare his response and represent him at the court hearing.  He replied that he could not afford to pay that much money for an attorney.

And sometimes that is all it comes down to.  Of course, everyone would love to use an attorney for their divorce case if it was affordable.  But it isn’t.  In fact, because attorneys are seeing less and less clients these days, they are actually raising their hourly billing rates to make more off the clients that they do have.

Yes, gone are the days of refinancing our homes to pay for everything.  Cars, toys and even divorce.  Now we feel the pain of that big purchase, going further into debt to pay for the things we don’t really need.

The cost of divorce attorneys in Santa Clarita are unaffordable for many, but there is help out there and we are it.  We are licensed and bonded in the County of Los Angeles to provide legal document assistance.  We specialize in divorce and can provide you with a complete understanding of the divorce process and help you with most family law related matters.  Give us a call for more information.

How To File An Order After Hearing | Santa Clarita Divorce

How To File An Order After Hearing | Santa Clarita Divorce

You went to divorce court, spoke to the Judge during a hearing and the Judge made orders that you requested.  That’s great, right?  Not so fast, you still have to prepare an Order After Hearing or OAH.

This article is a follow up to an article we wrote about representing yourself during a hearing and what you can expect.  This article is going to explain what you have to do after the hearing in order to have your judgment enforced.

Once the Judge makes orders, you have to get a copy of the Minute Order.  The Minute Order is what the clerk in the courtroom prepares and is a written summary of the Judges orders.  You can get a copy of the Minute Order a few days after your hearing.  You will then use the Minute Order to prepare your Order After Hearing.

What is an Order After Hearing?  It is a form you will use to document what the Judge has ordered.  You will prepare the Order After Hearing  which then needs to be mailed to your spouse who is to sign the Order After Hearing agreeing to the language of the Order.

But what happens if they refuse to sign it?  In that case, you have to wait 10 days for them to return the signed Order After Hearing.  After that, you can file the OAH along with a Declaration Regarding Execution of Order After Hearing.

When you mail the Order After Hearing to your spouse for their signature, you have to include a letter which indicates that they have 10 days to respond.

It is quite a process to get an order signed by the court.  By this time you have waited about 2 months to get your hearing, then you have to get the Minute Order, complete the Order After Hearing, wait 10 days, then draft a Declaration Regarding Execution of Order After Hearing, then wait for the Judge to sign and return that.

So here is our recommendation.  If you are going to represent yourself in court or at a hearing, have us prepare your motion.  We will take care of everything from filing and serving to completing the Order After Hearing so you don’t have to worry about all the requirements as discussed here.

We specialize in the divorce process in Santa Clarita and are legal document assistants here to help.

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Representing Yourself In Spousal Support Hearing | Santa Clarita

Representing Yourself In Spousal Support Hearing | Santa Clarita

We help a lot of clients who are representing themselves in all aspects of divorce.  This includes helping them prepare motions for spousal support either during the divorce so they can get some temporary orders for spousal support or post judgment.

I client of ours just went to court and I  thought I would share her experiences so you can have an idea of what to expect if you have to go to court to represent yourself during a hearing for spousal support or any other type of hearing.

For this particular client, we had already filed the divorce papers and know she wanted to ask the court to order spousal support and child support because the husband refused to pay anything.

When she went to court, her husband did not show up.  The judge read the motion we had prepared and asked our client a few questions to make sure that she had properly notified and served her husband.  Many times when folks are representing themselves, the don’t follow proper procedure, such as failing to properly serve or file a proof of service.  When this happens the Judge may refuse to make orders and assume your spouse was not properly notified.

In this particular case, because we prepared, filed and served all the necessary documents to ensure compliance with the court rules, our client was all prepared.

As the Judge reviewed her declaration she asked her a few questions to clarify what she was asking for.  In the end, the Judge granted her exactly what she was asking for.

The hearing lasted all of 5 minutes.  When she was done, she asked the Judge, “now what do I do”?  All the Judge said was to go to the self help center if she needed further assistance.  Sadly, this is the problem with the Court system.  Fortunately though, she had us to assist her.

You see, getting the Judge to rule in your favor is just the first step.  The next step is to prepare an Order After Hearing and follow all the guidelines associated with that.

Related: Read How To File An Order After Hearing

Unfortunately, it is still going to take some time before she receives the support ordered by the Judge.

We specialize in divorce and can help you file a motion requesting orders for a variety of issues.  Give us a call so we can discuss your situation.

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How To Change Title To Home During Divorce | Santa Clarita

How To Change Title To Home During Divorce | Santa Clarita

If you are getting divorced and own a home, there is a good chance you will have to change title by quit-claiming your property to your spouse.

The best way to remove your spouse from title is to refinance the property into your name alone.  Sure, that seems easy.  But what about when you can’t qualify on your own or the home is worth less than you owe?  This latter predicament is where most of my clients find themselves.

So in the interest of helping my clients with this issue after (or during) their divorce, I set out to learn how to quit-claim a property.  I did all the research on the forms, the process, what has to be notarized, filing fee’s and county recorder fees, etc.  When I realized how much work was involved, I set out to find a company who specialized in title transfers.

I figured that I specialized in divorce, there has to be someone that specializes in title changes.

I will be honest.  It took a couple of days to locate a company that does this.  I asked several title agents, posed the question on LinkedIn and did hundreds of Google searches trying to locate a company that could help my clients change title to their home who are going through a divorce.

Finally, I was referred to The Document Center.  The Document Center specializes with all types of real estate related materials, information and resources.  They will prepare, notarize and record real estate related documents.

What I liked about The Document Center after speaking with Dorene, is that they are  document preparation service.  This means that can assist you without the need for escrow, title or attorney fees.

The Document Center can help you with:

  • Adding and removing people from title;
  • Transferring into or out of a Trust;
  • Adding someone on title after escrow has closed;
  • Removing a deceased party from title;
  • Handling Timeshare transfers

If you need help transferring title, give The Document Center a call.  You can ask for Dorene and make sure to let them know you found them on this site.

The Document Center is located at 3908 Foothill Blvd, Glendale, CA 91214 and can be reached at 818-541-0901 or http://www.thedoccenter.com

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We Are Here To Answer Your Divorce Questions | Santa Clarita

We Are Here To Answer Your Divorce Questions | Santa Clarita

While we provide lots of content about how divorce works, the divorce process and what it takes to get divorced, there is nothing better than a one on one conversation to make it all make sense.

I write and blog about everything we can think of in terms of divorce.  Everyday when someone asks me a question about divorce, If I have not covered that topic in a blog post, I will make sure to do it that day.

So if you found our website, you were probably trying to find an answer to a question that we have covered.  Once you have that questions answered, you probably realize that you have another.  That is just how it works.

Of course, you can search our site for more answers or you can pick up the phone and call us.

I spend most of my day working on divorce cases and answering phone calls about the divorce process and our services.  I am here to help solve your problems.  When you searched online, you were trying to solve a problem.  Whether it was to get divorced, assistance with child support or because a judgment was rejected, you were looking to solve  problem.   A problem that we have dealt with and discussed on our blogs.

So when you call us, we are not going to give you a line about how amazing we are, even though we are.  We are going to discuss what is happening in your specific situation and then advise you what we can do to help.  We are not pushy nor are we here to “sell” you anything.  We just want to solve your problems.

Give us a call if you have a question about divorce.  We want to help.  If we don’t know the answer or can’t help you we would be happy to refer you to someone who can.

We specialize in divorce and look forward to answering any questions you may have about divorce in Santa Clarita.