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.

Police Officers Using Our Santa Clarita Divorce Firm

Police Officers Using Our Santa Clarita Divorce Firm

Everyone knows that the life of a Police Officer is tough.  I should know.  I spent over 12 years with the Los Angeles Police Department.  And the divorce rate is high enough.  Add to that the stresses of being in Law Enforcement and divorce rate is even higher.

Police Officers, Sheriffs and other emergency personnel get divorced just like everyone else, sometimes multiple times.  It just seems to go with the job.

I have helped numerous Law Enforcement Personnel complete their divorce in Santa Clarita.  I have helped my own brothers and sisters in blue at LAPD as well as those wearing the tan and green.  You Los Angeles Sheriffs out there know what I’m talking about.

Earning the trust of Police and Sheriff’s is a tough job.  We are a  critical bunch.  Un-trusting.  Suspicious.  Skeptical.  I get it, I was right there with you.  So when a Police Officer or Sheriff learns to trust our divorce firm in Santa Clarita, I know we are on the right tract.

Is the divorce service any different for law Enforcement Personnel?  Nope, you have to go through the exact same process as everyone else.  In most cases you won’t have to go to court.  But if you do, you won’t be able to put in for overtime 🙂

Make sure to give us a call if you are facing getting divorced.  I would hate for you to spend your hard earned money or go into debt to hire an attorney for your divorce.  It just is not necessary in most cases.

We can walk you through each step of the process, get your divorce documents completed and will file and serve everything.  You do what you do best, and we will do what we do best.

Let us help you get this behind you without leaving a heap of legal bills behind.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and serve all of Los Angeles County and Courts.

 

We Are Your Ticket To An Affordable Divorce | Santa Clarita

We Are Your Ticket To An Affordable Divorce | Santa Clarita

The word is out that we are the business to come to when you want to save money on your divorce.  We have your ticket to an affordable divorce.

You are not alone if your are looking for a better way to get divorced.  One which does not break the bank.  And we get all types of clients from all walks of life.  The common thread is they don’t want to spend a fortune on their divorce.

Sometimes we have folks use us because they are low income.  Others have a job and no time to complete the divorce on their own.  We get Doctors and other professionals who obviously could afford an attorney, but whom choose to avoid throwing away their money,  We work with Police Officers, Fire Personnel, Teachers, the sky’s the limit.

Folks are literally flocking to us not only because we offer an affordable solutions to an otherwise costly procedure, but be because we offer a great value.

Folks often tell us that they would have been willing to pay more for our divorce service.  And truth be told, we used to charge more.  However,we found that wit the higher prices we were pricing people out of being able to afford our service.  That is not why we started this business.  We wanted the masses to be able to afford using our divorce firm.

When people tell us that they would have been willing to pay more, what they are telling us is that we provided a highly valuable service.  Value!  That is more important than just offering a low cost service.  We all know that you get what you pay for a lot of times in life.

When you work with us, we want you walk away feeling you received a great value and spread the word about our services.  Raving fans of our business is all we ask for.

We Help You Understand The Divorce Process | Santa Clarita

We Help You Understand The Divorce Process | Santa Clarita

Do you have questions about the process of getting divorced?  Many people do and despite asking friends and researching the information online, we find that a big part of what we do is educating our clients about the process of getting divorced.

On a phone call I had yesterday with a new client, I spent about 30 minutes just talking about the process of getting divorced.  I do this with all my clients whether over the phone or in person in our office.  I want to help my clients understand the divorce process, the forms and what it is going to take to get the divorce finished.

I find that the legal industry as a whole wants to keep people in the dark so you have to rely on their services.  At least that is my take on it.  Law is a confusing subject.  Add the fact that you are personally involved in a divorce and it makes the task that much more difficult to understand.

After I had finished discussing the nuances of the divorce process, she mentioned how much better she felt know having a good grasp of what lies ahead.  She had asked friends and done some research online, but the conversation we had brought everything together for her.

It is important that you understand what the process is and what is happening.  Why you are filing out the forms and what significance they have.  Remember, when you work with us, you are representing yourself in your divorce so you are going to have to play a larger part in the process.

We will help you understand the divorce process so you know what is happening every step of the way.  We will take care of moving your case forward.  We will prepare, file and serve every document and make it as painless as possible to get through your divorce in Santa Clarita.  Give us a call right now.

Santa Clarita Divorce Services A Neutral Third Party

Santa Clarita Divorce Services A Neutral Third Party

One of the benefits of working with our Santa Clarita divorce services is that we are a neutral third party.  This means we don’t represent either party to the divorce and often work with both spouses throughout the process.

When divorcing parties have legal representation there is an instant adversary relationship.  Each attorney it going to fight against the other to gain some advantage over the other party.  This is certainly not what you want if you are trying to reach an amicable resolution to your divorce.

This is not the case with our divorce services.  Because we are not attorneys, we don’t represent either side.  Our sole function is to help both parties get the necessary paperwork done so they can conclude their divorce.

But what happens when there is disagreements and you need assistance?  First, let me say that divorce cases without at least some disagreement are rare.  There are always one thing that is disagreed upon. In most cases, the parties are able to resolve them on their own.  However, where guidance from an attorney is needed, we can assist you by setting up appointments with the Courts free services that are there to help you come to an understanding.

Most people don’t know that part of what your filing fee pays for is to use all the services that the court has to offer.

For instance, if you need help determining how much spousal support needs to be paid, you can make an appointment with the Court Facilitator.  They are a neutral third party attorney who works for the court and will discuss your options about spousal support.

If you need help coming up with a parenting plan which can include child custody and visitation, you can make an appointment with the Court Mediators office.

If you want to get through your divorce, consider using our divorce service in Santa Clarita.  We are a neutral third party that does not pose a threat to either party.  We will gladly assist both spouses throughout the process.

Deciding On Restoring Former Name During Divorce | Santa Clarita

Deciding On Restoring Former Name During Divorce | Santa Clarita

When you are going through the divorce process, one of the the decisions you will have to make is whether you want to go back to your former (Maiden) name you had prior to the marriage.  This is both a procedural decision and personal one.

When you file for divorce and are the Petitioner the Petition FL-100 on page 2 at line 7 (i) asks “Petitioner’s former name to be restored to”.  It is here you would indicate whether or not you want to go back to your former name.

But what happens if you are not sure or forget to check this box when you file your petition?  According to Family Code §2080 if a party is requesting their former name be restored in the judgment but forgot or did not indicate that in the Petition, you can still request to have your former name restored and the Court will grant this.

The reasons this comes up is because technically, you cannot ask for something you did not request in your Petition.  This guideline indicates that even if you did not say so in your Petition and you later decide you want to go back to your former name, the Court will grant that.

I had this very thing come up from a client who had prepared their own Petition and did not indicate that they wanted their former name back.  When it came time to the judgment I asked her if she wanted to do so.  She thought that because she had not indicated that she wanted to restore her former name in the Petition that she could not request it in the judgment.

Family Code Section 2080 says that you can still ask for your former name to be restored in the judgment despite not requesting it on the Petition.  This would also hold true if you were the Respondent and did not indicate that on your Response.

We specialize in providing expert divorce document preparation in Santa Clarita.  Give us a call for more information about our divorce services.