California Default Divorce Property Division Issues

California Default Divorce Property Division Issues

I have written a lot about California default divorce type cases because they can be a little tricky to navigate procedurally with the courts.

You see with an uncontested California divorce where you and your spouse ultimately come up with an agreement and submit to court, the default divorce means that the other party is not going to participate at all.

I often tell people that the default divorce should be used as a last resort. Why? Because there are issues related to property division (and when I say property I mean any type of asset or debt) that you have to be aware of.

Most important to know is that in a default type divorce case, the only things you can ask for your your judgment is what you put on the petition. So if you left things off the petition, such as specifics to child custody or asset and debt division, you cannot put it on the judgment.

In addition to that, one more issue is that the court will normally make you conform to California community property laws and make you divide all the assets and debts evenly, 50/50, even if that is not truly fair.

The default divorce is the only thing you can do if the other party will not participate. But you should encourage your spouse to participate as it will be much easier to finalize your divorce as you get to make the decisions you both agree with as opposed to having to divide everything 50/50 as you would in a default divorce.

Not wanting to pay the Response filing fee is not a good reason to do a California default divorce.  I understand what you are trying to do and save on court fees, but there is a better way. (if you didn’t know a uncontested divorce requires the petitioner to file a petition and pay the court fee and the Respondent needs to file a Response and also pay the court fee)

What we recommend is that you do a default, but not a true default which is what most people do. We suggest you do a default WITH AGREEMENT. Yes, there are 2 types of defaults. Defaults with agreement and default without an agreement.

The default WITH agreement is much like an uncontested divorce in that you will enter into a written agreement with your spouse, but you don’t have to pay the response court fee, just like the true default.

058: What To Do If Your Request To Enter Default Is Rejected

In this episode, we are talking about the request to enter default and some issues and ideas of how to get things moving forward for you with your divorce in terms of your request to enter default.

Couple of things, first of all I want to talk to you about the default specifically and when you can submit it.

The request to enter default is used when the other party is not going to participate either intentionally, because they don’t want to or you can’t get a hold of them or something like that.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast.

020: Types Of California Divorce And How To Save Money On Divorce (Podcast)

In this episode, we’re going to be talking about the four different ways you can get through your divorce in California. And we’re basically talking about the different ways of moving through the process with the paperwork specifically because there are different ways you can do this.

What we’re going to be talking about specifically is the difference between what’s called a default divorce, a contested divorce and uncontested divorce and what the courts use and what they call a hybrid which is a combination of a true default and uncontested divorce case.

Make sure to listen to the latest podcast.

California Default Divorce | You Cannot Ask For Anything On The Judgment You Did Not Request On The Petition

California Default Divorce | You Cannot Ask For Anything On The Judgment You Did Not Request On The Petition

If you are attempting to complete your own California divorce and are proceeding by way of default (Other party did not respond and is not participating) then you most likely received a rejection of your judgment when you went to enter it.

Why do I say this?  Because it seems like it is happening to everyone, and a lot.

So first, I wanted to let you know that you are not alone, if that makes you feel any better.

There are many reasons that your California default divorce can get rejected, but today we are specifically talking about the issue of asking for something on your judgment that you did not ask for on your Petition

See the slidehare below where you can see exactly what we are talking about.

Here is what it boils down to.  If you are filing a default divorce, you cannot ask for anything on the judgment that you did not request in the Petition.  More on that below the slideshare.

Let me talk a little about divorce procedure.  When you file for divorce, you will file Petition.  It let’s the court and the other party know what your “Request” are.   You will notice that the specific language of the Petition says, “Petitioner’s Requests”

So you are letting the other party know what you are requesting in the divorce.  If the other party does not have any problem with what you are requesting, then they may choose not to file a response and contest what you are requesting.

So it would not be fair if you did not request something in the Petition and then turn around and request something different or add requests you have not let the other party know about.

If you do this, the court will reject your default judgment.

If you will notice on the Judgment Reject Sheet above, it says that this person cannot ask for the child custody and visitation schedule on the judgment because it was not requested on the Petition.

This not only applies to child custody and visitation, but also to spousal support, and distribution of assets and debts.

I get at least one call a day from someone who has become completely frustrated by the process of trying to file their own default divorce in California and ask us to help wrap up their case.

We specialize in divorce in California and can help you through the divorce process whether you are just getting started, are somewhere in the middle of your divorce case or have taken it all the way to the end and had you divorce judgment rejected.

Give us a call.  We would be glad to help you out.

California Divorce | Wait 30 Days Before Filing Request To Enter Default

If you are going through a California divorce and are trying to complete a True Default Divorce or Default With Agreement divorce case, you will need to file a request to enter default.

The difference between these two types of divorce cases is when you submit your request to enter default paperwork to the court.

Request To Enter Default When True Default Divorce Case

If you are going through a divorce which will be a true default, one where your spouse is not responding and will not enter into a written agreement, you will want to wait 30 days after your spouse has been served.  Not doing so will result in your request to enter default being rejected by the court and you will have to resubmit it.

The 30 days starts the day your spouse is personally served the divorce papers or if you used the notice of acknowledgment of receipt and mailed the divorce documents, you would use 30 days after they signed that form.

Request To Enter Default When Default With Agreement

If you are completing a divorce where you are going to have a default with agreement (also known as a Hybrid) you won’t want to file the Request To Enter Default form after 30 days.

In this case, you are going to want to file the Request To Enter Default along when you submit your divorce judgment to the court.  This way the court will know you are doing a hybrid divorce case.  If you submit it after the 30 days, the court will assume your are file a true default case.

When submitting your Request To Enter Default form, make sure not to sign it before the 30 days have passed.  We had a client who had their request to enter default rejected because they had signed it before the 30 days were passed.  They filed it after the 30 days, but because they dated it before the 30 days, the court rejected it and they had to refile it.

We specialize in divorce in California and are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA.  If you need assistance with your divorce please make sure to give us a call.

California Default Divorce With Agreement

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.