Physical Custody vs. Legal Custody | Santa Clarita Divorce

When it comes time to discuss the custody of the children, there are two term you will want to familiarize yourself with.

Physical Custody and Legal Custody.

Legal Custody deals with the rights to make decisions about their welfare.  This includes such things as choice of religion, where they attend school, what doctor to go to and so on.

Because the courts are interested in whats best for the children of the marriage and therefore prefer that after a divorce that both parents continue to participate to make these decisions as they did when they were married.  So they prefer to keep thing where both parents share joint legal custody.

Of course, this is in cases where it is appropriate.  There are some circumstances where  a judge may be inclined to give one of the parents sole legal custody.

Physical custody refers to where the children will live on a normal basis.  Again, the Courts seem to generally prefer that parents have joint physical custody so they have equal access to both parents.

Don’t confuse joint physical custody with 50/50 custody.   One parent can be given a greater percentage of custody in a joint custody situation with the other spouse having a visitation schedule or something such as reasonable visitation.

When you file your initial divorce paperwork, you can indicate your request for physical custody and legal custody.  The same goes for the response.  When the Respondent files their paperwork they too can indicate what they want as far as physical custody and legal custody is concerned.

Physical and legal custody of the children can sometimes be an issue because it can be tied to the amount of child support a spouse may receive if one parent has more time with the children, the other parent might be required to pay more in support depending on the circumstances.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in the divorce process.  We provide affordable flat rates for your service.  Please give us a call for more information.

How Does A Santa Clarita Divorce Retainer Work

Okay, I am writing this article mostly because of the clients who have called me after spending thousands of dollars on their divorce with an attorney and are not even close to being divorced.  This is not a jab at attorney, but rather at the folks who did not take the time to read the retainer agreement when they signed up with their divorce attorney of choice.

How A Retainer Works

Just about any divorce lawyer you talk to is going to want an upfront retainer fee before they will do any work on your case.  The retainer fee is also called a deposit.  A good way to look at a deposit is as your first payment toward the fees that will be charged for any work done on your case.

A retainer amount depends on a couple of factors such as the attorneys hourly rate and the complexity of your case.  But in most cases, the retainer amount will be the going rate for you community and what they think they can get out of you before you walk down the street to the next building full of divorce attorneys.

I was reading an article in a self help book and it says that retaines are usually around $10,000 to $15,000.  I disagree. In my experience working in major law firms in Santa Clarita, the retainer amount is usually around $5,000.

But either way, that money goes fast when you attorney is charing you $40o per hour.  You do the math.  How many hours of work are you going to get on the $5,000?

The retainer you pay goes into the lawyers trust account and it is withdrawn from the trust account as the hours are worked and the fees are charged on your case.

Once the deposit is gone, the attorney will either send you a bill each month for the additional charges or ask you for a new deposit.

What A Retainer Is Not 

A retainer is not the total of your costs or the estimate of what it will cost to complete your divorce.

I have had too many people call me telling me their attorney blew through $5,000 and nothing has been done.  They thought that the $5,000 was the total cost of getting divorced.  It wasn’t.

You have to use common sense here.  There is no way an attorney can tell you the total cost of getting a divorce.  They may provide you with an estimate, but that is all it will be.

The only way to know your total costs of divorce are to work with a fixed fee service.  There are no attorneys to my knowledge that do this.

Our divorce service, however, operates on a fixed fee basis.  What we quote you for your divorce will be the total cost to get you through the divorce process.  No hidden fees or hourly rates here.  Give us a call to find out how affordable our rates are.

How To Interview A Santa Clarita Divorce Attorney

Let’s get this straight. I am no expert interviewer.  I just wanted to tell you about some common sense things about interviewing a divorce attorney that may help.

Meet In Person

You probably want to meet face to face with an attorney when getting a consultation.  A phone call simply does not do the trick when it comes to asking questions of someone you may have represent you in court.  Plus, don’t you want to look them in the eye and see the person who will possibly be showing up to court to represent you?

Remember, that it is not just you who is interviewing the attorney.  Many attorneys also want to make sure your case will be a good fit for their firm.  That’s right.  While some attorneys will take any case they can get their hands on, the better attorneys, and  therefore the busier law firms, want to make sure your case will fit within their framework and will be a good fit for them.

To Pay Or Not To Pay For A Divorce Consultation

That is the question.  There are plenty of divorce attorneys in Santa Clarita that will give you a free 1/2 hour consultation.  There are also ways to get a free consultation by using an attorney referral service such as the Los Angeles County Bar Association or San Fernando Valley Bar Association.  But is a free divorce consultation really in your best interest?

Here is my take on it.  You get what you pay for.  That was pretty deep, huh?  Okay, but here is some truth.  If you go to a free consultation with an attorney, do you think you are going to get legal advice or a sales pitch?  Attorneys know that they will have to sell themselves during this 30 minutes conversation with you.  Is that what you want?  Or do you want to get some answers to some of your legal questions?

I am not saying that you won’t get any legal advice during your free consultation, but expect a portion to be about them and how wonderful they are.  If you are paying for that hour, you are paying for legal advice all the way through.  Just food for thought.

Conflicts Of Interest 

Don’t be surprised if you call an attorney and they tell you they can’t work with you.  Conflicts of interest will keep a lawyer from being able to not only meet with you but prevent them from representing you.

If your spouse consulted with the attorney already, you can pretty much count on them telling you that they can not help you.  Don’t get your feelings hurt, they are just following the rules.  Attorneys will not normally advise you of the reason, but can you think of another reason an attorney would not want to meet with you?  They don’t want to be the ones to tell you that your spouse was just here…

Use your gut and instincts about the lawyer you interview.  If is does not feel right, then it probably isn’t.  You can read more about how to find the right Santa Clarita Divorce Attorney here.

We are a licesned and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce.  Please call us for more information about our affordable divorce assistance.

While we encourage those to represent themselves during their divorce and go through an amicable uncontested divorce in Santa Clarita, there may be times when you absolutely must hire an attorney.

If you spouse goes out and hires an attorney to represent them for their divorce, it leaves you with little option.  However, just because you need to hire and attorney to represent you duirng your divorce, does not mean that you need to get a pit bull lawyer.  Even when you are looking for an attorney, you should take the high road during your divorce.

When you hire and attorney, you should look for someone who will not only represent your best interests aggressivly, but who is also able to work hard to settle the case as well to try and keep it from going to court.

When looking for a laywer, try the following:

• Try to find a lawyer who will represent your interests. Whether your intention to be to try an settle or to battle it out in court
• Ask friends and family who have been divorced and ask for a referral.  Ask what they liked and did not like
• You should consult with more than one attorney to see who you mesh best with
• Check the Los Angleles County Bar Websites for complaints
• Call an attorney referral service for a referral to a divorce attorney in your town
• Check review websites such as Google and Yelp
• A personal referral is probably best, but there is always the good old Google search if your in a pinch.

Possible Warning Signs:

• The attorney tells you that you can get whatever you want if you just fight hard enough
• An attorney with a bad reputation in the community
• An attorney that is a general practitioner and does not specialize in family law
• Complaints on his or her record

We will be the last people to tell someone not to get legal advice.  In fact when working with our clients, whenever the conversation and questions start to run into legal questions we will inform them that in order to make an informed decision it would be best to get a consultation with an attorney to answer their questions.

By using our legal document preparation service and consulting a divorce attorney when you have a legal question, you can get both legal advice and a cost effective way of getting through your divorce.

What Is A Contested Divorce | Santa Clarita

I am a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in the divorce process.  So why would I be writing about the issues of a contested divorce?

The answer is so that you can see the negative impacts of a contested divorce and show you the benefits of working toward an uncontested divorce.

In short, a contested divorce is where you and your spouse cannot come to an agreement on any or all of the issues surrounding your divorce.  So you decide to hire lawyers and let them spend your money trying to convince a judge that you are right.  All the while your spouse is doing exactly the same thing.  In the end, you let some unknown person, called a Judge, make decisions for you.  Sound good?

Maybe if I share with you the ugly of contested divorces, it will convince you to take a little more time in trying to work things out on your own with your spouse before going to battle in the court room.

Personally, I feel that hiring attorneys and going to court is a complete waste of time and money and not to mention the mental anguish a contested divorce brings with it.  And lets not forget to mention how this will effect our children.

That said, I understand that emotions can get so high in the divorce process that spouses want to fight or perhaps one of the spouses is just being unfair and there is no other way to avoid going to court.  If both spouses are completely convinced that they are right over a particular issue, there is no other option but to have a judge decide.

There are other times where it will be out of your hands and you have to go to court.  Such as when a spouse is hiding assets, lying about their worth or perhaps own a business that money is not well documented.

But before you rush off and decide that going to trial is your last resort, you should do some soul searching and make sure it is worth it.  Not just in the sense of money, but what it will do to your well being and your family in long run.  This is especially true if you have children.

We will discuss the issues of a contested divorce in more detail in future articles.

We specialize in preparing unconsted divorce cases.  Even where you don’t totally agree, we can help you navigate the court system.