Valencia Divorce : I Have A Divorce Attorney & Case Is Going Nowhere

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I get so many calls where people have divorce attorneys in Valencia and they call me because their case is going nowhere. Their case is going nowhere and they have spent 1000’s of dollars on their divorce. In fact, I have had numerous clients who have tried to use an attorney and dropped a $5000 retainer only to have their case filed and not a whole lot else happening.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

There is a time for attorneys and there is a time to take a step back and try to figure everything out on your own. You were married for a period of time and were able to make that work for a time, so take just a few more days, weeks or months to work through your issues regarding your divorce.

The alternative is spending money to have someone else (divorce attorney) figure out your problems for you. An attorney will never help you more than you can help yourself. All they are is a conduit (and a bad one) between you and your spouse (and their attorney)

Did you ever do an experiment in school, grade school perhaps or even college, where you lined up and the person at the beginning whispered something into the ear of the person #1 and then each person had to whisper the same phrase to the next person?

If you did, you know the experiment was to show you that what comes out the other end, was not what was said in the beginning. When I was in school the phrase that came out the end wasn’t even close to what was said initially.

Why do you think this would be any different with attorneys. You tell your attorney something. It goes through their filter (meaning they try to figure out what you want and then filter it through their life experience and brain) then they say that to the other attorney (but usually through a letter, because they can charge you more money for a letter than a phone call) then the receiving attorney gets the letter your attorney wrote and then instead of calling their client, writes, their own letter to their client (because they can charge more to write a letter than calling their client) and out comes nothing close to what you said to begin with.

Sigh….

Divorce can be so much easier. And I have gotten way off topic.

The topic was supposed to be that if your Valencia divorce is going nowhere and you are wondering why, give us a call. Our recommendation is to take a step back from what got you to where you are at in your divorce and see if there is any way you and your spouse can come to some type of agreement.

Perhaps you can work towards some type of cooperation where you both decide to give in a little bit and get your divorce case settled.

That is my take on things anyways.

Valencia Non-Attorney Divorces Exceed Those With Attorneys

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Did you know that more that 60% of all divorce cases are completed without either party having an attorney for their divorce? It seems with all the stories we hear from our friends and our co-workers who all got screwed over by their attorney or spouse, we forget about all the people who decide not to go the route of hiring attorneys and find a more amicable way of doing things.

(By the way, we provide a full service divorce solution throughout California. If you are looking to get a divorce and would like assistance, please give us a call for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266. We have a full service and self-help service.)

Click Here to learn more about our full service divorce
Click here to learn more about our do-it-yourself divorce

The legal system is called the adversarial system for a reason. Attorneys being involved with your divorce immediately puts you at odds with your spouse. This is because of the very nature of an attorney by their oath having to do everything in your best interest and fight for your rights, while your spouse’s attorney is doing the exact same thing.

This is the exact opposite of compromising during your divorce which i discussed in the last article.

Look, there is a time for an attorney when going through a divorce. This is when one spouse is not honest, is hiding assets, closing accounts and doing things to the other party that are unethical or meant to hurt the other party. Unfortunately, you will need an attorney to fight for your rights in these circumstances.

But we are not talking about these types of divorce cases. We are talking about the more than 60% of divorce cases where people do not use an attorney and I will bet that many of the people that used and attorney actually did not need one in the first place, which would put the percentage of people who actually needed a divorce attorney even lower.

There are much better options than using an attorney for your divorce. Our clients go through our office and don’t need attorneys and don’t need to go to court. Please call us for a free consultation to see if we would be a good choice for helping you and your family through the divorce process in California.

Divorce Attorneys | Looking For Santa Clarita Divorce Attorneys?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Most People Think They Need A Divorce Attorney Or Divorce Lawyer For Their Divorce.  They Are Wrong!

If you are looking for a divorce attorney, divorce lawyer or family law lawyer (yeah, they are all the same thing) you are going to want to read this.  If you are a divorce attorney, I would not suggest you read this as you will probably be mad at me for letting people in on these facts.

So I know you are thinking about divorce or perhaps are involved in a divorce now.  You may be considering hiring a divorce lawyer or are wondering if you need one or not.  The reason I know this is that you would not be on this page if you weren’t.

Here is a quick video where we discuss your options for divorce assistance.

Here are a few statistics for you to chew on.

Only 5% Of Divorce Cases Ever Go To Trial

There are only two ways a divorce ends in California.  You either settle out of court or you go to trial.  And with so few cases actually going to trial, there is a good chance that your case is one of the 95% that will settle out of court.

85% Of All Divorce Cases Filed Are Done So Without An Attorney

The divorce process is one where you can represent yourself.  A divorce lawyer is not necessary.  But many people are not aware of the fact that they can represent themselves during divorce.  Those that do, don’t have the time or willingness to do it themselves.

Many People Are Not Aware Of Alternatives To A Divorce Attorney

People have been conditioned to think of an attorney when they think of divorce.  What’s the first thing you think of when I say divorce?  Attorney, Right?  It is probably one of the most searched for terms on the internet as it pertains to the word, “divorce”

But there are alternatives to divorce lawyers and attorneys.

Legal Document Preparation Specialists Are The Answer

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  We can complete your divorce from start to finish for one flat fee.

We can do everything a divorce lawyer can do except for give you legal advice and represent you in court.  But with the statistics I mentioned above, there is very little chance you will need it.

But What If You Do Need Legal Advice?

But if you do need some legal advice, you can simply go to an attorney for a consultation.  Read this article where we discuss how you can use our services and then get a attorney consultation only when you need legal advice.

Before you run out and hire and attorney, we recommend you call our divorce service to see if we can help you.  Chances are you will not need an attorney and you will not need to spend thousands of dollars for your divorce case.

We Have Helped 1000’s Of Clients Complete Their Divorce

We have helped thousands of clients get through their divorce without the need for a divorce lawyer.  Our clients come from all walks of life and income levels.  But there is one common theme among them.

None of them want to spend thousands of dollars on their divorce.

Call us today to discuss your options with your divorce.  We will be the first people to tell you if we think you need an attorney.  And if you do, we would be happy to refer you to an experienced divorce attorney.

 

Are You Working With A Divorce Solo Practitioner Attorney | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When it comes to family law attorneys in the Santa Clarita valley, you only have a handful of choices.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty out here, but it is still a small community.

Many divorce attorneys in the Santa Clarita Valley are what you call “Solo Practitioners”.  This means that they practice alone without a partner attorney.  In most cases, this also means that they do not have any staff such as a receptionist or paralegal to assist them.

This brings me to the topic I wanted to address.  If you are working with a solo practitioner who does not have a staff or paralegal assisting them, you are going to end up paying the attorney’s hourly rate for everything that is done on your divorce case.

Case in point.  I had a new client that had me file their divorce case.  She just wanted to file the petition and get things started with our company because she felt there was a good chance she would need a divorce attorney down the road.

So we filed the summons and petition and had her spouse served.  She then went on a consultation with a divorce attorney in Santa Clarita.  The divorce attorney was a solo practitioner with no staff or paralegal to assist him.  So she asked what his hourly rate is.  He responded that he charges $300 per hour.

The next step for her was to complete her financial disclosures.  This is hardly a process that requires and attorney to prepare.  What shocked me was that the attorney actually advised her to continue working with us to prepare her financial disclosures because it would be cheaper.

If she was to use this attorney’s services at this point, she would be looking at spending around $1,500 to complete her financial disclosures.  We can do that for a fraction of that cost.

I have talked about this many times in the past.  There is no reason to hire an attorney until you need them for legal advice or to represent you in court.

This client did exactly what someone should do who is looking to save money on their divorce, even if they need an attorney.  She hired our divorce legal to get the process started.  She had us file the summons and petition and have her spouse served.  We are preparing her financial disclosures and serving those as wel and are completing the filing with the court.

Now she can take her completed documents over to her attorney who can now litigate her divorce if necessary.  For more information you can read the article where we discuss having us start your divorce in Santa Clarita even if you know you will need an attorney by clicking on this link.

Get The Facts About Divorce In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We are known in Santa Clarita for providing the facts about divorce.  Pretty much that is all we talk about, day in and day out.

The interesting thing is that we have met with clients who have already consulted with a divorce attorney and they always tell us that they learned more about divorce and the divorce process than they did during a consultation with a lawyer.

In fact, we recently had a client write us a nice Yelp comment which basically said that after working and speaking with multiple attorneys,  she learned more from us than she did with them.

We must be really smart, huh?  But here is why there is a difference. When you go to speak to an attorney, they are going to talk to you about the law.  They are not going to tell you how to do things or about the divorce process because if you hire them, you will not be involved in all that goes into getting divorced.

The other reason we go into so much detail about the divorce process is because it answers the “Why” behind why things are being done.  Often an attorney will simply tell you they are going to do something, but not tell you why they are doing it.

We want you to know not only the “Why” behind things but the how, when and where.  You see, when you work with our divorce document preparation firm, you are representing yourself.  So it is important that you understand all that goes into making a decision and so you better understand what is happening at all points along the process.

We will give you the fact about divorce and give your options on how to handle them.  We will do everything except give you legal advice and represent you in court.  Outside of those restrictions, we can do just about everything else.