Los Angeles Divorce | Proper Order When Submitting Divorce Judgment Forms

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles Divorce | Proper Order When Submitting Divorce Judgment Forms

Today we’re talking about how to prepare the divorce judgment in California and specifically this is going to be in regards to what order they need to go in.

We’re having, I’m seeing a lot of clients having trouble with filing their divorce judgment and half of it is doing the wrong forms and the wrong check boxes and all that, but the folks that get that part right are not getting the order correct and not collating the divorce judgment package correctly and not attaching the right forms to the documents that needed to be enclosed in the divorce.

I’m going to go over that and this is going to be about the order that you need to essentially staple your documents together.

If you’ve had your divorce case rejected and it says it wasn’t in the right order or it says the FL-180 was not the top form or you’re getting ready to submit your judgment. This is the video for you just to see if have this in the right order.

So, what I want you to do is take out your FL-180. The FL-180 on the second page is going to discuss several areas: children, parentage, child support, spousal support, property division and attorney’s fees and cost. This are items J through N on page two of the FL-180, the judgment form which is essentially the cover sheet for your judgment.

What you are going to do is, you are going to use that as your guide for the order you are going to submit your judgment.

Let’s assume you have all of these that apply to, you have child custody and visitation which is on line J, you have child support on K, you have spousal support on I, or I’m sorry in L, and property division on M. So, that’s going to be the order that you submit these.

Let’s talk specifically about the order.

Let’s say you have child custody. So, the first thing you are going to have in there is not on this form but it’s the FL-190. It’s regarding the children; it’s kind of a notice regarding responsibility for children. So, don’t forget that form.

The next thing you’ll have in there will be your child custody visitation attachment and that’s going to be the FL-341, that’ll be your first attachment, and behind that, you’re going to have your child support order, the FL-342, behind that, you’re going to have spousal support, that’s the FL-343. And then behind that you’ll have property division which is FL-345.

None of the other forms, well let me make it back up. So that’s what’s going to consist of your actual judgment package. So you have the judgment, you have all the attachments behind it and that’s going to be its own attachment, and you’re going to staple that together.

Everything else that’s part of the judgment package is going to be submitted individually. They are not going to be attached to this package with the judgment FL-180 on top.

If it’s a default case or a hybrid case, you’re going to have a request to enter default, you’re going to have a notice of entry judgment, you’re going to have a stipulation waiver, a final declaration of disclosure and you’re going to have the declaration for default and uncontested dissolution or legal separation.

All of these will be submitted with the package but individually, so, each of these will be stapled with three copies of everything behind them, this one, and all of these will be separate from the actual judgment package.

So, if you got it rejected it’s probably because you got of these all stapled together and the court didn’t want to take the time to unstapled it and put it in the correct order. So, just keep that in mind.

We’ll be talking a lot about the judgment packages, we’re seeing a lot of clients get this rejected. People that are doing this on their own. So, we’re going to try and cover all the items of rejection that are covered on the three page rejection sheet that the LA County Courts have.

And you’ll find that, even if you are anywhere in California that you’re going to find a lot of these rejections to be very similar wherever you are at in California.

I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions about submitting your judgment or your looking for a service to help you prepare your judgment or any part of your divorce case please give me a call.

My name is Tim Blankenship. You can reach me direct at 661-281-0266.

And of course you can always get more information off our website at divorce661.com.

 

Los Angeles Divorce | Benefits of Bringing Your Spouse To Consultation

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles Divorce | Benefits of Bringing Your Spouse To Consultation

What I wanted to discuss is how it might be a good idea, of course this is assuming that things are mostly amicable with your spouse if you’re going through divorce.

This week I had three separate couples come in together to the consultation, to an appointment, and they wanted to do that because they wanted to discuss some options and get a lot of the paperwork done in a single meeting.

And it was actually the first time that I had agreed to that, not because I had any issue with it, but because no one had asked, and it actually turned out to work out very well.

And I wanted, if you’re watching this video, to consider that as an option.

Instead of coming in and meeting me on your own and filing, you’re going to obviously have tell your spouse at some point, so maybe bring it up and you both come in at the same time and meet with me. And we can get a lot of paperwork done and answer questions for both parties.

This was helpful in a lot of ways, but most importantly, aside from getting a lot of the paperwork done is if you hire me to help both parties prepare the divorce paperwork for you, for both of you, the spouse that did not hire me, did not know who I was prior to receiving the paperwork, always seem to be a little bit cautious in working with me because they were not the one to hire me.

When these couples came out and met with me at the same time, both of them were very comfortable and will have no issue moving forward with me carrying the paperwork for both parties. So it was a very good situation; I do highly recommend it.

In cases where you know that it would be a low conflict style divorce or uncontested divorce; because both of you can come in at the same time and we can answer questions, both for you and your spouse so both of you feel comfortable as far as what the process is going to be.

And so you’ll realize that hey, I’m not an attorney, I’m not here to give you legal advice or represent one party or the other. I’m here to help push the paperwork through, explain the process and when you need specific information or you get stuck or you need help coming to decisions on certain things, what am I going to be able to do to help you?

Advise you as far as what the court process is, how to get appointments from the mediators. So the idea is that I want both of you to feel comfortable in working with me so for one rate we get the entire divorce process done.

Again, this is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist.

We’re headquartered in Santa Clarita. Please give me a call in 661-281-0266.

Or you can get more information off our website at divorce661.com

Divorce Paralegal | Divorce Services Offered In Los Angeles

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Paralegal | Divorce Services Offered In Los Angeles

I’m on my way to Rancho Cucamonga. Meeting up with some folks I don’t know, I joined a team, ragnar relay race.

It’s a 200 mile race and we’re going to meet these folks for the first time and just get together before we have to sit in a van for 36 hours running 200 miles.

Anyways, as I drive out to Rancho Cucamonga, I remember that I have several cases in the Rancho Cucamonga courts, in the San Marino County courts, and want to comment on the fact that a lot of folks don’t know that even though we are headquartered in Santa Clarita, that we service all courts in Los Angeles county, as well as other surrounding counties.

In California, the divorce process is identical aside from there being a few local forms which are easy to locate once you’re on the website.

Our firm has cases in San Bernardino County, San Diego County, up in Sacramento. Just about everywhere. There are like fifty some odd counties in California, and we have cases in quite a few of them.

So if you are anywhere in California and you happen to read this article, we can help you. We do have a completely online service, where we don’t even have to meet with you.

Some folks locally like to drive in, I don’t know, maybe a fifty-sixty mile radius, but many of our cases that we handle are completely done over the phone, by fax and email.

So, give us a call. You can reach us direct at 661-281-0266, or you can get more information on our website at divorce661.com.

Los Angeles Divorce | Process Using Divorce Paralegal Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles Divorce | Process Using Divorce Paralegal Service

Today, I want to talk to you a little bit about how our legal document preparation service works.

When you call us, the first thing you will do is be asked a series of questions so we can better understand what your circumstances are regarding your divorce.

After we discussed your case with you, we will be happy to give you an indication of what the cost will be. We work on a fixed price basis and not on hourly rates.

The next step, once you decided to work with us, we’ve broken down the process into three digestible steps.

Step one is completing the initial divorce paperwork, filing it with the court and getting that paperwork served on your spouse.

The second step is completing the financial disclosures for both spouses and step three is preparing the final judgment.

Because we are a neutral third party and not a law firm, we often work with both spouses for one flat rate. That means that we can prepare both of your and your spouse’s paperwork, prepare the final judgment, and get your divorce for one price.

If you like more information on our service, please just give us a call or visit one of our local area websites.

The 3 Steps To Divorce | Los Angeles Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The 3 Steps To Divorce | Los Angeles Divorce

Today, I want to talk to you about the three steps of the divorce process when you work with our firm.

We’ve broken it down into three digestible steps because there is an enormous amount of paperwork and it can be confusing.

The first step is for us to file and serve the initial divorce documents. This would be the summons and petitions and there’s some other paperwork if you have children.

After the file and service is completed, the second step is to complete your financial disclosures. Both parties are required to file and serve their financial disclosures.

Now, this financial disclosure of this process is one of the most unliked processes of the divorce.

This is because you have to go through all your finances before marriage, during marriage, and after separation and put it all down on paper. Most don’t find this to be a fun process at all.

After that, we move into the judgment phase.

We can prepare the divorce documents, prepare the judgment, put everything on paper, as pre request, and this will be in regards to the distribution of assets and debts as well as the in-child custody, child visitation and any other language you want incorporated into the judgment.

If you have any more questions about the divorce process when you work with a paralegal firm such as ours, please give us a call or use our website to get more information.

Los Angeles Divorce | About Our Divorce Document Preparation Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles Divorce | About Our Divorce Document Preparation Service

We are a licensed and bonded legal document assistant firm licensed in the County of Los Angeles to provide self-help legal services.

We decided that we would specialize in the divorce process because that’s where our years of experience have come from. Our years of experience come from working in the family law courtrooms, in self-help centers, and in local area law firms.

We can help you save thousands of dollars by preparing your divorce forms and can get you through the process from start to finish. If you have any questions about our services, please feel free to give us a call or visit one of our local area websites.

We have websites dedicated all throughout Los Angeles County, for instance divorce 661 and so on. You can use the word divorce with your area code and you will find our website.

We are a completely online and web based company and we can work with all the courts in Los Angeles County. So if you are filing anywhere in Los Angeles, we can help you prepare all your divorce forms and get you through the process while saving you thousands of dollars.

Again, if you have any questions please give us a call or visit one of our local area websites.

Los Angeles | How To Look Up Your Divorce Case

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles | How To Look Up Your Divorce Case

Today I want to talk to you about your case summary. There are many instances where you want to refer to your case summary to look up what documents have been filed in regards to your divorce.

If you’re representing yourself or if you’re working with a legal document preparation firm, it’s important to check your case summary. Anything that you file with the court, you’re going to want to ensure that that has been appropriately filed with the court, and the only way you’re able to do this is by looking at the case summary online.

We have a legal resource page with a direct link to the Los Angeles County Family Law Case summary page. All you do is click on that link for the legal resource page, go to the case summary look up and then you enter your case number.

You can use the case summary to look at what documents have been filed and this will be particularly important at the time of judgment.

When you go to file your judgment, there are certain documents that need to be filed before the court will approve the judgment. They will generally look at the case summary to verify that certain documents have been filed with the court appropriately.

With that said, when you submit your judgment, it’s always a good idea to print off a copy of your case summary and highlight the necessary documents, showing them that it was filed appropriately.

If you have any questions about case summary look-ups or how our service works in performing your divorce process, please give us a call or visit one of our local area websites.

Los Angeles Divorce | Will I Have To Go To Court?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles Divorce | Will I Have To Go To Court?

Today, I want to talk to you about how to avoid court when going through the divorce process. Many of the calls we get from our clients ask us “Tim, why I have to go to court?”, and that all depends on a couple of things and there are some things we can do to help prevent you having to go to court.

Many times, when you go through an uncontested divorce case, the courts or the self-help centers, will want you to deal what’s called a ‘default judgment’.

A default judgment is where only one spouse participates in the divorce, the other spouse does not respond nor do they enter into an agreement.

We’re finding in many cases on these default judgments because the other party has not been involved whatsoever, the judge will often times ask the one party that’s initiated the divorce to come into court to explain the distribution of assets and debts.

Now, I will talk to you about another way of going through the divorce process that accomplishes exactly the same thing with a much less likelihood of having to go to court.

This is called the hybrid judgment. The hybrid judgment is very similar in that the other party will not file a response. However, the other party will enter into a written agreement.

Now when the court sees this judgment, they realize, while the other spouse did not respond, they’re still participating and have entered into an agreement and that agreement has been notarized.

When that’s the case, even if the assets and debts have not been distributed evenly, they understand that there has been an agreement and that the parties have the best interest in mind of each other, and therefore, they will not generally ask you to come to court when there’s an entered agreement in the judgment.

If you have further questions about the hybrid judgment or how to avoid going to court during divorce, please give me a call or visit one of our local area websites.

Los Angeles Divorce Long Term Marriage | Terminating Spousal Support

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles Divorce Long Term Marriage | Terminating Spousal Support

Today we’re talking about reasons your judgment can get rejected when you submit your final order to the court.

And this is regards to spousal support. Well, let me give you, I guess the rule and I’m not a lawyer, not a law firm so we can’t tell you what the laws are.

I’m just going to read off what the courts are telling us. I’m just kind of referring to their documents.

The courts look at long term marriage to be anything over ten years. If you have a long term marriage and you submit your final judgment, they only way you can have spousal support waived, and now we are talking about jurisdiction to terminate spousal support is by having an agreement with your spouse.

You’d have to submit a written stipulation to that.

If you’re going to do a default judgment and default is where you file for divorce, you served your spouse, there is no response and they’re not involved in the case.

If you file a default and you have a long term marriage, you cannot retain or you cannot terminate jurisdiction over spousal support. The courts will retain jurisdiction indefinitely.

We had a client come in and hired us to finish their case, they had tried to submit their documents to court and this is what the court told them. “Except on written agreement of the parties to the contrary (if they have a written agreement, they can do it) or court order terminating the spousal support, the court retains jurisdiction indefinitely in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the parties where the marriage is of long duration, ten years or more from the date of marriage to the date of separation. See family code 4336.

What that tells us is, if you file a default there’s not going to be a written agreement, so, you can’t terminate jurisdiction. In fact, we’ve seen several cases returned where they did not approved the judgment where the parties were asking to terminate jurisdiction on long term marriages.

Now, in under ten years or short term marriage if you will. They’re allowing you to terminate jurisdiction.

So, if you want to terminate jurisdiction, you don’t want to ever have to pay for spousal support and you and your spouse agreed. The only way you’re going to be able to do that is by a written agreement. A default case would not be appropriate for you in that matter.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com.

We specialize in California divorce. You can reach me direct at 661-281-0266.

Los Angeles Divorce New Rules On Defaults

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Los Angeles Divorce New Rules On Defaults

Today we are talking about an issue that has come up, a change as it pertains to divorce judgment. This is when you’re submitting your California divorce judgment, where you talk about one of the issues that are coming up, a new policy with the courts.

I had a client come in who attempted to do their divorce case on their own in California and they had several issues, they had a lot of issues come up and their judgment was rejected and there was something new that we noticed on this reject sheet.

In that, there was some new policies if you will, regarding the final judgment.

So, this was going to be regarding a default judgment, a default is when you filed, there was no response, you filed a request to enter default, the default was entered and then you submitted you judgment without the other party’s involvement or signature.

What they’re asking that you do now is, you probably recall when you file your initial financial disclosures, you had to file incoming expense and schedule of assets and debts and then you had to file a form FL-141 and indicate you had served your preliminary declaration of disclosure.

That used to be all the courts required, as far as the disclosure is concerned on defaults. Now, what they’re asking for is that you either submit your final declaration of disclosure, which means you have to do everything, your final disclosures all over again or to submit a waiver. And the waiver would be done on the 141 as well.

What you’ll do with that 141 is you’ll just mark the petitioner’s final declaration of disclosure and then you can go down to the bottom, number 4. And there’s a box where you can waive yours and the respondents completion of the final declaration disclosure.

And the reason that you’re going to mark is that because there is no stipulation or in agreement and that the judgment is being entered by default.

So, keep that in mind on the default judgments, it’s apparently a change, a recent change and then we’re talking this is now September 12, 2013.

One more thing that you’ll go on, make sure that you either do your final disclosures or waive the final disclosures.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com.

We specialize in California divorce. We talk a lot about judgment, so, keep checking back and for more information and continue watching our videos or give us a call if you’d like some help with your divorce – 661-281-0266.