Both Filed For Divorce – What To Do – Santa Clarita Divorce

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It does not happen very often, but often enough to write an article about. What do you do if both husband and wife file for divorce. Meaning, you both went down and filed a petition for divorce.

The times I have seen this happen have been when both parties are upset and they run out and hire an attorney and both of them are in a rush to file for divorce first.

Many issues can arise when two petitions are filed and we will discuss what to watch out for and how to correct it.

Recently a client called me with this exact problem. They both had filed for divorce over a year ago and two petitions were filed and thus, two cases were assigned for the same divorce proceeding.

The first problem comes down to one of the parties being served or filing a response on one of the cases. As happened here, because both parties filed a petition, neither party had ever been served in the other case and nobody had responded to the other case.

Essentially, the divorce had never started, despite over a year having gone by.

So how do you fix this. Well, the first thing they needed to do is get one of the parties served so they could start the clock on the 6 month cooling off period. Generally, you could just pick the case that was filed first. But in this case, many documents were filed under the later filed case, so we decided to use that case instead.

So now that the service is complete, you will need to draft a stipulation to combined the cases and have one of the Petitions to be treated as the Response. Of course, you could always just file a Response, but you would have to pay the filing fee again.

The stipulation would simply request that the petition in one case be treated as the Response. It is not entirely difficult, but both parties must sign and submit for the courts signature.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the courts in Los Angeles County.

 

Conduct Due Dilligence Before Hiring Divorce Paralegal In Santa Clarita

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Conduct Due Dilligence Before Hiring Divorce Paralegal In Santa Clarita

Today I want to talk about the importance of conducting due diligence research before hiring a divorce paralegal firm in Santa Clarita or anywhere in Los Angeles County for that matter.

Yesterday I received a call from a new client who was doing just that. Actually, the client who called me the day before called and we discussed how we can help them. The next day, I received a call from her relative who was interested in vetting me and my company.

I wish everyone would do this before hiring someone to help them with their divorce. It would save people so many problem and it would help me as well.

There are a lot of scam artists and folks calling themselves paralegals that have no business offering divorce services. These folks will take your money, do a bad job and leave you hanging. Be wary of the low cost option when it comes to divorce services.

So how can you make sure you are working with a legitimate company? Here are a few ways you can check out a company before you ever pick up the phone.

  1. Conduct a search for reviews or complaints online. For instance you could Google “Reviews for SCV Legal Doc Assist Santa Clarita”. When I did, Yelp was the first to come up and show our 5 Star reviews.
  2. Read the client testimonials on thier website. Our testimonials are actual client testimonials, but beware of companies making them up. Usually you can tell if the owner made them up on their own.
  3. Make sure they are licensed and bonded. In order to provide legal services, one must be a “Legal Document Assistant” Anyone who calls themselves a “Paralegal” is not allowed by law to work for you without attorney supervision nor can they create a client relationship directly with you.
  4. Read the content on their website or blog to learn about the company (if they even have one). Read the “about” page. I write all our articles on www.divorce661.com and other blogs. They are written from personal experience with current clients and are very informative. Also check to see if they publish their pricing. We do!
  5. Watch a few YouTube videos, if they have any. We have almost 100 videos about divorce and the divorce process.
  6. Listen to any Podcasts they may have done. We routinely broadcast a Podcast “audio” feed and upload it to our blog. Here we offer tips and tricks about divorce.

Now that you have done this, which would probably take you all of 15 minutes, you can pick up the phone and call the company.

The people that do some or all of these things makes for a much more productive conversation  They already know about me, what I look like, sound like, etc. Now we can get down to business and talk about how we can help you get through this thing they call divorce.

 

How To Keep Your Divorce Amicable – Santa Clarita

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How To Keep Your Divorce Amicable – Santa Clarita

There are lots of benefits of having an amicable divorce in Santa Clarita. Probably the biggest advantage is cost. With an amicable divorce, you don’t need to hire an attorney which will save you a ton of money.

There are some things you can do to help keep your divorce amicable throughout the process. The common theme throughout this will be communication.

First, prior to filing for divorce it is a good idea that you try to discuss getting divorced. Try to have a few conversations with your spouse and come up with a plan. Those with a plan of action fare much better.

This means deciding on when to file, who is going to file and agreeing on a divorce document preparation company like us to meet with.

One or both of you can meet with us to make sure you are comfortable using our service. When you meet with us, we will explain the divorce process in full so both parties understand exactly what to expect throughout the process.

The next thing to do to keep your divorce amicable is to avoid hiring a process server. Nobody like having some stranger walk up to them and be handed divorce papers and told they are being served. We can help you avoid having to do this. In fact, you could simply have the spouse that needs to be served come to our office and pick up the documents. We will complete the necessary forms to tell the court that service was completed.

Most issues that come up will be about custody and visitation of children or about money. We will show you how to use the courts free services to help you understand the law so you can make decisions on any issues that you are having trouble coming to an agreement on.

Using the ideas in the article will help keep your divorce amicable. Give us a call so we can come up with a plan for you to keep things running smooth during your divorce.

Getting Divorced And Spouse Avoiding Service Santa Clarita

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Getting Divorced And Spouse Avoiding Service Santa Clarita

It only takes one to get divorce and there is nothing your spouse can do to top you. But they can make it more difficult.

In most cases getting the other spouse served the divorce papers is a non issue. You either hire a process server or mail the forms following the guidelines on doing so.

But sometimes the process is not so smooth when a spouse wants to play games or be difficult. The issue with delaying the process of service is that you cannot move on until they are served.

I have two such cases currently. The first is a young couple who’s husband is playing cat and mouse with the process server. He was told wife was filing and for unknown reasons is avoiding being served.

All this is causing is a delay in the case and costing his wife more money because the process server is spending a lot more time trying to serve him. They now have to sit outside the home and conduct surveillance and get him somewhere between the front door of the house and the car.

They have already been to the home several times and he lives with room mates. He does not come to the door and they can tell they have been instructed to tell him that the husband is not home.

In the other case, the wife is being difficult in being served. The process server waits outside the house for her to come home from work. She knows there is someone waiting to serve her so pulls into the garage and closes the door.

Again, all that happens is more time is spent trying to serve her. Because she is doing this, husband decided to serve her at work which will cause her a bit of embarrassment.

When you work with us we try to keep everything going smoothly and explain the process in detail so you understand the divorce process. We try to avoid having these contentious issues in the beginning or at all for that matter.

Do You Need A Process Server For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

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Do You Need A Process Server For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

There are some misunderstandings about if you need a process server for your divorce. The reason is because the answer is yes and no and depends on the circumstances. We will explain here.

Normally, the first paper that is filed on your spouse needs to be done by personal service. This would mean hiring a process server or having someone over the age of 18 who is not involved in the case serve your papers.

For instance, if you were the one to file for divorce, you would have to have them served personally. It can even be a family member. One of my clients recently had their adult child hand her dad the papers. This was obviously an amicable divorce situation where everyone was on board.

But there are times where you can simply mail the initial divorce forms to your spouse. When possible, this is my preferred method of serving divorce papers.

There is a form you can use to send the initial divorce documents to your spouse. It is called a notice of acknowledgement of receipt. You have to mail it with 2 copies and have to make sure to check the boxes that says you are serving the summons and petition and any other forms you happen to be mailing to the respondent.

When you use this form, you still have to have to complete a proof of service of summons. This is another area i see where people have issues.

When you mail the initial documents using the notice of acknowledgment of receipt, you need to also complete the proof of service and file both forms with the court. You will check the box that says you used this form and complied with the rules when doing so.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation company that specializes in divorce.

 

Would You Go On Vacation To Get Divorced

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Would You Go On Vacation To Get Divorced

People come up with some pretty crazy ideas in business sometimes to stand out from the crowd.   I listened to a Podcast today of an attorney who helps people get divorced through mediation.  But with one twist.  They go on vacation to a destination of their choice to complete their divorce.

The attorney Tracey Rosswurm out of Fort Wayne, Indiana says this is a  cost effective way to get through the divorce process.  At the very least it is getting her some attention.  Heck, she was interviewed by a radio show and now I am writing about it.

Here is how it works.  The couples decide that they would rather mediate their divorce rather than going to court.  They decide on a destination that they would enjoy and go there along with the attorney.

The idea is that you are in a nice place without the daily distractions of life.  You can focus on the issues of the divorce at hand and there is nowhere to go.

So what about the  cost.  The attorney says that the costs of the “destination divorce” is much less than that of going to court.  That would be true if the divorce ever ended up in court in the first place.  But certainly, mediation is more cost effective than both spouses hiring an attorney.

I think there will only be a few people that would choose to do this.  It is hard for me to wrap my head around this idea.  If I were going through a divorce, I would not want to ruin some vacation destination that I love by leaving memories of being there for finalizing a divorce.

I would love to hear your comments on this.  Would you go on vacation to get  divorced?  Do you think this is a sustainable business model or a short lived marketing ploy?

 

Another Post Judgment Child Support Motion In Central District

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Another Post Judgment Child Support Motion In Central District

As legal document assistants we are authorized to work directly for folks in preparing their legal documents.  And lately we have been seeing a huge increase in post judgment motions being filed .

This particular motion is asking for a modification of child support and they want the other party to pay for their attorney fees.

The motion that was filed was a request for more child support and stated that the father was now making more money.  In most cases, you file a motion to modify child support if there is a change in circumstance such as a parent making more or less money.

In this case, the mother stated that father was making more money now and wanted the Court to order higher child support based on the guideline child support limits  and that she was earning less money.

It all comes down to how much the parties make and how much custody and visitation each of them have.  The problem sometimes is determining how much the parties truly make, especially when they own a business and are not receiving a paycheck that can be verified.

This motion also asked for the other party to pay for attorneys fees.  That never rubbed my right.  Tell me what you think about this.

A spouse hires an attorney to modify child support.  She works and had access to funds, but because father makes more money, makes a request in the motion that the husband is to pay for all her attorney fees.  If this motion is granted, then the husband has to pay for his wife’s attorney to file a motion against him.  And just to rub salt in the wound, he is not hiring an attorney himself.  He is going to have us prepare our firm prepare the response so he does not have to pay for an attorney he can’t afford.

We specialize in helping folks get through their divorce including preparing post judgment request for orders and motions.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and we serve all of Los Angeles County and all the Courts.

Cost Of Divorce Attorneys Unaffordable For Many In Santa Clarita

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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

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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

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

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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