How to Prepare for a Divorce Summons in California | California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

 

How to Prepare for a Divorce Summons in California

Going through a divorce can be a daunting experience, especially when it comes to understanding the legal processes involved. One of the first steps in this journey is preparing the divorce summons. This blog will guide you through the essentials of preparing a divorce summons in California, focusing on the automatic restraining orders that come into play when you file for divorce. Let’s dive right in!

Understanding the Role of the Divorce Summons

The divorce summons is a crucial document that you need to file when initiating the divorce process. It serves as a formal notice to your spouse that you are seeking a divorce and outlines the actions they must take in response. Typically, the summons includes instructions on how to respond and the consequences of failing to do so. This document is part of the initial filing process along with the divorce petition.

Who Needs to Prepare the Summons?

If you are the one initiating the divorce, you will be referred to as the “petitioner.” You will be responsible for preparing and filing the summons. On the other hand, your spouse will be termed the “respondent,” and they will need to respond to the summons once served. Understanding this distinction is vital for navigating the divorce process smoothly.

Steps to Prepare Your Divorce Summons

Preparing the divorce summons may seem straightforward, but it’s essential to pay attention to detail. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you fill out the summons correctly.

1. Obtain the Correct Form

First, make sure you have the right form. In California, the form you need is called the “Summons” (Form FL-110). You can typically find this form on the California court’s website or at your local courthouse.

2. Fill Out the Basic Information

As the petitioner, you’ll need to fill in your name and address at the top of the summons. Next, include your spouse’s name as the respondent. If you are using example names for your forms, let’s say you are using “John Smith” for this purpose.

3. Leave the Case Number Blank

Since this is one of the initial forms, you won’t have a case number yet. Leave this section blank; it will be filled out by the court clerk once you file your paperwork.

4. Include Court Information

Next, you’ll need to provide the name and address of the court where you are filing for divorce. For example, you could write: “Los Angeles Superior Court, San Fernando Branch, 9003 Street, San Fernando, California 91340.” This is where all the legal proceedings will take place.

5. Provide Your Contact Information

As the petitioner, you must also include your contact information, including your phone number and address. If you have an attorney, include their information as well. However, if you are representing yourself, simply fill out your details.

6. Important Warnings and Information

One of the most critical parts of the summons is the section that outlines the responsibilities of the respondent. Make sure to highlight that they have 30 days to file a response after being served. This is crucial because failure to respond can lead to a default judgment in favor of the petitioner.

Automatic Restraining Orders

Upon filing for divorce, several automatic restraining orders take effect. These orders are designed to maintain the status quo and prevent either party from making significant changes that could affect the divorce proceedings. Here’s what you need to know:

What Do the Restraining Orders Cover?

  • Child Custody: Neither party can remove minor children from the state without consent.
  • Financial Transactions: You cannot cash, transfer, or take out loans on any joint accounts or assets.
  • Property Disposal: You are prohibited from selling, transferring, or disposing of any property without the other party’s consent.
  • Insurance Policies: You cannot change beneficiaries on any life insurance policies.

Why Are They Important?

These restraining orders are put in place to protect both parties and ensure that neither spouse can take actions that could unfairly disadvantage the other during the divorce process. It’s essential to understand these orders fully, as violating them can have legal consequences.

Filing the Summons

Once you have completed the summons, the next step is to file it with the court. Here’s how to do it:

1. File with the Court

Take your completed summons and any other necessary forms to the court clerk’s office. The clerk will file your documents and assign a case number.

2. Pay the Filing Fee

There is typically a filing fee associated with submitting your divorce summons and petition. Ensure that you check the current fee schedule and have the necessary payment ready. If you are unable to pay, you may qualify for a fee waiver.

3. Serve Your Spouse

After filing, you must serve your spouse with the summons and petition. This can be done through a process server or by mail, depending on your situation. Make sure to follow the proper procedures to ensure that the service is legally valid.

Responding to the Summons

Once your spouse receives the summons, they have the right to respond. It’s essential for both parties to understand the implications of the response process.

1. Understanding the Response Period

Your spouse has 30 days to file a response after being served. If they fail to do so, you may be able to obtain a default judgment. This means that the court could grant you everything you requested in your petition.

2. What Happens if They Respond?

If your spouse files a response, it will initiate the next steps in the divorce process. This could include negotiations, mediation, or even court hearings to resolve any contested issues.

Conclusion

Preparing a divorce summons is a critical step in the divorce process in California. By understanding the requirements and implications of the summons and the automatic restraining orders, you can navigate this challenging time with greater confidence. Remember, while you can represent yourself, seeking legal assistance can provide valuable guidance tailored to your specific situation.

If you have questions or need assistance with your divorce summons or any other aspect of the divorce process, don’t hesitate to reach out. Professional help can make all the difference in ensuring that your rights are protected throughout this journey.

 

Santa Clarita Divorce FL-110 Form Completion – California Divorce Tutor

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This is an introduction to California Divorce Tutor to show you how the online California divorce service works. This is s tutorial to show you a behind the scenes on how to complete California Divorce form FL-110 which is the summons.

The California divorce form FL-110 is a fairly simple form to complete and there is not a whole lot of information to complete, but there is some important information regarding the ATRO’s also known as Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders.

 

How To Complete California Divorce Summons | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To Complete California Divorce Summons | Santa Clarita Divorce

Hi! This is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist, and we’re going to continue on with how to represent yourself and how to prepare the specific forms.

And a little bit about us quickly, we are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service, we specialize in the divorce process in California, we have years of experience working for the courts, in the self-help centers, and for local area family law firms, here in Santa Clarita

We have multiple websites; we serve all of Los Angeles County. If you are looking for specific court information in your location, feel free to use one of those websites you see on your screen, you will get court specific information; there’s video resources and a host of other information that you will find very helpful when representing yourself and trying to learn about the divorce process.

The text in this post is the transcript of the below video describing how to complete the California divorce summons and explaining its use.  

So today we are going to talk about the summons. We are now on to the summons; let’s take a look at what the court says we need to complete here next. We’ve been talking about step one here and we talked about the petition; now we are going to talk about the summons, FL-110 and how to prepare that form.

So let’s take a look, I have one here, I have summons …petition… here are the summons. So let’s talk about the summons, and we’re going to fill it out.

If you have been served divorce papers, make sure to check out our article on how to file a California Divorce Response.

There is not a whole lot to fill out on here but you want to draw your attention onto some of the information that’s on here. So we’re going to, as a petitioner, we’re going to complete the summons here; notice to respondent, so this is going be your spouse’s name.

Okay, respondent’s name, I think we have been going by John Smith throughout this video series. You won’t have a case number yet because this is one of the initial filing forms.

So let’s talk about this, there’s some directions the court is giving to both you and the person who’s going to receive this. They’re indicating that you have 30 days after the summons and petition are served on you to file a response, so this is to your spouse, at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner.

A letter or phone call will not protect you. So it’s important that you let your spouse read this ‘cause what they’re talking about is some of the legal actions you can take if your spouse doesn’t file a response; and how to proceed through the divorce process, even if they don’t respond.

Let’s go down the page here, okay name and address of the court, so you’re simply going to type in, Los Angeles Superior Court, 900 Third Street, San Fernando CA 91340.

The name and address and phone number of the attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, so this will be you; and one two three, 222 Main Street, City, State and Zip, and phone number, okay, we’re going to put that on in here.

Don’t fill out this date, that’s for the clerk, don’t put the date in here, leave it blank. Here you have: check this box as an individual. Go down to page 2, and I want to draw your attention to this big box here on page 2 so, it says warning, important information; you need to read this, this applies to both the petitioner and the respondent in the divorce process.

There are these standard family law restraining orders that go into effect immediately, as far as removing the minor children from parties, cashing, taking out money, transferring, doing any of these things, these types of things with your finances; concealing, disposing of property, you know, you want to keep everything in stash while you are restrained from making any changes, including taking folks off of life insurance and things of that nature.

So, at this point let me draw your attention to this, again there isn’t much to this particular form; it is one of the initial documents, you have the summons and the petition that are required.

There’s also another form, called a Family Law Case coversheet, that’s one of the local area forms, that’s why it’s not discussed on the court website. So if you need more information on that, please give me a call; we’re also going to prepare a video on that as well.

So to just to recap on this, this covered the summons and you want to take a look on the automatic restraining orders that kick in once you start the process. Again we are licensed and bonded legal document preparation service serving all of Los Angeles County and all the courts in Los Angeles County.

We provide a full service divorce company in Santa Clarita and serving all of California. which means we can complete your divorce regardless of where you are in California.  You do not have to come to our office; we have the divorce process down to a science, it’s very seamless and simple when you use our professional divorce services. If not, I hope you enjoy the videos and hope they are helpful in testing you and completing your divorce forms.

Again if you have any further questions, feel free to call us, visit one of our local websites for your area. Other than that I hope you enjoyed and you continue on watching the videos. We hope to have several hundred videos at the time when our video series is complete covering all aspects of divorce. Again, Tim Blankenship, SCV Legal Doc Assist. Have a good day.

Completing The California Divorce Summons & Petition [Slideshare & Podcast]

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This article includes information on how to complete the California Summons and Petition.  It includes a Slideshare and podcast.  The text of this article are is the transcription of the audio.

Hi this is Tim Blankenship with divorce661.com today we are talking about the upload we did to slide share. We wanted to go over the slide share and upload this audio to our slide share website what we have uploaded today which is the initial documents you’ll need to start your California divorce.

What we have here is the petition the summons the family law case cover sheet and a form called the declaration under uniform Child custody jurisdiction and enforcement act. These are the initial four forms you need to get your case filed in California and we uploaded these documents to slide share because these are documents that have some helpful information on them.

Listen to internet radio with Tim Blankenship on BlogTalkRadio

What you’ll see is if you open up the slide share and you’ll find on our slide share.net site or on our website divorce 661.com on the petition and on all the forms there’s some helpful information on what to write down.  The biggest question people have when completing these documents is how to fill them out and have questions on what box do I check etc.  So we are going to briefly go over these forms you can use the slide share as an example when completing your document. We are going to talk about these a little bit.  First we have the petition and those on the petition that it tells you exactly what to do with the top with your name and address city state and ZIP Code where put the core information. Who’s the respondent who’s the petitioner and what box to mark for dissolution of marriage.

As you see them go down the form as far as statistical facts, declaration regarding children what to write if you have separate property, what to write if you have community property of petitioner’s requests.  At number six that lets you know what to fill out as far as irreconcilable differences. As far as number seven in petitioner’s requests because either giving information on who when and how to choose legal custody and physical custody they can use this form as a as a template if you will and will help you answer some of the questions you have as to filling out the petition.

The next form you’ll see in the slide share is the summons. The summons is fairly easy to complete this not a whole lot of information that needs to go on here. Basically just rename the attorney’s name and if you’re representing yourself which if your listing to this you probably are, you’re going to be your own attorneys and your information will go there.

Please note on the back of the summons there is some important information under standard family law restraining orders just make sure to take a look and read that, it is important to know.

The next form is the family law case cover sheet.  The cover sheet is only used to determine jurisdiction for the courts.  They want to  know where you live so they can make sure you’re in the right court. That form is fairly straightforward to fill out. It’s easy, not a lot to it,  just make you sure you sign it on page 2.

If you have children there’s one more form, it’s called the declaration under uniform child custody jurisdiction and enforcement act.  This form you’ll need if you have children and again is  fairly straight forward. They just want to know where your children have lived for the last five years because they will be making orders over your children they want to make sure they have the ability to do that.

So I hope you found this article and our our slide share helpful. We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm specializing in divorce, so if you want help and professional assistance in preparing your divorce I would be glad to help you out. We do provide these free tutorials and slide shares for those people who have more time than money, but if you are looking for professional divorce assistance anywhere in California please feel free to give us a call.  We would be happy to help you out because that’s what we do as a business.

My name is Tim Blankenship with divorce661.com You can reach me direct at 661-281-0266

Information You Need To File For Divorce In California | Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Many people feel that they need to have everything figured out regarding their divorce before they file.  This is not true.

In this post, we will discuss the basic information and forms you need to file your case in California.

The first form you will need is the Petition.  This is form FL-100 and will contain most of the information about your requests and statistical information about your marriage.  Here is the information you need to complete the Petition for divorce.

  1. Your name, address and phone number
  2. Your spouses name address and phone number
  3. Date of marriage
  4. Date of separation
  5. Children’s names, date of birth and city & state they were born
  6. Your requests for legal and physical custody of the children
  7. Who is going to pay attorney fees?
  8. Do you want spousal support?
  9. Do you want to pay spousal support?

That is all the information you need to file the divorce Petition in California.

Next is the divorce summons.  This form only contains your name and address. It is fairly straight forward and does not even require a signature.

Depending on what county you file for divorce in, there will be some kind of case assignment sheet.  They go by different names.   It may be called a “Family Law Case Cover Sheet” or “Notice of Case Assignment”  All it is for is to let the court know where you reside so they can make sure you are filing in the proper court.

The last form you will need is the UCCJEA.  This form wants to know the names of your children and where they have lived for the last 5 years.  The court also wants to know if there are any other cases involving your minor children.

So there are only 3 forms you need to file for divorce.  There are 4 if you have children.

You don’t need much information to file for divorce in California.

When you use our Santa Clarita divorce service, these are the first set of divorce forms we will complete for you and which will be filed with the court and served on your spouse.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  Please give us a call for more information.

How To Fill Out California Divorce Summons FL-110 | California Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Are you planning on filing your own divorce in California.  If so, one of the forms you will need to know how to fill out is the California Divorce Summons Form FL-110.

We now there are lots of people trying to complete their own divorce in California so we are making available our video series on how to complete the divorce forms in California.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce in California. If you are looking for someone to help you with your divorce please give us a call.  We can help in all of California.

The California divorce summons is pretty straight forward and not a lot of areas to fill out.  You will want to take notice of the top of page one that talks about how the Respondent only has 30 days to respond.

(If you have an amicable divorce, your spouse does not have to respond which can save you $435 on your divorce.  Call us to learn how.)

If you are looking for a video which describes and shows you how to fill out the California Divorce Summons Form FL-110, you can watch the video below.

This is just one of the forms you will need to complete and file when completing your initial divorce papers in California.  They are necessary to get your case filed and get a case number.

One of the other forms you will need to complete is the California Divorce Petition Form FL-100 which you can link to here.

So you will want to make sure to read the top of page 1 which says the Respondent only has 30 days to respond.  The other thing to read and take not of is on page 2.  This is where the California Divorce Summons explains the Automatic Restraining Orders (ATRO’s) that go into effect.

Take special notice that the Automatic Restraining orders go into effect on the Petitioner when the case is filed and on the Respondent when they are served.

If you need help filing your initial divorce papers please give us a call,  we can help.

You Have 30 Days After Divorce Petition Served To File Response | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are going through a divorce in California, one thing you will receive is the Summons.  The divorce Summons can be scary to read so I wanted to discuss this form in detail.

The first thing the divorce summons says is “You Are Being Sued”.  What do you mean you are being sued?  Look, while this is a family law matter, it is still a lawsuit filed in a court of law.  You just need to get over it.  And understand this. You are being sued, but not like in civil court where you are the defendant because someone has alleged you have done something wrong.

The next thing you will read is the following caption:

“You have 30 calendar days after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response at the court and have copy served on the Petitioner.  A letter or phone call will not protect you.  If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage, your property, and custody of your children…”

Of all the divorce forms, this one troubles people the most and I want to discuss a few things.

First of all, what the court is referring to about the “30 days to file a response” is in regards to the other party having the ability to file a “Request to enter Default”.  While technically it is true that you need to file a response in 30 days, it is not necessary if you are planning on proceeding by way of default or by using a hybrid judgment for your divorce.

I am a big fan of the hybrid divorce.  This is a cross between a default and an uncontested.  A hybrid divorce judgment allows you to do all the things required by an uncontested divorce (both parties complete financial disclosures and enter into a written agreement) and a true default divorce.

When preparing a hybrid style divorce, you do not have to worry about filing a response.  So while the Summons says you have to file a response or risk losing certain rights, it is not part of the paperwork when completing a hybrid divorce in California.  This is because with a hybrid a request to enter default will be filed.

The difference is that the request to enter default will be submitted with the final divorce judgment along with the agreement instead of after the 30 day mark.

If you have more questions about the California Divorce Summons or about the “30 days to respond” language, please feel free to give us a call.

We are a licensed divorce service located at 27240 Turnberry Lane, Ste. 200 Valencia, CA 91355 and can be reached at 661-281-0266.