Granada Hills Divorce Mediation | Divorce Paralegal Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Granada Hills Divorce Mediation | Divorce Paralegal Service

We are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce and serving the city of Granada Hills. Our full service Granada Hills Divorce paralegal service takes care of your entire divorce from start to finish. Our Granada Hills divorce paralegal service is flat-fee based so you don’t have to worry about hourly fees and high costs.

Watch the short video below to learn more about our Granada Hills Divorce Paralegal Service.

Granada Hills Divorce Mediation | Divorce Paralegal Service

We are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce and serving the city of Granada Hills. Our full service Granada Hills Divorce paralegal service takes care of your entire divorce from start to finish. Our Granada Hills divorce paralegal service is flat-fee based so you don’t have to worry about hourly fees and high costs.

Montrose Divorce Paralegal Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Montrose Divorce Paralegal Service

We are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce and serving the city of Montrose. Our full service Montrose Divorce paralegal service takes care of your entire divorce from start to finish.  Our Montrose divorce paralegal service is flat-fee based so you don’t have to worry about hourly fees and high costs.

Watch the short video below to learn more about our Montrose Divorce Paralegal Service.

Montrose Divorce Paralegal Service

We are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce and serving the city of Montrose. Our full service Montrose Divorce paralegal service takes care of your entire divorce from start to finish.  Our Montrose divorce paralegal service is flat-fee based so you don’t have to worry about hourly fees and high costs.

Atwater Village Divorce Paralegal Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce and serving the city of Atwater Village. Our full service Atwater Divorce paralegal service takes care of your entire divorce from start to finish.  Our Atwater Village divorce paralegal service is flat-fee based so you don’t have to worry about hourly fees and high costs.

Please watch the short video below for more information about our Atwater Village Divorce Paralegal Service



Please give us a call for a free phone consultation.  We work directly with your local court and prepare, file and serve all documents.  We take care of the entire divorce and all you need to do is provide us with the information we need for the divorce forms.

Please give us a call at 661-281-0266 for more information and a free phone consultation.

Divorce661.Com | Periscope Live Divorce Broadcasts | Come Join The Conversation

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

So there is a fairly new social media tool called Periscope which i think came out in March of 2015. Periscope allows you to broadcast from your phone live and people can either follow you or can just come across your broadcast by searching live streaming events or by using a map within the application which shows the location (major city) from where people are broadcasting from.

Of course being involved in as much social media as possible, I started looking for ways to utilize this new, easy to use, live broadcasting service on Periscope.

I have done live broadcasts in the past, but before there was just Google Plus and it had to be done in front of a computer, where as Periscope allows you to broadcast right from your cell phone from anywhere you have a cell phone connection.

It is so easy to use that I don’t see why it can’t be part of the daily marketing efforts to reach out to our clients and potential clients.

My first thought is to have a weekly live broadcast via Periscope where people know in advance of the broadcast so they have advanced notice if they want to make themselves available to watch.

This does not seem how people are using it, for the most part, but I don’t think someone is going to casually visit our Periscope live broadcast and decide to watch. (We’ll maybe)

In any case, I think this will be a good way to connect with new clients and even speak to current clients and answer questions.

So in the near future, stay on the lookout for our live free Periscope broadcasts where we will be discussing divorce and answering any questions you have about divorce.

Don’t forget to download the Periscope app on your phone and follow our broadcasts to it makes it easier for you to locate our “divorcescope” when you want to tune in.

Santa Clarita Do-It-Yourself Online Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Not only do we have our full service divorce process in Santa Clarita and throughout California, but we also have a Do-It-Yourself online divorce service as well.  This online divorce service is much different than any other online divorce service in California.

We have put together and online membership site for divorce that has all the information you need to file and complete your divorce in California.

We understand that not everyone can afford our full service divorce process and we wanted a way to give folks who are trying to do their own divorce access to all the forms and information they will need to complete their own divorce without having to wait in long lines at the court’s divorce self help centers.

Our Do-It-Yourself online divorce service will provided everything from uncontested divorce to contested divorces. Literally every form you would need to go all the way through to trial in your divorce case.  We also have step by step procedures and examples of how to file a Request For Order (motions) so you can get a court date.

We are constantly adding information to our online divorce site and even if you come across something you can’t find the answer to, just let us know and we will add that specific content.  No problem.

We also offer a weekly live broadcast where you can ask questions via Periscope!  This allows direct interaction with the companies owner.  You can go to Periscope and search for Tim Blankenship using the twitter id of @timsblankenship.

We are glad to bring this affordable do-it-yourself California divorce service so everyone has the opportunity to obtain great divorce assistance and guidance without having to wait in line at the Court’s self help centers.  If you have ever been to one of California’s divorce self help centers, you know what I mean.

Do I Have To Have All Agreements To File For Divorce In California?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Do I Have To Have All Agreements To File For Divorce In California?

From all the calls we get everyday about California divorce, one of the most commonly asked questions is, “Do we have to have all our agreements in place before filing for divorce”?

So here is the answer.  It does not matter whether you have your agreements or no agreements at all because to “file for divorce” requires very little information. The initial forms that are used to file for divorce in California don’t require you know anything about the agreements in your case.

When you file for divorce, the initial paperwork requires very little; mostly statistical data such as:

  • The Parties names and address
  • Date of Marriage and Date of Separation
  • Children’s names and date of birth
  • Reason for filing for divorce (irreconcilable differences is only option)
  • Basic idea of child custody ( full or joint custody – no specific requests)
  • Will there be a request for spousal support
  • And that’s about it!

I always tell people when they call our office that it is pretty scary how little information you need to file for divorce.  Keep in mind that these are just the initial documents to open the case with the court.  All the details come later down the road as part of the process.

Most of our clients do not have any agreements in place when they start the divorce process.  All they know is that they don’t want to hire an attorney and spends thousands of dollars and they are at least someone willing to work towards an agreement in their divorce case.

When you decide to move forward with our company to file for divorce, we will normally send you a short questionnaire requesting the information stated above and complete your initial divorce papers the same day to have them to you for signature.  The court even accepts fax or email signatures!

That is how easy it is to file for divorce in California.

For more information please call us at 661-281-0266 for a free phone consultation.

California Divorce Court’s FREE Self Help Center Worth Every Penny

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Most people are aware that most courts have a self help center to help you with your divorce.  They are generally free, but they do come at a cost and are very busy and hard to get in to see them as they are on a first come first serve basis.

I talk often about the divorce court’s self help center because people often ask why they shouldn’t go down there as opposed to using our California divorce service.

Here is what I tell them.  While it is “free” in actual out of pocket costs, it is very expensive in the amount of time you spend at the divorce self help centers.  So lets talk about this a little bit

The divorce self help centers are very busy and they can only help so many people per day. In fact, in Los Angeles County, they report that on an average day, they can only help 30 or so people.  For those that can’t get in after waiting in line all day, the only option is to come back the next day and get in line again.  There is no priority and no appointments.

So what it will cost you is a significant amount of time.  Time missed from work trying to get FREE help! Most people will need to make several trips to the court over the span it takes to complete all the divorce paperwork.

Can you afford to miss 3 to 4 days of work to get “free” help?  How much will this actually cost you?

Obviously I am a proponent of using our full service California divorce company to complete your divorce for you. In the end, our service will cost you much less than several days missing work.

And were not even talking about the frustration you will experience dealing with the courts and the paperwork and having to figure out how to file and serve divorce papers.

I know that not everyone can afford our fees, despite being flat rate and very affordable.

For that reason, I am creating a website that will be for these people  who don’t have the money for attorneys or for our full service divorce process.

I will be writing articles about this website explaining what its purpose is, but you can expect that this website will be an online version of the Court’s self help centers so that you can get affordable divorce self help services without leaving your home or office.

How Is Spousal Support Determined During California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How Is Spousal Support Determined During California Divorce

Whenever we are handling a divorce for our clients, we always need to know if there will be a request for spousal support from either party. Believe it or not, many of our clients choose not to request spousal support from the other party, even where the income differences between them would suggest they could ask for spousal support.

You see, spousal support is one of those things that is not mandatory.  Compare that with Child Support which the court enforces at least minimum guideline amounts be paid, a spouse can decide to waive their right to spousal support.

But for determining the amount of spousal support there are a couple ways you can go about that.  If you are working toward an agreement with your spouse, as is the case with many of our clients, we usually will start with using the court’s software system called a “dissomaster”.  The dissomaster takes your income and your spouses income and considers the disparity between the two to come up with a number. The idea is that if one party makes more than the other, money would be paid to the lesser earner to help move on with life.

What i tell our clients is to use the dissomaster as a guide in helping to determine what the needs of the spouse are for spousal support.  For instance, when you divorce and ultimately move out into separate residences, what are going to be your needs for money and what is the ability to pay for the other spouse.

It can be as simple as sitting down at the kitchen table and going through your finances and expenses to work together to come up with a number for spousal support that works for both of you.

The next article will discuss the question of for how long should you pay spousal support to the other party.  You can read that article by clicking on How Long Should I Pay Spousal Support.

We specialize in providing affordable divorce solutions throughout California.  Please call for a free consultation.

Understanding The Steps To Your California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I know that going through the divorce process can be a daunting task.  That is why we have made it as simple and painless as possible when using our service for your divorce.

We take pride in helping our clients and potential clients who call for information to understand the divorce process.

In this article I will break down the divorce process so you can understand the different stages you will go through.  Keep in mind, when you hire us for your divorce, we take care of all of this for you.

Let’s get started.

When you decide to get divorced, you will have to “file” for divorce.  This simply means filling out the initial court forms to notify the court that you are asking for a divorce.  These documents need to be completed, then filed with the court where a case number is issued.  Once the case is issued, the documents are ready to be served.  This is how you initiate a divorce.

Once the divorce has been filed and served, the next step is to complete your financial disclosures.  The court’s require that you and your spouse “disclose” your assets and debts to one another.  The idea here is that each of you will become informed of what property and debt’s you have so you can figure out how you are going to divide up your things.

The next phase is where you write down your agreements.  This is often called a Marital Settlement Agreement or Judgment.  The judgment will address everything from separation of your assets and debts, spousal support, child custody and child support and any other issues you want to address.

There are a lot of moving parts to divorce and I explained the process above in a big picture sort of way.

When you are ready to get your divorce started, please give us a call. We handle divorce cases anywhere in California with our flat fee pricing.  We offer free initial phone consultations and can be reached at 661-281-0266.

Should You Sell Your Santa Clarita Home During Divorce?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Lately I have had several calls with clients who had questions about the issues that come up on whether to sell or keep the home during divorce.

The issues have been that one spouse wants to keep the home while the other one wants to sell it. It is a fairly common issue that will have to be decided before the divorce can be finalized.

The two main things you should look at to help you come to a decision is 1) Can the spouse who wants to keep it, afford it and 2) If you can afford it, how are you going to offset any equity share that will be going to the other spouse.

What we find is that most clients cannot afford to keep the marital home.  The home is either too expensive and requires the income of both parties to make the payment or the home is entirely too big. You don’t need a 5 bedroom home when you are going from 3 kids and a wife to just you.

I think there sometimes is just a tendency to not want to give up those things that were acquired during the marriage.

Regardless of the reasons, you and your spouse will have to look at this and be reasonable in your decisions. It may be hard, but if someone wants to keep the home, you have to make sure you can afford it and everything that goes along with it such as repairs, property tax and insurance.

The best way to keep the house is to refinance the property and pull any cash out if you are dividing this asset.  This is the only way to totally remove the other spouse from the loan and from title.

While is is possible to remove one from title only via a quit claim deed, doing so leaves you on the loan and open to possible negative credit rating if your spouse failed to make the mortgage payment.  In addition, it may make it more difficult to purchase another home if the existing mortgage shows up in your credit history.

We specialize in divorce in California.  If you have any questions about divorce please feel free to give our office a call.