Should I Respond To California Divorce If We Are Amicable?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The question we are answering today is “Should I Respond To California Divorce If We Are Amicable?“.  I am going to make suggestions on when you should file a Response in your California divorce case and when it would probably be okay to not file a Response.

Please keep in mind that we are talking about amicable divorce cases in California where you and your spouse are working together to complete your case.  If your case is contested or you have an attorney, you will most likely be filing a Response.

I am writing  this article because it is not always necessary to file a Response to your California divorce if your divorce case is amicable.

Today I received a call from a potential new client who stated that she was served by her spouse and she had read the divorce Summons and had to file a Response by Wednesday, which was in 3 days.

The very first question I asked her was if her divorce was amicable.  She stated that it was amicable and that they were just trying to get through the divorce.

When your California divorce is amicable, you can still get through the divorce process without filing a response.  In fact, the majority of California divorce cases that we file and complete are done so without a Response being filed.

So what I told her is that she should have her husband call me so we can all be on the same page.  What I suggested is that they have our company prepare all the divorce paperwork so they can get through their divorce fast and easy.

Most people in my position would have used the threat of default (after 30 days of no response) to scare them into filing a response so they could collect a fee for preparing their divorce case.

If your California divorce is amicable, you have two ways you can file your divorce.  The first would be what is called a “True Default California Divorce” and the other is called a “Hybrid or Default California With Agreement“.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages depending on your circumstances.  Feel free to call me and I will let you know the best way depending on what is going on in your case.  It basically comes down to the amount of property you have.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce in California. We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the Courts in California.

Give us a call, we would be happy to help.

California Divorce Videos | We Explain Divorce In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Now with over 200 videos about the California divorce process, we have become a go-to source for information.  Everyday we have new clients calling us because they have watched one of our videos about California divorce.

Not everyone searches YouTube directly for videos, so we wanted to write this article just so people are aware that we recorded hundreds of videos on the California divorce process because sometimes is jus makes more sense to be able to listen to a video than read one of our divorce blogs.

You can click on the divorce video navigation tab above or click this Link To Our California Divorce Videos .  You can also jump on over to our YouTube Channel Here is you would prefer to watch them there.  The benefit to being on our YouTube channel is that you can search our channel for specific videos to answer the questions you have.

We recently had one of our client whose California divorce was finalized leave us a nice review.  They even commented on the fact that she appreciated how much information we put out there for free with our California divorce videos.

She commented on the review that we had so much information on our videos that one could complete their entire divorce on their own simply by watching our divorce videos.

While this is true, it would take you some considerable time, but you absolutely could do it.

So if you prefer to watch videos rather than read our blogs,  we have you covered.  We also have recorded podcasts and have a radio show about California divorce which you can find on our “On The Air” tab above.

No matter how you like to get your information, we have a resource for you.

We specialize in divorce and can help you anywhere in California.  If you are just getting information now, that is great. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter where we send you information, tips and helpful advice about divorce in California. You can always call us for a free phone consultation as well.

Here is the sign up form.

Review Of Divorce661.com | Santa Clarita Divorce Legal Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been getting a lot of reviews lately from our happy clients and we wanted to promote them on our blogs.

On October 18, 2013, we received another review from one of our clients.  We don’t like to ask for reviews, so we don’t get a ton, but we are glad when people take the time to do us the great favor of leaving a review for our divorce business in Santa Clarita.

Here is the latest review that was left on our Yelp listing:

“Thank you Tim Blankenship!! 

I give Tim and his staff high accolades. They are professional, friendly, timely and well organized. Tim and Aja answered every question quickly and in a straight forward manner.

What’s amazing is Tim’s website is chock full of info and easy to understand how-to-videos. If you got the time and no dough, you could complete your paperwork on your own. Talk about being of community service. I mean, wow!!

For those that don’t have the time to do it on your own, SCV Legal Doc Assist is the way to go! Tim offers a great service at an affordable rate.

Lawyers should be worried!”

Here is a link to our Review of Divorce661.com – Santa Clarita Divorce Legal Service on Yelp.

On of the reasons we have been successful in this industry and received great reviews is because we really focus on customer service.

We have a full team to assist you, starting with our full time receptionist to make sure that your phone call gets answered every time.

We also have 3 full time assistants working continuously on your case and available to answer your questions at any time via phone or email. I have been fortunate to hire folks who have a servant’s heart.  This is especially useful being in the industry of assisting people with their divorce.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this review of Divorce661.com and our Santa Clarita divorce legal service.

We are a licensed and bonded  legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce in California.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA but can assist you anywhere in California with your divorce.  We look forward to hearing from you.

LegalZoom Placing Divorce Vending Machines In California Courthouses

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I just read that LegalZoom is planning on placing vending machines inside California Courthouses.  It appears that soon you will be able to pick up a video at Redbox and then prepare your divorce papers at the machine next to it.

I have to admit, I had to read the article twice.  I actually came across the article in a divorce forum I am part of on LinkedIn.  It even says that they are already in production on the machines!

It appears that the machines will not only help in divorce cases, but like their online service, will apparently draft all sorts of legal documents.

If you have read any of my articles that I have written about LegalZoom’s  service you know that there is much to be desired.

I think this article said it best.  They quoted a Court employee as stating who said, “He would definitely use LegalZoom if he had a case he didn’t care about or wanted to purposely sabotage”.

The spokesman they spoke to at LegalZoom even commented that the documents the machines produce will not be perfect and you may get a wrong form or form incorrectly completed.

We have steered clear of providing an online automated document assembly service, which is what these companies are.  How can you produce a quality legal document by a computer?

I had a client use LegalZoom and accidentally hit the submit button on his computer when he was not done.  Several days later, he received his “prepared” divorce documents in the mail.  They were completely blank except for his name and address (which is the only part he had completed).

Do you want this type of service when you are going through a divorce.  It is obvious that nobody every looks at your divorce documents to see if they are correct, or even filled out for that matter.

If you are looking for a professional, affordable, Full Service divorce company to handle your divorce, make sure to give us a call.

The funny thing is that at the end of the day our full service divorce process will actually cost you less in the end.

Top 5 Reasons Your California Divorce Was Not Finished

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been doing this a long time and we have heard it all. We have helped clients finish their divorce as much as 18
years after they “thought their divorce was finalized”

This can be a nightmare for some, especially if you have already been re-married… Yes, that has happened…

But don’t worry, we can help finalize your divorce.

Lets talk about the top 10 reasons your divorce was never
finalized..

#1 Reason – You did not finish your case!

Don’t get mad at me, I wasn’t there. But really, this is an obvious reason, right?

What we have found from people who did not finish their case is that most of them THOUGHT THEIR CASE WAS FINALIZED.

#2 Reason – You went to a hearing and the judge made orders.

When you go to a hearing and the judge makes orders, they are JUST TEMPORARY ORDERS until final judgment is entered. We have found that many people think that once they go to court that the case is over when the judge makes orders. So far from the truth.

#3 Reason – Final Judgment in your case was never entered.

The judge may make some orders at a hearing or trial, but unless those orders are memorialized on a final judgment, submitted to the Court and signed by the Judge, your case is not completed.

#4 Reason – You made an error on your judgment paperwork.

This is a big one. The forms are confusing and all it takes is one mistake to fowl up the entire judgment. Some people submit their judgment and move and don’t receive notification that their divorce judgment was rejected.

Make sure you receive notice of entry of judgment!

#5 Reason – You did not comply with the divorce procedures leading up to your judgment.

This could be something as small as not completing a proof of service correctly.

There are all types of reasons your divorce was never finalized.

A lot of it will be procedural issues. Things you did wrong during the process.

But don’t worry, we can help. We can clean it up and wrap up your divorce for you.

Anywhere in California, we can assist with finishing up your case. Just give us the case number so we can see what has been done.

We will also need to see what documents you have previously filed, but we can talk about that later.

Call us at 661-281-0266.

Just Found Out My California Divorce Was Never Finalized

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

It is happening way to often where people are calling me for help after finding out that their California divorce was never finalized.  Usually this is after a significant period of time.

Yesterdays caller told me it had been 10 years since they filed for divorce.  The oldest case I had to help someone finish up had been filed 18 years ago.  In the worst situations, some people had already remarried!

So why is this happening so much?  It boils down to clients attempting to complete their divorce case on their own.  In all these cases, the parties were attempting to do their own divorce and represent themselves having no idea how the divorce process works.  In all these cases, there was nobody to blame but themselves.

So how can you tell when your divorce is totally over?  It is when you get a final judgment in your divorce case which handles all issues of your divorce and is signed by the judge.  The form will say “Judgment” and you will receive a “Notice of Entry of Judgment” that lets you know that the divorce judgment has been entered.

Until you receive these documents, your California divorce is not finalized.

Lets say you go to Court for a hearing about custody or spousal support or something like that and the Judge makes orders at the hearing.  This is not your final judgment.  These are just temporary orders until final judgment is entered.

I had this happen just the other day.  A client of ours went to a hearing where his wife was requesting spousal support.  At the end of the hearing, he called me to say everything was settled.  I asked him what did he mean?  He said he went to court and the Judge made orders and they were done.

I had to inform him that these were just temporary orders and that he still had to complete the majority of the divorce process.  All that had been done was that he filed and his wife responded and they had a hearing on spousal support.

They had not completed their financial disclosures or completed their final divorce judgment.

Just remember that your California divorce is not final until judgment is entered and your receive it back from the court signed by the Judge.

If you find yourself reading this article and have realized that your California divorce is not finalized we can help.  Make sure to locate your case number and give us a call.  We can look up your case summary and see what has been filed and what is left to do complete your California divorce.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in California divorce. We can help you finalize your California divorce. Call us today or download the free report of the top 10 reasons your divorce was not finalized.

 

Divorce661.com | SCV Legal Doc Assist Search

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are searching for a divorce service in Santa Clarita online, you will most likely come across one of our blogs or Google adwords advertisements.  But today I was wondering how Google search was listing us when searching directly with our business name.

It takes trust and time to get in the good graces with Google.  And it takes a lot of people searching for your business to list you in the actual search bar.  We are glad to say that we have met those two parameters.

Take a look at the image below and you can see that Google already knows what I am searching for when I only partly enter our business name.

scv_legal_doc_assist_google_search_image

 

 

 

 

 

We have been serving Santa Clarita, providing affordable divorce services to the community.  Word is really catching on and we are processing about 10 divorce cases per week. I know that seems like a large number and I still can’t believe how many divorce cases are completed by our office here.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce and focuses on providing an affordable way to get your divorce completed.  As a neutral third party, we are able to work with both parties to get your divorce completed as quickly and painless as possible.

If you are considering getting divorced in Santa Clarita or anywhere in Los Angeles County, we can help.  We have even started taking cases throughout California.

If you have any questions about our service please feel free to give us a call.  We would be happy to explain our service to you so you are comfortable with working with us.

I think you will find us to be the most knowledgeable people in the industry as it pertains to divorce.  You can reach us at 661-281-0266.

California Default Divorce With Agreement

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Default Divorce With Agreement

The California default divorce with agreement should be the most talked about type of divorce.  But it is not.

Why do I say this?  Because the California default divorce with agreement is the most cost effective way of completing your California divorce.

The California default divorce with agreement combines a “true default” style divorce where the responding party does not file a response and does not pay a filing fee with the Uncontested divorce case where the party is involved in the case and will sign a written agreement.

More easily said, you can file for divorce and enter into a written agreement with your spouse and they do not have to file a response to do this.

Let me say this another way.  One of you can file for divorce.  The other spouse does not need to file a response and you can both still be involved and signed a written agreement.

Why then would you ever want to respond in a divorce case?  If your divorce is contested and you have attorney’s you will almost always file a Response.

But when you are working together in your divorce, a Response is not necessary.  So why don’t the courts talk about this?  The simple answer is, “Money”.  The courts don’t want you to know that you can get divorce and have a divorce with agreement with no response filed because they want their filing fee.  They want the other party to respond and pay the fee.  That is the only reason I can think of.

The California default divorce with agreement is also known as a Hybrid divorce.  It is called a hybrid divorce because it is a Hybrid between the true default case and the uncontested case.  You won’t find any mention of a hybrid divorce or California default divorce with agreement anywhere on the Courts websites.  They talk only about the Default, Uncontested and Contested divorce cases in California.

If you and you and your spouse are going through a California divorce and are working together toward an agreement and want to save money I recommend you use the California default divorce with agreement.  It will save you money and you get all the advantages of submitting a divorce with agreement.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in California divorce.  We offer affordable flat fees and can help you prepare your California default divorce with agreement case anywhere in California.

 

Santa Clarita Divorce Service Slows Due To Government Shutdown 2013

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I did not give much thought to the Government shut down until it directly impacted my Santa Clarita divorce service.  As the Government shutdown went into its second week, I started to notice a little bit of a slowdown in the amount of calls our office received.

At first It did not cross my mind that there could be any impact on our Santa Clarita divorce service nor did I attribute the slower pace of new clients to the Government shutdown.

Then I received a call from Federal employee who was calling to get information on our divorce service in Santa Clarita.  He lived in Palmdale and said he was furloughed due to the shutdown.

He stated that he wanted to file for divorce, but now that he has not been at work for over 10 days, it was going to make it difficult to pay our fees and the Court fees.

This is when it struck me that the Government shut down was having an impact on my business.  I would have never thought that this would occur.

But what accounts for the slow week or two I have had?  Not all my clients are Federal employees, so there must be something else.  Is it the fact that it is October and we are starting into the holidays?

Or is it consumer confidence (or lack of consumer confidence) that is being created due to the Government shutdown.  Even stocks are taking a hit due to investor confidence.  Then when it seemed that there were some positive talks, the stock shot up 300 points.

I wonder if any other Santa Clarita small business owners have felt a slight slowing or thought that the Government shutdown might be responsible for a reduction in clients and sales.

These were just some rambling thoughts I had this Friday.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in providing affordable divorce services in Santa Clarita.

Have You Asked A Divorce Question On AVVO.com

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are ever doing research or looking for information about divorce in California, you may come across a website called Avvo (dot) com.  I have found this site to be nothing more than lead generation tool for attorneys and not a resource for valuable information.

They say they are an expert only question and answer forum where people can ask legal questions of lawyers for free.  It is true that you can ask questions for free.  And attorneys will even answer the questions….  Or will they?

I read the answers that the divorce attorneys give and they are laughable.  I say this because their answers are so generic that they lack any real value.

It seems that the only reason that the attorneys are part of Avvo is so they can get their name in front of people looking for advice so they can hopefully get their business.  Attorneys are afraid that if they give the answer, the client will never need them.

This is so far from the truth.

I give out information all the time on how to complete the divorce process.  Some of the people use me and others are so grateful for the information, they end up using my service.

I have to admit that some of the questions asked by folks are not clear and therefore they do not get a clear answer, but I did a little test of my own.

I posted a very specific question that would require a very specific answer.

The answers not only did not give any helpful advice, but the attorneys that did answer ended their reply with “I suggest that you speak to an attorney for assistance”.

What you will notice throughout avvo is that all the attorneys will say you need to speak to an attorney.  So it appears that there is no real help to be obtained here, rather just a trap to get attorneys in front of you.

I am sure the divorce attorneys are paying a pretty penny to be a part of the forums being promised they can get clients from responding to potential clients needs.  I have a feeling nobody is getting what they thought they were getting.

We are a licensed and bonded divorce document preparation service that specializes in divorce.  If you have a question about divorce, feel free to call us.  You can find lots of information on this blog or by watching our videos.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, California and can help you with your divorce anywhere in California.