Do You Have Better Chance At Divorce Hearing With Attorney Present | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I know this is a very open ended question, so let me clarify a bit what I am talking about.  I had a client call me who said he contacted an attorney because he needed to terminate spousal support.

His child had turned 18 and per the terms of the divorce judgment, he no longer had to pay child support.  In many cases, as with his, before the employer would stop taking the spousal support payments out of his check, they wanted an order from the court that said so.

Because an order was made when child support was ordered, you will need an order to terminate child support as well.

In order to do this you need to file a motion with the court. This would be a Request For Order and you will probably want to go in Ex-Parte so you can get the order signed faster.

If you want more information about how to terminate child support, please give us a call.  But for purposes of this article I want to discuss something intersting this client was told by an attorney.

This attorney essetially told him that he would have a better chance getting the child custody order signed if he had an attorney present. The reason he gave was that he (the attorney) would show up in court and testify that they gave proper Ex-Parte notice.  That is that they called the other party and let them know they would be going to court to request the termination of child support.

I thought that was an intersting sales pitch.  A Request For Order is simply a form you fill out and file with the court to ask for a hearing.  Giving Ex-Parte notice is simply a procedural process.  It requires you call the otherp party, generally 24 hours in advance, and let them know you are going to court.  This gives them a chance to appear.

What the attorney was trying to say is that without an attorney present, the judge may not hear the case because there would be nobody to testify that the Ex-Parte notice was given and there would be a chance the court would not hear the motion.

When you are representing yourself, In Pro Per, you do not have to hire an attorney simpy to give Ex-Parte notice and show up in court.  This attoreny was going to charge him $1,500 to fill out a single form and show up to court.

It is not necessary to hire an attorney for these types of divorce motions.  For an attorney to use the sales pitch that he will testify that Ex-Parte notice was properly given is hardly a reason to use an attorney for thi

Sole And Community Property Must Be Disposed Of In Divorce Judgment | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This article addresses the the issue of your divorce judgment being rejected with the box marked, “All sole and community property listed in the Petition must be disposed of in the Judgment”

We will discuss how to fix your divorce judgment if it has been rejected for the this reason.  We have also completed a video on how to fix your divorce judgment is it was rejected because you did all your sole and community property that was listed on the Petition was not disposed of in the divorce judgment.

When you file your divorce Petition in California there are two areas that ask you to list your property.  The first asks you to list your separate property and the second area asks you to list your community property.  You can either list the property on the divorce Petition or use one of the allowed attachments or supplement with a property declaration where you can list all your property.

Regardless how you go about listing your property, you need to make sure that you dispose of all the property in the final divorce judgment.

The issues is this.  If you list property, whether it be an asset or debt, you are telling the court that this asset or debt exists.  If you don’t tell the court who is getting the property, then this property is just left sitting there with no owner.  If the judge were to sign this judgment, it would effectively leave this asset or debt not being assigned to either the Petitioner or Respondent.

Now this may seem like a small technicality if, say for instance, the asset was small such as a bank account with $10 in it.  But what if your forgot to assign a bank account with $10,000 in it?  Now, maybe you have an agreement with your spouse regarding who is going to keep it, but if it is not listed on the judgment when the judge signs, then technically the asset or debt does not below to anybody.

To correct this issue, all you need to do is make sure all sole and community property you listed on your divorce Petition is listed on the judgment.  If you completed a marital settlement agreement, you would simply add this to the list for whom it is going to.  If you are using the judgment attachments, you would add the property to the correct property attachment indicating who is getting the asset or debt.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the Los Angeles Area courts.  We specialize in helping people get through the divorce process.  Give us a call for more information.

Divorce Service With A Servants Heart – Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Okay, I have to admit that i stole the line, “With a servants heart”. But even though I stole it, does not mean it isn't true.

I am sitting here at the Oil Stop in Valencia, CA and writing the blog on my Ipad while sitting in my car. I come to Oil Stop because I enjoy the professional service and attentiveness I receive.

Today, i just happened to be sitting in the bay furthest to the left and there was a computer monitor that continuously showed the same commercial about Oil Stop and had employees saying throughout “with a servants heart”.

I find it hard to explain the type and level of service you receive with our divorce document preparation service. But when i heard those words, I thought it definitely was how i viewed the level of service we provide.

I can tell you that we provide a great service, a valuable service and will provide excellent customer service. But those words are so worn out and really don't mean much anymore.

What i wanted to impart in this article is we are here to serve your needs and assist you with getting you through your divorce or other family law related matter.

As I have been here writing I have lost track of the fact that I automatically say “no” to everything they try to sell me here at Oil Stop and think I bought all the extras today. I needed it and was happy to have a professional service take care of these needs, even if i had to pay slightly more than if i went someplace else.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce. We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the courts in Los Angeles Countu.

Please feel free to give us a call about any questions you may have about divorce. We promise to provide our divorce service with a servants heart

California Divorce Probability Calculator | What’s Your Chances Of Getting Divorced?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I am a regular Google Plus guy and spend time on this particular social media platform to communicate and connect with other people and share ideas and information.

Today I was searching to see if anybody had written any interesting articles about divorce in the last 24 hours or so.  So I was doing a hashtag search for #divorce and came upon a very interesting article written by a Pittsburgh Divorce Attorney named Lisa Marie Vari.

The article was interesting for two reasons.  First, because it mentioned “Divorce Insurance”.  I had never heard of that so wanted to learn more.  You can read the entire article about divorce insurance here.  But I was more interested in the discussion about a Divorce Probability Calculator.

So I went to check out this divorce probability calculator to see what it was all about.  This divorce calculator is not just for California.   This was just my little local search tactic.

So here is what I learned about the divorce probability calculator.  Their website says the formula was based on information gathered in face-to-face interviews with 10,847 women ages 15-44 in 1995 and 12,571 men and women aged 15-44 in 2002 and was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Disease Control and Prevention.

The calculator says they are correct with only a 13% margin of error.

I thought it would be interesting to take the test and see what kind of questions they were asking.  There were approximately 20 questions.  The initial questions had to do with if you a man or woman, age, race, if you have been married before, education level, employment status and income level, etc.  Essentially establishing a base.  Then the questions asked if you drink alcohol, have arguments with your wife, had children before marriage or shortly after getting married, if your parents were divorced, history of mental illness and so on.

So I went all the way through the divorce probability calculator and it gives you a score.  But the only way to know what your score means is to enter your email address.

As you go through the divorce probability calculator, you can see, based on the questions asked, who the more likely candidates for divorce are.  If anything, it was interesting.  Not sure what the plan is of the company for asking for your email address though.  Could be a lead generation source for them i suppose.  Why else would folks be on the site?

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

Great Customer Service Critical During Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I am just amazed at the poor service some Santa Clarita business's have. You would think with todays review sites and complaint sites that a local company would take great strides to provide excellent customer service.

As i write this, I have been waiting at home for a service technician to show up for some repairs. Instead of talking negatively about a fellow business in Santa Clarita, i thought i would share my thoughts on the topic of giving good customer service.

Here was what i was reminded of and what we should all be striving for.

First call to the office – When someone calls your place of business, this is your first chance to set the stage and let them know that they are working with true professionals. When you call our Santa Clarita divorce service, you will be greeted by one of our two full time receptionists. We know your decision to use our service or not starts from the time the phone rings.

Initial phone call and consultation – This is your time to shine. To provide information and answers that help your potential client “fix” whatever problem they are trying to solve.

When people call us, they have generally spent quite a bit of time on our blogs and have some follow up questions. We are an outbound marketing company which means we attract clients to our business by providing information on our blogs. This continues on when you call us. It is our job to provide you with all the information on how we can help with your divorce situation and not to try to “sell” or “close” you.

Follow up – Follow up is good way to continue your customer service. The type of service you offer will dictate what kind of follow up you do. We provide a divorce service and we are considerate and understanding that this is not a pleasant issue you are dealing with. Our follow ups are simple. We reach out via email to see if there are any additional questions.

We feel that great customer service is critical in any business to survive. But this should not be the reason you provide great service. You should simply provide a level of service you would expect if you were on the other end of the phone.

We are a divorce service. “service” being the operative word. We are here to serve you and help you through your divorce or other family law related issues.

How Long Do I Have To Serve Divorce Papers In Los Angeles

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I get asked quite a bit, how long does someone have to serve divorce papers in Los Angeles after you have filed them? Is there a time limit by which you have to serve the papers?

The reason this is important to know is because you don't want the court dismissing the divorce case causing you to refile and to pay the filing fee again.

I did some research on the time limits regarding serving your divorce papers and this is what I found.

I found that there is no real time limit to serve your divorce papers. Some attorneys have said that in California the time frame is anywhere between 2 to 3 years and if nothing is done within 5 years the court will automatically dismiss the case.

But there is one thing to watch out for that we are seeing in the Los Angeles divorce courts. We have had a few clients who have filed for divorce then decided to wait for whatever reason. Perhaps they were not 100% sure or wanted the holidays to pass, etc.

What has happened is the courts are setting Case Management Conferences for those who have not served the divorce papers within 3 to 4 months. The case management conferences are nothing to be concerned with as the court just wants to see what is going on.

The letter you receive in the mail may even go as far as to say that you need to appear at the case management conference or risk having your case dismissed. They may even state that you need to have you divorce papers served prior to attending the case management conference.

It is important to keep in mind that if you file for divorce and then don't serve them on your spouse for whatever reason that the court may send a letter in the mail. If you have not served your spouse, you probably have not told them you filed for divorce.

Imagine your spouse finding out you filed for divorce 3 months ago and the reason you did not serve them was because things had taken a turn for the better. Now what if your spouse opens this letter from the court? You will probably have a lot of explaining to do.

Divorce Forms You Have To Complete After Hearing – Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Lately, I have had a lot of clients go to court for hearings to get some temporary orders. There are certain forms one has to complete after a hearing and wanted to discuss that with you.

When you go to court and ask the judge to make orders, say on a request for order, if order are made, you will have to fill out what is called an order after hearing.

An order after hearing is exactly what it sounds like… An order after the hearing. This is where you will fill out the form and indicate what orders the court made so the judge can sign it and make is official.

So here is how it works You go to court. The judge makes orders. Then these orders have to be placed on the order after hearing forms. Sounds easy, but there are some rules on how to do this which I will explain now.

Once the hearing is over, you will need to obtain a copy of the minute order. The minute order contains the information you will need and is a summary of what was ordered at your hearing. Usually, this will take about 3 days for the clerk to enter so you will have to go back to court to get it.

Once you have the minute order, you can complete the order after hearing. The order after hearing form has several attachments depending on what was ordered so make sure to check the appropriate boxes and attach the correct forms.

Then what you have to do is mail the order after hearing to the other party who needs to review it and sign it. They have 10 days to sign it or otherwise tell you there is something wrong with the language. Once it is agreed and the other party signs the order after hearing, it can be submitted to the judge for signature. Once the judge signs it, it will become an official order.

 

Does Signing The Divorce Petition Mean I Agree | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There is a huge misunderstanding about a part of the divorce process that I want to clear up.  This is in regards to the California Divorce Petition and the requests you make.

The Petition is a form you will complete when you file for divorce.  It lets the court and the other party know what your are requesting.  Again, it simply tells the court what you are requesting.  They are not orders.

An issue we have been having is when we mail the Petition to the other party and ask them to sign a form acknowledging that they received the Petition.  Doing this helps us to avoid having to hire a process server.  When you sign the acknowledgment, it simply means that you received that divorce papers, not that you agree to the what is in the Petition or remainder of the divorce papers.

We recently mailed out some divorce papers to the respondent in a divorce case.  After the Respondent received the papers, he called the Petitioner and said he is not signing the papers because he does not agree with what the Petitioner is asking for.

So what are the options when this happens.  Well, the first thing you can do is attempt to explain it to them.  But it is unlikely that your spouse will listen to you since you are going through a divorce in the first place, but you can try.

The next thing I would try to do is have them get the answer from someone who is not involved.  Have them go to the court and ask the self help center if signing the acknowledgement of receipt means that you agree with what is in the petition.

If none of these work, then you will simply have to hire a process server to do it.  And again, just because the process server hands them paperwork does not mean they agree with what is in the petition either.

Divorce Motions, Response And Reply Tips | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We talk a lot about how to file motions, request for orders and order to show cause filings quite a bit.  We also, of course, provide this as one of our divorce services here in Santa Clarita.

In this article, and videos below, we are going to talk about the three components of filing these types of motions along with the due dates you have to follow and how to file and serve them.  We will go into great detail about how to file the motion and how to respond to one if a motion has been filed on you.

In this video below we will talk about the due dates and how to file and serve a motion such as a request for order or order to show cause.  The first thing you will do is prepare your motion and then file it with the court.  You have to file it and get a court date before you can serve it.  Here is the rule.  You have to personally serve your motion 16 COURT days before the hearing date.  If you are going to mail it you need to add 5 calendar days.

Watch this quick video where I discuss the procedure of filing and serving a motion as well as the due dates in which to serve them.

Now that you understand the process of filing a motion and the respective due dates for serving it, let’s talk about what you do if you have received a motion and you need to reply to one.

When someone files a motion and serves you, you have an opportunity to file a response.  Your response will be to tell your side of the story and whether your agree, disagree or would like different orders made than requested by the moving party or person who filed the motion.

The responsive declaration also has to be done within a certain period of time just like the original motion.  So for the responsive declaration to a motion you have to file and personally serve 9 COURT days before the hearing.  Why do I keep emphasizing court days?  Because you have to be careful and check for court holidays and skip the weekends.  It could be as much as 15 days before the hearing with court holidays and weekends involved so make sure you check.  I get a lot of people who call me to file a response and it is already too late.

Watch this quick video about filing the responsive declaration.

Now, there is just one last thing to discuss and that is the Reply Declaration.  The Reply is what the person who filed the motion will do.  It is their last chance to get the final say of what their position is in regards to why the judge should make the order that they requested.  The Reply Declaration needs to be filed and served 5 COURT days before the hearing.

Here is a quick video discussing the reply declaration.

So just to recap, you first have the original Motion followed by the Responsive Declaration and then the Reply Declaration.

We can help you prepare and file your motion, responsive declaration and reply declaration in Los Angeles County.  We specialize in divorce and can help you prepare an attorney quality declaration for your divorce case.

Do You Need A Divorce Minute Order | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What is a divorce minute order, when will you need one and how do you get one.  All that and more is answered by the article by Tim Blankenship with https://divorce661.com and discussed in the below video.

First off, let’s talk about what a divorce minute order is. A minute order is simply the court clerks detailed notes of what happened in a hearing or trial.  So you won’t have a minute order unless you have been to court.  So if you have had a trial or hearing and need to know what orders the court made on that date, you would get a copy of the minute order.

Now, why would you need one?   Most people will never need a minute order, but there are circumstances where you will.  One such circumstance is if you go to a hearing at divorce court asking the judge to make order after you had filed a motion.  So let’s say you filed a motion for spousal support or child support, the hearing was held and the judge made orders.

If you are representing yourself, the judge may ask you to prepare what is called an Order After Hearing.  It essentially is a “Order… After… The hearing.  You have to type of the order of the court and would use the minute order to get the exact language of what the judge ordered during the hearing.  When you submit the order after hearing back to the court for the judge’s signature, they will verify the language of the order matched that of the minute order.

In the video above we go into a little more detail about how to complete the order after hearing, but that will be for another blog post and another video down the road.

Now, now to you get a minute order.  This is quite simple.  All you need to do is go to the court room your case was heard in (if it was recent) and give the court clerk the date of the hearing and request the minute order.  If it has been several weeks and there are no future hearings, your file may have made it back to the storage area, in which case you would request it from the court clerk’s office.

We specialize in divorce in Los Angeles County and are centrally located in Santa Clarita, CA.  Please give us a call if you would like to learn more about our divorce services.