California Divorce Does Living Together Prior To Marriage Count

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce Does Living Together Prior To Marriage Count

Today we’re trying something different. We’re recording both a podcast and a video at the same time.

So you may be listening to this on iTunes or Stitcher Radio of you may be watching this on YouTube or one of the other various video channels.

In today’s episode, what we’re talking about is an article I recently read, this was at the United Kingdom actually.

And what they were talking about as pertains to divorce is that the courts are looking at overhauling the law and in essence trying to give more rights to couples living together but not married.

Because they are finding that people are in long term relationships yet not getting married. And then when they have a split that there’s no benefits to the parties that are splitting as you would in a regular marriage.

Now the issue that comes up is, if you’re not married, let’s say this was something that happened in California.

If you go a through divorce in California, and you are in a short term marriage it’s going to affect how spousal support, if it’s going to be given or provided.

The length of marriage is one of the determining factors on how much and how long you’ll get spousal support.

I’m going to tell you a story. I’ve had clients come in and in one particular case they’ve been living together for 17 years total.

Living together for 17 years but were only married for three. And the question was, well, how long is the marriage considered to be? Because we were together a total of 17 years but are only married for three.

And the issue with that is that they don’t look at the time together while you were not married. It’s only going to be counted for the time you were married.

So for three years and because this particular spouse wanted spousal support, it’s only going to be based on three years as opposed to 17 years which is obviously a huge difference.

Now in the United Kingdom, where this article is based out of, it brings up that point. And it is basically saying “Is it even worth getting married, if they’re going to have the same benefits being unmarried as you do married?”

And I think that brings up an interesting, somewhat ethical viewpoint that would — I’m sure people would have different opinions on depending on who you talked to.

But in California, it does bring up some interesting points. Because if you are unmarried and you have children, one of the issues is going to be with the children and the paternity determination in California.

If you are married then it is the courts figure obviously if you’re the mom there’s going to be where your children, no issue there.

And if the father is married, it is agreed upon that is your child, if you’re married. That’s just how the law works.

If you’re not married that’s not the case. And you have to do what’s called a parentage. And so there are going to be some issues with the children if you’re unmarried.

And if this some similar law came in to effect in United States or California, for instance, it could post some issues with the children. So I thought this was an interesting topic I wanted to bring up. And we’re going to be bringing up more issues that we’re seeing.

And trends and things regarding divorce, not just in California, but across United States and things like out of the country that we’re seeing different things.

I’m just wondering what people see, what people think rather about this particular issue of it, if it’s something you think of good or bad.

And I’ll tell you what. Being involved in divorce on a daily basis with folks here in California, I can tell you that we’re starting to see a lot of short term marriages being ended.

And I think it’s just a change in the culture or this particular the generation younger generations growing up where we’re starting to see, well, they simply it doesn’t have the same effect marriage is now the same effect as dead, for instance, with my parents or with me where that is that true bond.

And you’re going to try and stick it out and find it out. We’re seeing a lot of short term marriages with younger generations.

One year, two years or three years and so on and they’re getting a divorce. It seems like it’s more like trading in a car.

If it didn’t work out at least it’s over, we’ll try to get a new one. It’s an interesting mind set where people kind of are in that younger generation are simply throwing in the towel.

Just because things aren’t working out and for whatever reasons whatever mindset is in this generation, it seems that they have an easier time deciding on getting divorce than trying to work it out and keep their marriage going.

California Divorce And Changing Your Last Name To Former Name

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce And Changing Your Last Name To Former Name

Today, we’re talking about should you change your name if you’re a woman after you get divorced.

So when you’re going through a divorce in California one of the things you’ll have to consider as part of the divorce as part of the paperwork is if you’re going to change your name back to your former name or your maiden name at the end of your divorce.

So this is question that every spouse, every wife, every woman rather needs to think about. And it’s one that most don’t take likely.

I will bring it up but we don’t make people make a decision right through on the spot. We let them know.

It is a decision they will need to make one way or the other going through the divorce process in California.

So some of the things–I just want to share with you some of the things that people tell me that the women tell me their consideration of changing their name.

Number one is if they have young children, their concern is they don’t want to have a different last name than the names of their children for reasons of going to school and things like that.

They want to keep their last name same as their children if they’re in school. And I think it’s one of the biggest factors.

I hear that a lot for women saying, “You know, I want my name to be the same as my children when we go to school.”

Number two when there are long term marriages, we’re talking 20-30 years. Those women tend to keep the same name the married name because the entire world has known them as that last name for so long.

And it would be–they tell me almost awkward for them to go back to a maiden name they haven’t used in so many years. So that’s number two.

Then the folks in the middle, so, those are fairly easy decisions. If you still have young children you want to have the same name that seems to be reasonable.

If you have the name for a long time, it seems reasonable that you’d want to keep it. But what if you’re in the middle?

What if you have no children and you have a 15 year marriage, 10 year marriage something like that. You’ve had the name a long time but not 30 years.

Do you keep the name or do you want to move on?

Some of the women have told me that they want to go back to their maiden name even though they’ve had the name for so long.

More of a freedom thing, more of we’re divorced, why would I want to keep this last name attached to me as a constant reminder of being married I supposed.

So there really is no right or wrong answer when it comes to filing your divorce papers in California. It is one of the check boxes to determine if you’re going to go back to your former name.

You can put it on the judgment, on the final agreement that you want to go back, just so you have the court order saying the judges agreed to your request to go back to your former name.

You can do that. And then you don’t have to right away go and change your name.

But you would have an order if you later change your minds to go back to your former name.

Now just because you put it on the court documents and the judge agrees signs off that you can go back to your former name, you still have to do it legally.

You’d have to change it with Social Security Administration and with the California Department Motor Vehicles. You’d still have to do that.

So to make things easier if you’re not sure, you can always request to have your former name.

And if you decide later not to change it, you’re not going to be forced to do it because you’d have to take a pro-active step in going and changing the name back to your former name.

So this is just a little bit free to think about, if you’re going to go through divorce or you’re in the middle of getting divorce in California.

These are kind of I just want to share with you what our clients kind of share with us in making their decision to keep their last name or not.

Divorce Paralegal Service In West Covina California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Paralegal Service In West Covina California

Today we’re talking to folks in West Covina who maybe considering getting a divorce. And we wanted to talk to you a little bit about our services and your options when it comes to getting a divorce in West Covina.

So we are a full service Divorce Paralegal Firm. That means that we will fill out all the forms for you.

We go down the court for you. We will file the documents. Essentially do everything for you from A-Z, so, you can go on with your life.

But on top of this filling out the forms and going down the court and filing and running you through this process, we’re also here for information.

And to provide assistance when you have questions about the process and procedure of what kind of getting through this process we call divorce.

So because we are a full service we will take care of everything for you. You won’t have to worry about going down to court or how to fill out the forms or answering questionnaires or anything like that.

And also you don’t have to come in our office unless you want to. Let’s say probably 50% of folks decided to come to our office, the other half decided they wanted just to use our service by communicating with us over the phone or via email, what have you.

When you go through divorce many things have to be addressed. We’re talking about deciding whose going to have the children, the custody and visitation agreement.

We’re talking about spousal support and child support if that’s applicable.

We’re talking about dividing up all your assets and debts. All of that is what we will help you do in going through the process of divorce.

And we will take care again all of that you, so, you don’t have to worry about doing that.

What I recommend you to do if you are considering your different options whether you decide to use an attorney or use a service like ours or to try to do it yourself, feel free to give me a call.

We’ll talk to you more specifically about specific circumstances in your case. Make sure you’re a good fit for our particular service.

And just kind of go over things and make sure that whatever service that would be useful for you.

So you make sure you give us a call. I’d be happy to give you a free consultation over the phone.

You can call the number on your screen which is 661-281-0266 or go to our website at divorced661.com for more information.

I look forward to working with you soon if you need our assistance.

Divorce Paralegal Service In Pico Rivera California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Paralegal Service In Pico Rivera California

Today we’re talking to folks in Pico Rivera California.

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably looking for an alternative service aside from attorney to get some assistance with your divorce. And that’s exactly what we’re here to help you with.

We’re a full service divorce paralegal firm specialize only in divorce in California and specifically in Los Angeles County.

We work with clients all throughout the County of Los Angeles and helping them with their divorce.

Now we are a full service divorce paralegal service.

What that means is we will do everything from A to Z, we will complete your forms for you, no questionnaires that you have to complete.

We will go down the court, and we will file all your documents, we will serve your documents, we will do all the necessary processes and procedures that the court requires you.

You won’t have to worry about any of those types of things.

When we’re talking about divorce we have to handle all, address all issues in your divorce. So we’re talking about issues of assets and debts.

We have to help you divide up your property. You have to let us know. Here’s what are properties is and how are we going to divide our debt.

If you have children, we’re talking about custody and visitation orders. We’re talking about child support – things to that nature.

If there’s going to be order for spousal support we can help you determine those amounts as well. We have all the court software and everything that the attorney’s have to help you get through your entire case from start to finish.

Now, because we’re not a law firm, the only thing what we can’t do that they could do in a law firm is we’re here to represent you in court. And we’re not here to give you legal advice.

But as far as processes and procedures are concerned, we can take you all the way through your case without any additional third party services for one low flat fee.

So make sure to give us call. We’d be happy to give you a free consultation over the phone to make sure we are a good service for you.

Make sure you guys at least attempt to work somewhat amicable through your divorce and are kind of on the right page as far as getting started and getting this divorce concluded for you.

Make sure to give me a call.

We’d be happy again to talk to you over the phone and talk about your specific circumstances of your divorce and let you know if will be the right service for you.

Give us a call on the number on your screen or you can go to our website at divorce661.com for more information.

Divorce Paralegal Service In La Mirada California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Paralegal Service In La Mirada California

Today we are talking to the folks in La Mirada California.

If you’re reading this article, you may be considering going through divorce you may have some question.

You probably spent some time in numerous websites trying to find perhaps a service or how this divorce work and things to that nature.

We understand this is probably your first time going through this.

You’re trying to find out all the information and what is going to take to get divorce. How does this divorce work, how long does it take. All of these 10 questions I get asked everyday at least 20 times a day from people calling in.

It’s your first time – you don’t understand the divorce process. And that’s what we are here to help you with.

So we are licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm. We’re essentially a paralegal firm that specializes in divorce in California.

If you’re looking for information in how divorce works, and what the process, and what the procedures are, just make sure to give us a call.

It’s a good thing you’re looking online and looking for resources on how divorce works. It’s important to understand the process and procedure.

When you are ready give us a call, we’d be happy just to go over your case, explain to you in 10 or 15 minutes exactly what is going to take to get you through the divorce.

Now who are we? We are a licensed and bonded document preparation firm.

So we specialize in divorce and we essentially know the differences we’re not allowed to offer. We’re not attorneys.

We’re not here to give you legal advice or represent you in court. But we are a full service firm that from A to Z will take you from start to finish without any additional resources.

And in cases where you and your spouse are attempting to work through your divorce in a friendly manner or in an amicable manner, or at least you are trying to work together and at some point you’re trying to work together to get your case completed, we’re here to facilitate that process.

We fill in all the forms for you. We’ll explain the process and procedure. We go down the court. We file your documents.

We serve your document. We will explain the process and procedure as we go along. And we address everything with you. We’re talking about distribution of assets and debts.

And who’s going to get what?

Essentially we’re talking about children if you have kids in your divorce. We need to come up with a custody and visitation plan.

We also need to come up with some child support. We have courts software, everything the attorney’s have, all the software that the courts have, we have everything to help you to get through your divorce from start to finish.

And if there’s other left to address, from property and children, is spousal support that’s going to come up or not.

So please give us call. We’d be happy to talk to you. We are full service divorce paralegal firm. We are serving folks in La Mirada. We specialize in divorce in Los Angeles County.

You don’t need to come to our office if you don’t want to. We do a lot just right over the phone or by email.

But we are full service and I want to emphasize that as much as I can because you can go on with your life. We are here to answer your questions. We are here to do the paperwork and work for you.  And get you through your divorce for a low flat fee.

Please go to our website for more information or like I said feel free to give me a call we’d be happy to discuss your specific circumstances and see if you’re good fit for our service.

Talk to you soon.

Divorce Paralegal Service In Downey California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Paralegal Service In Downey California

We are your full service Divorce Paralegal Firm serving Los Angeles County.

And this video is specifically for folks in Downey California who maybe considering going through divorce and are looking for some help and some resources to get through their divorce case or maybe some alternatives.

Something a little bit more affordable than hiring an attorney, and something a little bit simpler than trying to do your divorce in Downey on your own.

So we are a Full Service Divorce Paralegal Firm specializing only in divorce. And we serve all of Los Angeles California County.

Because we are a full service this means that we will fill out all the forms for you.

We will go to court and file your divorce paper for you. We will serve it. We will do all the processes and procedure the courts require. You know, dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s, making sure all the boxes are checked.

And then in addition to that we also will assist you with helping you with decisions on how you are going to divide up your assets and debts which is necessary in the divorce.

If you have children you’re going to have come up with the custody and visitation plan, and child support plan which we can also help you with.

We have all the court software that the courts have, and that attorney’s have. So that’s all part of the process when you use our services. And then if there’s going to be spousal support we can also help you come up with those numbers as well.

When you using a service like ours, our best clients are usually those that are going through what we call an Amicable Divorce.

So at least you know same with Friendly Divorce doesn’t mean you have to be friends. It just means that you guys are going to work together on this.

And not going to hire an attorney necessarily. You’re not going to court. But you’re going to try to work through your issues of your divorce in a friendly mediated type manner.

We handle hundreds of cases a year in California here. And we’ve really become the go-to folks for divorce in California and specifically Los Angeles County.

So regardless of where you live, we are handling cases all throughout Los Angeles County. This video is made specifically for those folks in Downey.

We do the service – all the courts in Los Angeles County and which includes Downey of course. And we’d be happy to help you with your divorce.

Give us a call we’d be happy to give you a free consultation.  And just talk about more the specific circumstances of your divorce.

And make sure you’re good fit for our service. For more information you can visit our website at divorce661.com. So go ahead and jump on over there and take a look.

We’ve written thousands of articles about divorce. A lots of video like this one, ore tutorial type videos and instructional videos.

We have a podcast as well where you can listen to on iTunes. So there are lots of resources where you can learn all about what is going to take to get through the process.

And then when you’re ready to talk give us call we’d be happy to discuss your specific circumstances.

This is Tim Blankenship divorce661.com. I look forward to helping you when you needed assistance with your divorce.

Divorce Paralegal Rosemead California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Paralegal Rosemead California Divorce

Today we are taking to our clients in Rosemead California.

I want to let you know a little bit about our business and what we can do to help you. And how we can help you to save money and get through your divorce in Rosemead California fast, efficient, and smooth.

So we are a licensed document preparation firm specializing in divorce in California. So divorce is essentially all we do. I want to let you know a little bit about what we can do to help with your divorce.

As licensed divorce document preparation, we can work with you directly. We don’t have attorneys with our office.

We’re not a law firm, we’re not here to give you legal advice or represent you in court. We are here to help you with document preparation of your forms, filing them, going to court, serving them, and filing out financial disclosures for you.

We then complete the agreement which we’ll take care of everything as far as division of assets and debts.

Anything to do with your property, your children custody, visitation, spousal support, child support, literally everything is involved in what we do for you.

So just keep in mind – we are that lower cost alternative not many or should I say most divorce cases do not require an attorney. If you need legal advice or you are going to need representation in court that’s where you need an attorney.

But 90 % of divorce is simple – filling out paperwork, and following the court procedure, and processes properly.

So the court can then sign off on your judgment. Please give us your call. We’d be happy to help you with your divorce in Rosemead. We do specialize in California and divorce is all we do.

My name is Tim Blankenship. Please visit our website at divorce661.com or you can give us call.

We’d be happy to give you a free consultation.

Divorce In A Day In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce In A Day In California

Today we are talking a little bit more about our divorce in a day program.

Ever since the courts in California started announcing this plan of trying to do divorce in a day which in my previous video I’ve said it’s pretty much a misnomer you can’t really get divorced in a day.

We have been getting some calls on it and people asking how this can be achieved.

So what we started doing is instead of the normal procedure and process of divorce in doing paperwork in a series of steps.

We got people coming to our office and say we like to just get these taken care of in one appointment. Can we do that?

And so that is we’ve all been doing and people seem to appreciate the fact that they can come in and about an hour to an hour and a half we can get through an entire divorce, we can get through all the paperwork, we can get through all the signatures and of course after everything is signed and the folks leave our office, we do have to go through the procedure of filing and serving and doing all that and have to wait the customary six months here in California.

But we are able to get them done with everything in one appointment. So you don’t have to come back through our office.

And this is usual if you guys have agreements to everything regarding custody visitation spousal support, child support if you have all these agreements in place. We can graph it right on the spot.

And this is particularly good if you have a very simple divorce perhaps no kids, no property, and it’s just a matter of undoing what you did, and living what you came into with and so on.

So we are doing this more and more it is fast, it’s easy, it’s painless about an hour and half we can have all the paper work done with your case and you’d be officially done with the paperwork.

However, you just have to complete the procedure and the processes with the court you still have to wait the six months and until it’s effective.

So, if you have a very simple divorce and you want to get this taken care of a single appointment we’d be happy to do that just let us know that that is your plan so we can allow for a lecture time for your appointment.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com helping you with your California divorce.

Feel free to call the number on your screen or visit our website for more information.

California Divorce Use Court Forms For Judgment Not Marital Settlement Agreement

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce Use Court Forms For Judgment Not Marital Settlement Agreement

Today we are talking about the easiest way of preparing your judgment.

And the reason I bring this up is because yesterday I had a client in my office that came in and they had this long written agreement it’s called the marital settlement agreement or settlement agreement.

And it was a long drawn out settlement agreement. And some of these you’ll find through other online services, they provide these 10 or 15 page legal documents and a lot of them are legally insufficient so we got away from using those.

And then we also have people who come in who have a written agreement were they basically took out a piece of paper and said, this is what I want to keep, this is our agreement, this is what the other parties are going to keep, and this is the agreement

And a lot of those are being rejected by the court because they need to have specific legal language in them.

You can’t just hand-write or type up an agreement, there has to be a specific language in those agreements. So what we’re doing is we’re getting away from doing those.

In fact we haven’t done them in years. Because the courts now have the court forums that you can use that already have all the legal language and all you need to do is check the check boxes that are applicable. So let me give you an example.

We are talking about the judgment, when you have a judgment you have to have the FL-180, you have the judgment form, and then you just have your attachments for the applicable fields that you have.

So for instance, if you look at the judgment on page 2 you’ll see that you have issues of child custody, child supports, spousal supports, and property.

All of those have specific order forms that you can attach to the judgment which have all the specific language already in them.

So let’s talk about if have children you attached the child custody and the child support order form, and then you just go to this forms and check the boxes that are applicable and you don’t have to worry about is the language correct because it already has the correct court language.

Again, with spousal support and with property all you have to do is check the boxes it indicates which property is community property, which property is separate property, and who’s getting what.

So this is how we do our judgment, we just use the court forms because it doesn’t leave room for chance where you’re going to make a mistake and not put the correct legal language in your documents.

So where the lady came in yesterday she had a fifteen page agreement, we turned that into five pages of just forms.

Did it in about ten minutes just checking the boxes and it was a done deal.

So there is definitely a streamline way of doing this.

Unfortunately the courts do not make this very apparent and if you are looking at forms online and software services online, they’re going to misdirect you and it’s going to end up more difficult than just hiring a service like ours from the very beginning and letting us take care of your divorce for you here in California.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com, I hope that was helpful. Please call me.

I’ll be happy to give you a free consultation and explain what we can do for you and we will be happy to help. Please go to our website on the screen here at divorce661.com for more information.

California Divorce The Court Orders Good Cause Appearing

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce The Court Orders Good Cause Appearing

Today we’ve been talking about a lot different areas where people have trouble with their divorce judgment here in California.

Again we are talking about the FL-180 and in this particular case we are talking about what you put where it says the court orders good cause appearing on the FL-180 so we are going to talk about that quickly.

First up, I want to let you know we are a full service divorce paralegal firm specializing in divorce in California.

So if you have been  working on your own and you may be because you are now watching this video and you are at the judgment phase which by the way is going to be the most difficult part of your divorce in California.

So give us call if you need assistance, we’d be happy to pick up where you left off and wrapped things up for you, again anywhere in California.

But on this specific area what do we mark, what do you put down where it says the court orders good cost appearing.

So what you are going to mark is the first box that says judgment of dissolution as entered marital or domestic partnership status is terminated and the parties are restored to the status of single person and then you are going to mark on a specific date.

Number one, that is what we always mark, that is what the court tells us to mark on a specific date. But then you don’t put that date in there you are going to leave that date blank.

And the court will fill in that date. But what we see is folks putting in a date and what their usually doing is the six months after the reserved date.

But does not necessarily going to be the date specially if you get your judgment submitted late, specially the courts here in Los Angeles County are backlogged their taking quite a while to get these reviewed.

So leave that blank at number four on the judgment form and you are just going to mark box A1 and the court will fill in the date.

I hope that was helpful in processing your judgment form, again a lot of folks have difficulty with that.

Tim Blankenship specializing in divorce in California and feel free to give us call.

We’d happy to help you with your divorce, 661-281-0266 or go to our website which is on your screen for more information.