The California Divorce Process Is Frustrating We Can Help

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The California Divorce Process Is Frustrating We Can Help

We have fixed fee pricing so make sure to call us when you need some help.

This article is talking about people being frustrated with the divorce process.

We get people that call us from all over state of California asking for assistance which we happen to do for a fee and because of the frustration in the paperwork, or the process, or just the whole issue of getting divorced.

People call us from, again, all over California and they call us at different stages in their divorce, so let’s talk about that.

We get calls from the very beginning when people have decided on getting a divorce, they don’t want to hire an attorney, they want to work it out on their own and they want more than an affordable cost – that will be us.

They call us at the beginning. They don’t want to deal with it; they’re both working, they don’t have time and they don’t want to deal with the paperwork. That’s number one.

Number two – we have people call us who have gone down to the courthouse, picked up the paperwork or got off line, tried to fill it out, maybe they even filed the initial paperwork; it got returned, rejected, having problems – they’ll call us.

Another time they’ll call us is when they get three courses of the way to the process. They’ve filed, they served, they think they do everything right and they are to realize everything was done wrong and they’re pretty frustrated and they call us for help.

The worst cases are these: You filed, served and all the financial stuff – all the forms; you think you’ve done everything right; you’ve tried to prepare the judgment, you submit your judgment to the court, months go by, you don’t hear anything, you think “Great! It’s over!”

Six / eight months later, you get a rejection sheet, mailed with all of your forms coming back to you and you’re devastated because now you have to literally start over.

You’ll have a sheet with check marks of issues and things you did incorrect and it could go as far back as the initial paperwork you did because the court is not reviewing your forms that you file at any point in your divorce until you submit your final paperwork.

So, obviously, we recommend that you call us – and from the very beginning. You don’t have to do this on your own and we’d be happy to help you there but we can also help you at any point in the process.

If you get stuck, if you get completely frustrated, throw up your hands and want to give up – call us. We can figure out where you’re at, picked up where you left off, fix all of the stuff you already messed up and take it to the finish line for you.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com. 661-281-0266. Anywhere in California, we can help you, so please give me a call.

 

 

Do I Have To Live Separate Before Divorce In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Do I Have To Live Separate Before Divorce In California

Today we’re answering the questions of is it okay to live with your spouse during divorce.

And the reason people have this question is because it varies by state. In California you do not have to live separately in a different residence from your spouse while going through the divorce process. You do not have to be literally separated.

In fact many of our clients, because of financial reasons continue to live together in the same house until their divorce is finalized, some even afterwards.

So, it’s okay. You don’t have to move out of your home before or move in a separate residence before you file for divorce. And that’s different from state to state, in California that’s the case.

I’ll give you a different idea of what that would be on another state. In Arizona for instance, I was talking to a family law attorney, they’re in Phoenix and the have to be separated for twelve months, literally live apart for twelve months, separate residence. Apparently not even in a separate room in the same house but you have to be separate living apart for twelve months.

That brings up some interesting considerations and thoughts because a lot of times people going through divorce it’s costly. You’re going to spend some money on your divorce and when you live apart you still have to make your family finances be a part of your divorce.

We have people that are going through divorce for months. It could take six, eight, twelve months in California to finalize your divorce even in an uncontested case and those people maintain the status quote by still paying the bills together, collectively.

Because when you live in two different households and you’ll soon realize when finalized your divorce. It’s more costly to run two households than it is one. So, those folks in Arizona assume ably are having a little bit more difficult financial time because they are forced to live separate for twelve months.

Just keep in mind, California, you can be in the same house, you can be in the same bed. The courts don’t matter it’s a no fault state. You don’t even have to be in different rooms. You don’t even have to be on the couch. We get most of our clients do this out of necessity.

Please give me a call if you’d like assistance with your divorce in California. My number is 661-281-0266 and you can get more information off our website at divorce661.com.

 

 

 

 

Santa Clarita Divorce Consultation

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce Consultation

Today we’re talking about the divorce consultations that we offer.

When we get calls, people have usually spent lots of time on our website at divorce661.com. They’ve watched one of our more than 200 videos. Listen to Podcasts and listen to our radio show. Checked us out on our reviews and did a lot of research before they ever call. And it’s good to do.

As far as consultations are concern, we do provide free over the phone consultations because in this industry of divorce, people do not know the ins and outs of it as we do. That’s what we’re here for, that’s what you’re going to ultimately pay us to do, is provide information.

Now, we provide that information through our articles. We’ve written over a thousand of articles on divorce in California. If you’re happy to take time to go ahead and read everything, learn up on the issue of divorce and when you want information specific to your case, because your case is going to be separate and different and individualized from everyone else is.

You can read facts, you can read articles and you can watch all the videos in the world but there’s going to be certain things that applied directly to you. You’re going to have something specific in your case that you have questions to this. You’re not going to have a perfect answer.

When that happens, pick up the phone and give us a call. We’d be happy to spend 15 – 20 minutes on the phone with you to explain our process, what we can do for you. Answer any specific questions you have related to your case to get you comfortable so we can get you ready to come in and get started with our service.

Please make sure to give us a call. The number is 661-281-0266. I’d be happy to spend some time on the phone with you to answer all your questions. You can also go to our website at divorce661.com and I will put a link on this video that you can click on and it will take you right to the article that talks more about what we discussed in this video.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com. 661-281-0266.

 

How To Find Your California Case Number

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To Find Your California Case Number

Today we are talking about how you can find your case number.

We got lots of calls from people trying to figure out where their case is at. They have some of the documents they filed, maybe it has been years ago and they don’t know where they at, and the way you can determine where at is you need to see the documents are filed.

You can do that with your local county. It depends on where you are at in California. Go to your county court website and you’re going to look at something that says self-help services, online services and then you’re going to want to click on the link that says case summary.

You are at the case summary and all you need is the case number to find out where you’re at in your case and what documents have been filed.

This is useful for finding out hearings and things in that nature.

Now, keep in mind. You have to have your case number in order to check your case summary. There’s no way of searching by name in any of the courts in California. You have to have the case number.

So, if you don’t have the case number, the only way you can get it is by going down to the court house that you filed in or in fact you could probably go to any of the branch courts in your county and you can ask the clerk to run your name and they’ll take your license, your date of birth and they’ll find you in the system. But you can’t do that online.

You can also go in to some of the branch courts like in LA County where we’re located. They do have a computer inside that’s for personal use where you can search by name and look up cases.

My name is Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com.

If you’d like some help with your divorce please give me a call at 661-281-0266.

Van Nuys Divorce Court How Long Will Motion Take

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Van Nuys Divorce Court How Long Will Motion Take

Today we are talking about Van Nuys Court House in California and we’re talking about hearings that you’re setting with the court.

So, this would be called a request for order or a motion. They used to be called an order to show cost.

And what we’re talking about today is how long it’s going to take you to get a hearing when you file a motion. Because it is important to know how far out it’s going.

About a year and a half ago it used to be thirty days from the day you filed to the day you’d actually be on court. Then they crapped up to forty five days, then sixty and now it’s a whopping ninety days before you’ll get a hearing and that’s pretty bad considering people are filing motions to get temporary orders in their divorce case.

It may be because they need child support or spousal support or some type of other order and they have to wait ninety days before they can go to court.

The reason we know this, we just filed a case in Van Nuys and we file a motion for custody, visitation, support, everything else you will file in a motion when you have children and it was set in January.

Not only is there an issue because they are going into the holidays and we need some temporary child support and child visitation custody orders but now it’s going to go all the way through the end of the year into January.

Just keep that in mind, if you’re going to file a motion or you’re going to ask us to file a motion for you, which we can do for you. You’re looking at about ninety days before you get a hearing and this is for Van Nuys specific. It’s different with every court.

San Fernando is about sixty, Downtown is about sixty, it really depends, but Van Nuys they’re really backed up and I just want to keep that in mind.

So, if you need help in getting a motion filed, you can call us. We’ll prepare it for you. File it, serve it, do everything and that’s the service we provide, otherwise just keep in mind you’re looking at ninety days before you get any temporary orders in your divorce.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com.

Give me a call if you like some assistance with your divorce. 661-281-0266.

How To Terminate California Spousal Support During Long Term Marriage

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To Terminate California Spousal Support During Long Term Marriage

Today we are talking about terminating spousal support on a long term marriage. If it’s possible because of the ten year rule.

First I have to disclose, I’m not attorney, we’re not a law firm so we can’t give legal advice so all of this information we’re going to provide, you should verify or ask an attorney.

We do handle a large line with divorce cases. Many of our divorce cases, the spouses are married for ten years or longer and if you do your research online, you’ll see that the California law indicates that marriages over ten years in length will result in jurisdiction over the issue of spousal support to be indefinite.

But what happens when both parties are making the same amount of money, they have a long term marriage and neither of them wants the court to retain jurisdiction. How can that be resolved?

Because we have mostly all amicable cases and cases where parties are working together to come into an agreement. There is a way you can ask the court to terminate jurisdiction over long term marriages and spousal support by using a specific waiver information.

Essentially, it will say something to the effect of the parties understand that they are waiving jurisdiction to spousal support despite that being in California law and they sign the agreement willingly, knowingly without the rest etc.

And we’ve been able to get the courts to approve long term marriage termination of spousal support, where the parties are in an agreement to do so.

We had a case just last week where the parties literally made identical amounts of money per month. It was a long term marriage and neither of them wants spousal support, neither of them wanted the court to have jurisdiction in the future towards spousal support.

So, that’s the language that we use, there’s obviously more to that language. It’s a full paragraph waiver and that’s been approved by the court and they’ve terminate jurisdiction on spousal support even on long term marriages.

Hope that’s helpful. You can read the article to this video by clicking the link below. It’ll take you right to the article a little bit more in depth about this issue.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com.

We’d be happy to help you with your divorce in California. 661-281-0266.

How To Establish Paternity During California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To Establish Paternity During California Divorce

Today we are talking about establishing paternity during the divorce process in California.

Okay, what is paternity?

You have to establish paternity in your divorce case if you are filing for divorce and you have a child with your spouse and that child was born prior to the marriage.

So, anytime the child was born prior to the marriage, you need to establish paternity through your divorce filing.

Now, this is the case whether or not you have a birth certificate with a father’s name on it or if the father has filed the declaration paternity, the form you’ll fill out in the hospital. You still need to have this paternity established during the divorce.

And in order to do this, it’s very simple. Obviously we’re assuming that there is no contest regarding who is the father. So that would be number one.

What you’re going to do to do this again, it’s simple. All you need to do on the petition, this is the FL-100 is on box 7D on page two. It’s a very small line, it’s very easy to miss and many people do. You need to check that box 7D on page two of the petition, FL-100. You’re going to check that box if you have a child born prior to the marriage.

If you don’t do that and you file it and if you happen to miss it, you don’t catch it. Many people forget to check this box because they assume that it’s the father but you need to establish that through the court if file that and it’s not checked and you have a child born before the marriage and you serve it. It will end up rejecting your entire case.

You would need to re-file and a minute petition and correct that and mark that box 7D to establish paternity.

I hope that’s helpful.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com for more information or feel free to call me, 661-281-0266. We’d be happy to help you with your divorce in California.

California Default Divorce With Agreement | CA Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Default Divorce With Agreement | CA Divorce

Today we are talking about the California divorce process called default with agreement.

This should be one of the most talked about styles of divorce but it’s not.

What it is briefly is a divorce with agreement but is a default case. Trying to give you a little background on this.

A true default case is one where you file or your spouse files and the other party does not respond and doesn’t do anything. They don’t fill out any financial forms, disclosures. They don’t enter into a written agreement, nothing.

That’s what is called a true default. And we’re finding that people are doing that strategically so they don’t have to pay a filing fee and that’s fine. But there is a better way.

This is called a default with agreement. What this allows you to do is, one party files and the other party does not respond, you both do all your same financial disclosures, incoming expense and schedule of assets and debts and then you enter into a written agreement. This is called a default with agreement.

So it can still be a default case because no response was filed but you’re going to file a request to enter default form with the judgment and that’s the difference.

Now, why do I suggest this? Because it saves you money. You can enter into a written agreement with you and your spouse and get the courts approval with no response fee.

You won’t have to pay a fee for the response, because as you know, if you file for a divorce you pay a filing fee. If your spouse response, they pay a filing fee.

So this is a way to get through the entire case with a single filing fee.

Of course, this is only going to be useful if you have an amicable, uncontested case where you guys trust each other and are working on coming to an agreement on things.

Default with agreement is also known as a hybrid. I talk about this quite a bit, 95% of our cases are filed this way. Purely to save people money.

Now, we can help you save money up to this point $435. Now, you have some money to use our service to prepare your divorce documents for you.

We are licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm. We specialize in California divorce. We can help you anywhere you are in California.

Please feel free to give us a call. We’d be happy to get your divorce completed for you. We do work on affordable flat rates. You’ll find more information about us at divorce661.com or feel free to give me a call at 661-281-0266.

You can click the link below, it will take you right to the article related to this video so you can learn more about the default with agreement divorce in California.

California Divorce | Do You Need To File Response When Divorce Is Amicable?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

California Divorce | Do You Need To File Response When Divorce Is Amicable?

Today I want to talk to you about filing for divorce in California and if you need to file a response if your divorce is amicable.

If everything is pretty hunky-dory and you think you’re going to get through your divorce and it’s not going to be contested and you’re not going to end up in court. Meaning, it’s amicable, the question is should you file a response.

If you take a look at the summons, it’ll say that you have to file a response and if you don’t file a response, the court can make decisions without you and a lot of that stuff can happen to you. And that’s true.

However, if you have an amicable divorce and you and your spouse are working together to complete your case together and that’s how we do 95% of our cases. Both parties are working together. We don’t have them file a response.

It’s not necessary to complete your judgment. You don’t have to file a response to complete your judgment if you have an amicable divorce. You can still complete your divorce, do all the financial paperwork. All the same things you would do as if you responded and including entering into a written agreement with your spouse.

This is what’s called a hybrid. It’s also called a default with agreement. Totally allowed by the courts. They don’t advertise it because they’d rather get two filing fees if they could.

And if you have questions on this, make sure to call me. You can also research on our YouTube channel, default agreement with default divorce with agreement.

We’ve done a video on that as well so you can get more information on that. Just to do homework and see if that will work for you.

The reason we wanted to get this information out there is because the filing fees in California are $435 currently. You would be beneficial if you could save that money and file a hybrid or a default with agreement divorce case and save $435.

If you want more information on this, call me and I’d be happy to prepare your divorce in this manner. Save you that $435 and then that would help you afford our fees for preparing your divorce and you don’t have to do it on your own.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com. 661-281-0266. We do handle divorce cases all throughout California.

Look forward to helping you and of course you can always get more information off our website or feel free to give me a call, we’d be happy to help you.

Why You Should Not Do Your Own California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Why You Should Not Do Your Own California Divorce

I wanted to talk to you today about why you don’t want to do your own divorce in California.

I’ve written plenty of articles on the fact that you can do your own divorce, which you can. But this video is going to tell you about the pitfalls of trying to do your own divorce in California.

Now, the reason I say trying is because a lot of people a lot of people try and a lot of people fail and I want to let you know what you’re up against and some of the things you’re going to find.

Again, yes you can do your own divorce technically. Doing your own divorce and actually completing successfully are two entirely different things.

Let’s talk about some of the down sides. Number one, you’re not an industry. You’re not in the business of doing divorce. I’m sure you have a career, something you do very well at, something that I don’t know how to do and I wouldn’t attempt to do your job so you shouldn’t attempt to do mine.

Number two and these are in no particular order. The divorce forms are tricky it kinds of go back to number one. You’re not going to understand the process. You’re not going to understand the forms. You’re not going to understand the procedure.

Some of it is easy to understand but most of it is very difficult and the forms only get harder. Meaning, you may be able to file your summons and petitions. The initial paperwork. It’s not that difficult.

You may serve it correctly. You may do your financial forms correctly but if you get through all that you have your final judgment and agreement to prepare and that’s where people have the most trouble.

Most people have their judgment rejected multiple, multiple times. We’re talking about 3, 4, 5, 6 times and I noticed because people come to us after attempted to do their divorce on their own and they just can’t get it through the system.

And they’ve spent years, months, of frustration. Thinking they’ve save themselves money, where really what they’ve done is spent probably more time working on their case when they could have earn additional income to their business. Maybe they spent time in the evenings on the weekend or after work or in the self-help centers trying to complete their divorce and to no avail, ultimately just having to hire us. Had they hired us from the beginning, their case would have been finalized long ago.

Those are the main reasons why we don’t suggest you file your own divorce or attempt to do your own case in California.

Give us a call. We can get your case completed quick, painless and affordabe. We work on a flat fee basis. You can go to divorce661.com. Go to our pricing page. Take a look there at our affordable pricing it’s all fix fees. It’s all based on the amount of work we’re going to have to do.

Everything is upfront as far as the cost, there’s no hidden fees and we take care of everything. Preparing your documents, take them to court, filing them, serving them, financial disclosures. Preparing your final judgment which is everything.

We’re talking about parenting plan, custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, property order, who’s getting what. We can help you with all of that.

Now, you may ask how do we file it with court if we’re in Los Angeles let’s say, and you are in Sacramento. Not a problem, we have cases all over California. We can help you file your case. We do a lot of it over the phone and fax, we do not use questionnaires.

If you look around online, you’ll find that people use questionnaires, make you do all the work. That’s not what we do.

We’ll fill out all the forms. We’ll use a phone appointment to get the documents done. Email them to you if you’re out of the area. You can sign them. Send it back to us and we’ll file them with the court by mail.

We have the process very streamlined. Again, it’s very affordable.

Please go to our website, the link is below. Feel free to click on that. You can get more information about an article I wrote on if you should do your own divorce. More of the positive side.

And then you can be on our blog and get all the additional resources and information on how we can help you prepare your divorce.

Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com. We handle divorce cases all throughout California. Call me direct, 661-281-0266 and we look forward on helping you with your divorce.