How To File California Divorce Request To Enter Default
Today we are talking to you about the request to enter default form.
This is form FL-165. There’s been a lot of confusion on when and how to file it so we’re going to discuss that here.
We play this video and is also embedded into our blogs, so if you’re reading this on our blog you can watch the video and you can also follow up on reading the article that we have in this video embedded in.
The request to enter default. We should talk a little bit about what this is for.
When you file for divorce and the other party is served, that date that your spouse is served marks kind of a line in the sand as far as the jurisdiction on when your case starts. If your, today is November 4th 2013, so if your spouse is served today. Two things.
Number one is your divorced can’t be finalized for six months. That day the six month mark starts the day your spouse is served.
The other thing that starts on the day your spouse is served is the date which you can file the request to enter default.
Now, a default will be filed in two particular cases.
Number one, a true default case and also what’s called a hybrid or default with agreement.
Now, we’re going to like talk about the true default today because that’s really where the thirty day period comes in. Let’s get into this a bit.
The request to enter default form cannot be filed with the court until thirty days have passed from the day your spouse has been served. In fact, it cannot even be one day before that. So, I’d even say wait for thirty one days, wait thirty two days before you submit it and here’s the trick.
Do not date the form prior to that thirty day mark. It’s not when you submit it, it’s when you date the form.
Let me give you a scenario.
We had some clients who came to us for a service after they attempted to do their own divorce and they had tried to submit the request to enter default.
What they did was, they prepared the summons and petitions and a lot of the forms all in the same day. They filed the case, they got their spouse served but the date they put on the request to enter default was the same date that they filed the divorce paperwork. Obviously, not thirty days had elapsed.
It means you cannot prepare this form in advance, if you want to just don’t date it. The courts are now looking at the dates on your request to enter default. So, what I’m saying is even if you have submitted your request to enter default thirty days after the service where everything is good to go and you get it right, if you dated it sooner than thirty days, they will reject it just because the date on your form.
And the reason this is, is because a request to enter default has to get approved by the judicial assistant or the court clerk and it doesn’t get to them right away. So, when they get it, they don’t know when they received that form. All they do is look at the date on the request to enter default and if that date is under thirty days they’re going to reject it. So, just keep that in mind.
Real quick, I know I’ve said this when we’re talking about true default but we did this video pretty quick.
When you do the other style case, where you’re going to use a request to enter default that’s on a hybrid or that default with agreement. You’re not going to have to submit the request to enter default at that thirty day mark.
You’re going to submit the request to enter default with your judgment.
Hope that makes sense, my name is Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com. My number is 661-281-0266. Give us a call if you’d like to hire us to complete your divorce for you.
And the link below in the video if you’re not already on our blog page. Talk to you soon!