Santa Clarita Divorce Blog

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce Blog

We have become the go to source for information about divorce in Santa Clarita. We publish information about divorce in Santa Clarita everyday in an attempt to help folks understand how to get divorced and how the divorce process works in California.

We have been one of the first companies to freely provide information about divorce in an effort to make clear the divorce process in Santa Clarita so folks are not so reliant upon having to hire attorneys when they are not necessary in most cases.

Our Santa Clarita divorce blog provide at least daily updates regarding divorce, the divorce process and helpful tips. In addition, we have numerous divorce videos and audio podcasts where we talk about divorce and information that is helpful to people who are trying to figure out what to do when they are thinking of filing for divorce.

We even go as far as having a form on our website that allows you to ask a question. We routinely get multiple questions per day for people who are looking for answers to their questions about divorce related to their specific situation.

In fact, whenever we get a question over the phone or via email, we try to connect with people by providing the answer to their question via video and on our blog.

Many people find out about our divorce paralegal service in Santa Clarita by searching online for answers to their divorce questions. Because we have answered many of these questions, our blog routinely shows up and helps them to understand divorce and perhaps even decide to use our divorce service.

Our Santa Clarita divorce blog is the only source of real information about divorce. If you have any questions about divorce we welcome your calls and emails.

Are You Looking For A Full Service Divorce Firm In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Are You Looking For A Full Service Divorce Firm In Santa Clarita

If you are looking for do it yourself type company to prepare your divorce documents, we are not it.

This is because we are a full service divorce company that will take care of everything that has to do with your divorce.

We take care of preparing all the divorce documents personally. Nothing is left up to you to prepare and we don’t ask you to fill out some questionnaire. Your divorce documents will be professionally prepared, exactly as if you were in a law firm (except for the cost!)

We will file all the documents with the court. There are many steps to getting divorced and we will file all the necessary documents along the way.

We were recently asked by a client if our service included postage when we mailed out documents to our clients. She said she would be happy to pay for postage if our costs did not account for that.

I thought it was funny, and so wrote her a funny email saying that she has hired a full service company and that we take care of everything. And this even includes the postage of mailing documents back and forth between our clients and the courts. And it’s a good thing too, because we mail a lot of documents on a daily basis and are certainly helping keep the post office from declaring bankruptcy.

So if you want to work with a great company that will take care of everything involving your divorce, make sure to give us a call.

If you are looking for some inferior company who is going to nickel and dime your are make you do most of the work, we are not that company.

Divorce Process As Confusing As Divorce Paperwork – Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Process As Confusing As Divorce Paperwork – Santa Clarita

I had a call today from a gentleman that was asking some questions about how to fill out certain paperwork. I was happy to spend a few minutes on the phone with him, telling him what forms were necessary to complete.

Then I told him which forms had to be served, which had to be filed and which ones he did not have to fill out at all. That is when he said he had had enough. He hired us right there on the spot.

You see, the divorce paperwork, as difficult and confusing as it is, is just one part of the equation. The other half of the equation is the to make sure to follow proper procedure. Because if you are lucky enough to complete the paperwork correctly, you still stand a change of having your paperwork rejected for not following procedure.

So what are we talking about here? We are talking about such things at the process of service. For instance, the very first forms in a family law case have to be personally served. Then you have to file the proof of service with the court.

Another area people have difficulty is with the financial disclosures. You need to only serve those documents on your spouse, they are not file with the court in most cases. Then you need to file a totally different form with the court which says you complied with this step..

If you made this far, the worst is still to come. Now you have to tackle the judgment forms which are the most confusing of all. The best part (not!) about the completing the judgment is that you get to submit it and them wait 3 months to find out if you did everything correctly. Most folks who represent themselves and do their own paperwork do not fare very well in this process.

Give us a call and let the experts prepare your divorce paperwork. That is all w do, day in and day out. It’s not sexy, but we are the only legal document preparation firm in Los Angeles County that specializes in divorce.

Choose A Paralegal That Specializes In Divorce In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Choose A Paralegal That Specializes In Divorce In Santa Clarita

Why should you choose a legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce? If you are going to hire a paralegal to assist you with your divorce, why wouldn’t you choose one where divorce is all they do?

Most legal document preparation companies prepare a vast array of legal documents. They prepare everything from bankruptcy to small claims to immigration. Instead of following suit in the normal business model, we have decided to specialize in divorce so we would be the natural choice when deciding who to use to assist you with your divorce in Los Angeles County.

Because we specialize in divorce, we prepare the most divorce cases of any paralegal or legal document assistants in all of Los Angeles County. Often, taking on more than 5 new divorce cases per week.

Divorce and family law is a specialty area of law. There is constant law and procedural changes that one must stay on top of. This is impossible if your are not preparing divorce cases everyday as we are.

We are immersed in divorce as that is all we do day in, and day out. It may seem redundant, but every case is different and has to be handled individually.

With an unprecedented amount of divorce cases rejected every year, it is important to use a company that specializes in divorce so you know your are working with a company that can not only help get your divorce paperwork approved, but guide you and help you understand the procedure of divorce as well.

We are full service divorce firm in Santa Clarita. We help you prepare all your documents, file and serve them and take you from start to finish for one affordable flat fee.

Using a paralegal legal document assistant that specializes in divorce is a smart choice when getting divorced. The best part is that it does not cost you any more to work with the best.

There Are Many Reasons Your Divorce Judgment Can Be Rejected

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There Are Many Reasons Your Divorce Judgment Can Be Rejected

If you are one of the many people who have completed your divorce on your own, then you know how challenging it has been.

You know of the countless hours you spent completing all the paperwork and making sure you did it right.

Then you get to where you have to complete the judgment paperwork and soon realize that you may be over your head because of how many forms are involved and how confusing the questions are. But you think to yourself, “I got this far, i’m sure i can do it”.

So you work through the forms, make all the copies, get the signatures and then submit your final judgment. A month goes by, 2 months then three. You start to forget about it and figure it is done, because there is no way it could take this long if the court was going to reject it.

Then on month 3 or 4 your get a package in the mail from the court. You are excited that your divorce is over and rip open the package containing your judgment.

“Wait, what is this? A Reject sheet?” As you read through the reject sheet you are slowly realizing that your paperwork had errors, probably multiple errors, even errors that seem to be ridiculous as the reasons your divorce judgment was rejected.

So after 3 or 4 months, now receiving a reject on your divorce judgment, you realize that you are going to have to do this again. As the frustration sets in, maybe you throw everything in a corner to deal with it another day or maybe you plan on taking another stab at it and fixing the issues with the judgment.

There are many reasons your divorce judgment can be rejected. Most likely it was not a single issue that resulted in your divorce being rejected, rather numerous issues. The reject sheet lists about 50 reasons and then there is always that “other” box which makes the reasons you divorce judgment can be rejected infinite.

What we recommend is coming to us to prepare a judgment review. We will do a complete review of your paperwork. Not just the judgment paperwork, but all the paperwork leading up to the judgment as well.

We have been providing expert divorce paralegal services for several years now and can help you through this frustrating time. Give us a call so we can help finish your divorce and put this all behind you.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and serve all the courts in Los Angeles County.

Husband And Wife At Divorce Consultation A Good Idea In Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Husband And Wife At Divorce Consultation A Good Idea In Santa Clarita

I have been talking on video and on my podcast this week about the success I have had when meeting with both husband and wife at the same time when going through a divorce in Santa Clarita.

I had not done it before, not because i had any issue with it, but because nobody has asked. It just happened that on three separate occasions this week, it was requested that both spouses would be at the initial meeting to get started with the divorce.

It turned out to work amazingly great and I highly recommend it!

Watch this brief video where i talk more about the divorce process when meeting with both husband and wife at the divorce consultation.

These meetings were extremely productive for one. I was able to answer all their questions and get a huge portion of the divorce paperwork done for both husband and wife.

This can best be described by telling you the differences when meeting with only one spouse.

When I meet with just one spouse, which is the majority of the times, i end up having to explain everything we going to do, two times. Once when I meet in office with spouse number 1 and again when I have to spouse number two when they learn they are getting divorced.

This obviously won’t be possible in all cases, but where you are still on fairly good terms with your spouse and think you could be in a room together, i highly recommend it.

It will save you from having to explain the whole process to your spouse once you left our offices. It is easier to just let me explain the divorce process and have both of you ask all the questions of me, instead of hearing it third party from your spouse who you are divorcing.

When you call us, let me know you are interested in coming in with your spouse so we can plan on getting a large portion of the documents done in a single meeting.

 

How Much Are You Willing To Spend On Divorce – Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How Much Are You Willing To Spend On Divorce – Santa Clarita

You know we talk about the costs of divorce quite a bit here. And I have another update about the costs of divorce in Santa Clarita.

This article asks the question, “How much are you willing to spend on your divorce in Santa Clarita”

This week I met with 2 clients who, prior to meeting with me, consulted with an attorney to find out how much it would cost.

The first couple went together to a single attorney. They explained they had a simple, uncontested divorce and simply wanted the divorce paperwork completed to reflect their agreement.

They were shocked to learn the attorney wanted $3,500 to complete this process. Could you imagine spending $3,500 for someone to type of legal forms?

The second couple i met with each paid $300 for a 1 hour consultation to 2 different attorneys. They were each quoted a fee of $5,000. If my math is correct, that comes to $10,000 to complete their divorce.

These prices attorney’s are charging fall inline with the average costs of divorce which are at $15,000.

These prices are prohibitive for many and in my opinion these costs of divorce are ridiculous.

But as long as divorce attorneys continue to charge outrageous fees for divorce, I will have a successful divorce paralegal service in Santa Clarita.

 

How To Break The News About Divorce – Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To Break The News About Divorce – Santa Clarita

You have made the decision that you want to get divorce. You may have even had casual conversations about it with your spouse. But how and when should you break the news that you have taken the step to file for divorce.

This questions is asked of me on occasion when my clients come into the office to get started with their divorce document preparation.

The first think i tell them is that communication is important. The more you discuss this with your spouse, the easier things will go. Even if it does not feel that way.

The client we got started yesterday, even though they have already talked about divorce and moved into separate homes, was dreading having to tell her husband she filed for divorce. This is totally normal. At least I think so.

Look, you have been married for some time now and there is a history there. Obviously, things did not go as planned, and you need to cut the ties.

When you first approach the idea and discuss things with your spouse it is just small talk. Possibilities, maybe’s, etc. Nothing definite.

But there is something finite about filing the divorce papers. It means you have actually decided to move forward with the divorce and make it official. It is no doubt a big step in your life. One which we understand.

That is why we will never rush you into getting divorced. We sometimes speak to our clients for months before they ever file for divorce. You know when the time is right, we will be here when you need us.

We specialize in providing divorce services in Santa Clarita. Feel free to give us a call so we can help you prepare a plan for breaking the news to your spouse.

 

COC Interns Approved For Santa Clarita Divorce Paralegal Firm

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

COC Interns Approved For Santa Clarita Divorce Paralegal Firm

This week the College of the Canyons Director of the Paralegal Program approved SCV Legal Doc Assist to train and provide their paralegal students with real world paralegal skills.

To be recognized by College of the Canyons as a company worthy of training their paralegals was a real achievement.

Students enrolled in COC’s paralegal program have to complete an internship during their schooling in order to graduate. Internships are generally offered by law firms who supervise and train the interns so when they graduate they have some experience for their resume.

We are a non-lawyer, legal document preparation firm in Santa Clarita. This would be the first time a non-law firm has been approved to provide training and internships to local Santa Clarita residents who are completing the paralegal program at College of the Canyons.

The reason we are excited about this is because not only is this an opportunity to give back to the community by assisting others to gain experience in their new endeavor, but to be recognized as a player in the legal services industry and be trusted by COC to provide their students with training and guidance.

Internships are an interesting animal. Both sides receive some benefit. Our company benefits from having an intern assisting with the day to day tasks and they receive necessary job skills.

While the interns understand that there is no guarantee of a job after completing an internship, we certainly hope to expand and hire the interns we have spent the time training.

 

Divorce Paralegal Services Plus Limited Scope Attorney Representation

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Divorce Paralegal Services Plus Limited Scope Attorney Representation

We are very excited to announce that you can now use our divorce paralegal service in Santa Clarita and also receive limited scope attorney representation.

This is how it works. When you decide to use our divorce legal document preparation service, we will take care of all the paperwork related to your divorce. We will prepare, file and serve all documents and complete your divorce for you.

If, for some reason, you case has issues that end you up in court, we can refer you to a flat fee attorney service who represent you in your hearing.

Limited scope representation simply means that the attorney is representing you for a specific function and when that has ended, so does the representation.

Let me give you an example of how this would work. I have a client whose spouse filed a motion and there is an upcoming hearing. Husband came to me to assist in drafting his response and declaration.

He was feeling a little uneasy about representing himself in court because his wife had an attorney. But at the same time, he did not want to spend the $3,500 to be represented in court.

So he came to me and used our affordable document preparation service to draft his response and declaration saving him thousands of dollars. Then we referred him to a divorce attorney who was willing to represent him just at the hearing.

Essentially, he will only be paying the attorney for the hours he spends in court. This is a tremendous savings for him. Not only does he get expert divorce document preparation, but also receives attorney representation at his hearing.

Limited scope representation is not something new. However, attorneys don’t like to offer this service because there is more money to be made in full representation.

Please give us a call to learn more about how using our divorce paralegal service and a limited scope attorney service can help save you thousands of dollars on your divorce.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and specialize only on divorce and serve all of Los Angeles area courts.