Police Officers Using Our Santa Clarita Divorce Firm

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Police Officers Using Our Santa Clarita Divorce Firm

Everyone knows that the life of a Police Officer is tough.  I should know.  I spent over 12 years with the Los Angeles Police Department.  And the divorce rate is high enough.  Add to that the stresses of being in Law Enforcement and divorce rate is even higher.

Police Officers, Sheriffs and other emergency personnel get divorced just like everyone else, sometimes multiple times.  It just seems to go with the job.

I have helped numerous Law Enforcement Personnel complete their divorce in Santa Clarita.  I have helped my own brothers and sisters in blue at LAPD as well as those wearing the tan and green.  You Los Angeles Sheriffs out there know what I’m talking about.

Earning the trust of Police and Sheriff’s is a tough job.  We are a  critical bunch.  Un-trusting.  Suspicious.  Skeptical.  I get it, I was right there with you.  So when a Police Officer or Sheriff learns to trust our divorce firm in Santa Clarita, I know we are on the right tract.

Is the divorce service any different for law Enforcement Personnel?  Nope, you have to go through the exact same process as everyone else.  In most cases you won’t have to go to court.  But if you do, you won’t be able to put in for overtime 🙂

Make sure to give us a call if you are facing getting divorced.  I would hate for you to spend your hard earned money or go into debt to hire an attorney for your divorce.  It just is not necessary in most cases.

We can walk you through each step of the process, get your divorce documents completed and will file and serve everything.  You do what you do best, and we will do what we do best.

Let us help you get this behind you without leaving a heap of legal bills behind.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in divorce.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and serve all of Los Angeles County and Courts.

 

We Are Your Ticket To An Affordable Divorce | Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We Are Your Ticket To An Affordable Divorce | Santa Clarita

The word is out that we are the business to come to when you want to save money on your divorce.  We have your ticket to an affordable divorce.

You are not alone if your are looking for a better way to get divorced.  One which does not break the bank.  And we get all types of clients from all walks of life.  The common thread is they don’t want to spend a fortune on their divorce.

Sometimes we have folks use us because they are low income.  Others have a job and no time to complete the divorce on their own.  We get Doctors and other professionals who obviously could afford an attorney, but whom choose to avoid throwing away their money,  We work with Police Officers, Fire Personnel, Teachers, the sky’s the limit.

Folks are literally flocking to us not only because we offer an affordable solutions to an otherwise costly procedure, but be because we offer a great value.

Folks often tell us that they would have been willing to pay more for our divorce service.  And truth be told, we used to charge more.  However,we found that wit the higher prices we were pricing people out of being able to afford our service.  That is not why we started this business.  We wanted the masses to be able to afford using our divorce firm.

When people tell us that they would have been willing to pay more, what they are telling us is that we provided a highly valuable service.  Value!  That is more important than just offering a low cost service.  We all know that you get what you pay for a lot of times in life.

When you work with us, we want you walk away feeling you received a great value and spread the word about our services.  Raving fans of our business is all we ask for.

We Help You Understand The Divorce Process | Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We Help You Understand The Divorce Process | Santa Clarita

Do you have questions about the process of getting divorced?  Many people do and despite asking friends and researching the information online, we find that a big part of what we do is educating our clients about the process of getting divorced.

On a phone call I had yesterday with a new client, I spent about 30 minutes just talking about the process of getting divorced.  I do this with all my clients whether over the phone or in person in our office.  I want to help my clients understand the divorce process, the forms and what it is going to take to get the divorce finished.

I find that the legal industry as a whole wants to keep people in the dark so you have to rely on their services.  At least that is my take on it.  Law is a confusing subject.  Add the fact that you are personally involved in a divorce and it makes the task that much more difficult to understand.

After I had finished discussing the nuances of the divorce process, she mentioned how much better she felt know having a good grasp of what lies ahead.  She had asked friends and done some research online, but the conversation we had brought everything together for her.

It is important that you understand what the process is and what is happening.  Why you are filing out the forms and what significance they have.  Remember, when you work with us, you are representing yourself in your divorce so you are going to have to play a larger part in the process.

We will help you understand the divorce process so you know what is happening every step of the way.  We will take care of moving your case forward.  We will prepare, file and serve every document and make it as painless as possible to get through your divorce in Santa Clarita.  Give us a call right now.

Santa Clarita Divorce Services A Neutral Third Party

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce Services A Neutral Third Party

One of the benefits of working with our Santa Clarita divorce services is that we are a neutral third party.  This means we don’t represent either party to the divorce and often work with both spouses throughout the process.

When divorcing parties have legal representation there is an instant adversary relationship.  Each attorney it going to fight against the other to gain some advantage over the other party.  This is certainly not what you want if you are trying to reach an amicable resolution to your divorce.

This is not the case with our divorce services.  Because we are not attorneys, we don’t represent either side.  Our sole function is to help both parties get the necessary paperwork done so they can conclude their divorce.

But what happens when there is disagreements and you need assistance?  First, let me say that divorce cases without at least some disagreement are rare.  There are always one thing that is disagreed upon. In most cases, the parties are able to resolve them on their own.  However, where guidance from an attorney is needed, we can assist you by setting up appointments with the Courts free services that are there to help you come to an understanding.

Most people don’t know that part of what your filing fee pays for is to use all the services that the court has to offer.

For instance, if you need help determining how much spousal support needs to be paid, you can make an appointment with the Court Facilitator.  They are a neutral third party attorney who works for the court and will discuss your options about spousal support.

If you need help coming up with a parenting plan which can include child custody and visitation, you can make an appointment with the Court Mediators office.

If you want to get through your divorce, consider using our divorce service in Santa Clarita.  We are a neutral third party that does not pose a threat to either party.  We will gladly assist both spouses throughout the process.

Deciding On Restoring Former Name During Divorce | Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Deciding On Restoring Former Name During Divorce | Santa Clarita

When you are going through the divorce process, one of the the decisions you will have to make is whether you want to go back to your former (Maiden) name you had prior to the marriage.  This is both a procedural decision and personal one.

When you file for divorce and are the Petitioner the Petition FL-100 on page 2 at line 7 (i) asks “Petitioner’s former name to be restored to”.  It is here you would indicate whether or not you want to go back to your former name.

But what happens if you are not sure or forget to check this box when you file your petition?  According to Family Code §2080 if a party is requesting their former name be restored in the judgment but forgot or did not indicate that in the Petition, you can still request to have your former name restored and the Court will grant this.

The reasons this comes up is because technically, you cannot ask for something you did not request in your Petition.  This guideline indicates that even if you did not say so in your Petition and you later decide you want to go back to your former name, the Court will grant that.

I had this very thing come up from a client who had prepared their own Petition and did not indicate that they wanted their former name back.  When it came time to the judgment I asked her if she wanted to do so.  She thought that because she had not indicated that she wanted to restore her former name in the Petition that she could not request it in the judgment.

Family Code Section 2080 says that you can still ask for your former name to be restored in the judgment despite not requesting it on the Petition.  This would also hold true if you were the Respondent and did not indicate that on your Response.

We specialize in providing expert divorce document preparation in Santa Clarita.  Give us a call for more information about our divorce services.

One Spouse Wants Divorce And Other Doesn’t | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

One Spouse Wants Divorce And Other Doesn’t | Santa Clarita Divorce

The question comes up a bit of what happens when one spouse wants a divorce and the other does not.  Another way I have heard this questions is can my spouse stop me from getting a divorce.

The answer is no.  The process of getting divorced cannot be stopped by one of the spouses.  If you want to get divorced, there is nothing your spouse can do to stop you.  Of course, they can make it difficult by dragging it through the court system, but that is not the topic here.

So what is the process of getting divorced when only one spouse wants a divorce?  The process is essentially the same.  You will have the same requirements, same paperwork to fill out, etc.

Let’s say you file for divorce and serve the divorce documents on your spouse.  Once your spouse is served the divorce papers the 6 month waiting period begins.  Generally, your spouse will have 30 days to respond.  If your spouse does not respond, you can file what’s called a default. The default lets the court know that you wish to proceed despite the fact that your spouse did not respond.  The default process is just a little bit different than if your spouse did respond.

Sometimes the default divorce is by choice.  In most cases it is not necessary for your spouse to respond and you can still have an agreement on the terms of your divorce.  This is still considered an uncontested divorce and would proceed by way of default but with an agreement.

When you work with our company we attempt to help both spouses come to an agreement.  The divorce process is always easier if you are attempting to work out an amicable agreement.  Where differences come up, we can help you obtain free mediation services through the courts.

Give us a call for more information about our divorce document preparation service in Santa Clarita.

Using Siri To Find Our Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Using Siri To Find Our Santa Clarita Divorce Service

There a millions of Iphone and Ipad users, many of  which are turning to Siri to conduct their local search.  I wanted to make sure that we showed up on Siri if someone were to search for our divorce paralegal service in Santa Clarita.

I tried several different searches using Siri and interestingly enough, we generally ended up on the search.  When I searched for “Divorce Services in Santa Clarita”, Siri searched for divorce lawyers.  We came up number 2 on that search under our main company name of SCV Legal Doc Assist.

When we searched for “Divorce Paralegal Services in Santa Clarita, we did not show up at all.  When I researched on why, it turns out that Siri mostly uses YELP to find matches to the search.  Because there is only a “lawyer” category and no “paralegal” category, it makes it difficult to show up for divorce paralegal services.

One tweak I did make was to add to the name of our business as Yelp appears to use the name of the business to also help identify what type of company it is.  So now the name of our company on Yelp shows as SCV Legal Doc Assist – Divorce Paralegal Services Santa Clarita.  Hopefully the addition of “Divorce Paralegal Services Santa Clarita” will help searchers using Siri to be able to find us easier.

We are a legal document preparation company in Santa Clarita that specialize in divorce.  We help people avoid using an attorney for their divorce, saving them lots of money in the process.

Attorneys are not a necessary part of the divorce process.  A large percentage of folks who hired a divorce attorney never actually needed them and could have used our affordable divorce services.

Please give us a call to learn more about our divorce services in Santa Clarita.  We would be happy to show you how we can save you money on your divorce.

Spotlight On Our Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Spotlight On Our Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Remember the old days when you would see these giant spotlights crisscrossing the sky to let you know there was an event, grand opening or a sale?  I do.  I never actually drove to the light to see what was going on, but obviously something was.

These days the spotlight is most likely the internet.  Here, online, you can put you name in lights like we have to get the attention of the public that your service exists.

When we first opened up for business, word quickly spread that there was now an affordable place to get your divorce done in Santa Clarita without having to hire and attorney.

I often wonder where clients used to go who needed to get divorced before we opened our divorce document preparation service.  There certainly was no business providing a divorce service as we are in Santa Clarita.  I have to search long and hard to find another company doing what we are doing and even then, they do not specialize in divorce like we do.

I have lived in Santa Clarita for a long time and it feels good to provide a service that people actually need.  Were not selling widgets or some latest gadget. Rather, we are providing a service which, if we didn’t, folks would have nowhere to turn and would have to face the divorce process on their own.

The reason we have been so successful is because of our knowledge about divorce.  We just did not open shop without any training or experience.  We spend several years with the divorce courts, working for divorce attorney’s in Santa Clarita to hone our skills.  In fact, we still volunteer with the courts weekly to keep up to date with change laws, forms and procedures.

If you are looking for assistance with your divorce in Santa Clarita make sure to give us a call.  We would be happy to give you all the details about how to complete the divorce process in Santa Clarita.

How To Change Your Address During Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

How To Change Your Address During Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce

Did you know that when you move while going through the divorce process you need to file a change of address?  Yep, there is a special form just for that.

I find that many of my clients are not aware of this.  In fact, when I learn that they have started their divorce on their own several years ago or they filed in a court that no longer appears to be the correct court, I make sure to ask if they have moved since they filed the initial divorce paperwork.

It is not likely that the court is going to mail you anything.  It is more about providing this information to the other party.  If you move and don’t tell your spouse you moved and they need to serve something on you, then they are going to have a difficult time.

One time the court will mail something to you is when you submit the final divorce judgment.  They will need to mail you a conformed copy that the judge signed.  So if you want to make sure you get a copy of your divorce, you will want to make sure the court has your current address.

The form you use to change your address when going through a divorce is form MC-040 called, Notice of Change Of Address or Other Contact Information.  As you can see by the description you can use this form not only to change your address, but to update phone numbers or any other type of information that has changed.

Make sure when you fill out this form that you also file it and serve the change of address.  If you fail to complete the 2nd page which is the proof of service, the court will reject your change of address.  The best way to do this is to complete the entire form, including the proof of service.  Then make a copy and file the original with the court.

We are licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm who specialize in the divorce process in California.

Santa Clarita Divorce Document Preparation And Mediation

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce Document Preparation And Mediation

Do you think you need an attorney for your divorce in Santa Clarita?  Odds  are, you don’t.  This is especially true now when you use both a divorce document preparation service and obtain professional mediation in Santa Clarita.

First off, when people call me, they think that divorce document preparation is very limited.  It is not.  Our divorce document preparation service can provide a wealth of information, explain the divorce process and help you understand exactly what it is going to take to get your divorce completed.

Many times people believe that if there are some disagreements about the terms of the their divorce that they cannot use our service.  This is incorrect.  In fact, we have helped many clients who had disagreements with their divorce come to an understanding and ultimately make agreements together.

How do we do this?  Through mediation.  While we are not a mediation service, we are able to help you set up free appointments with the courts to meet with the Courts mediators to help you come to agreements.  This is all part of the filing fee you pay when you file your divorce papers.  Why not use the Courts free services?  We will even help you set up  the appointment.

The mediation services through the court can be limited however.  Where they are not able to help you, you might be better served by the use of a professional mediation service in Santa Clarita.

We work hand in hand with a local divorce mediation service right here in Santa Clarita.  We send our clients to them to get assistance with coming to an agreement and once that is achieved, you come right back to our office to finish up the divorce paperwork.

This allows us to provide you with a much better level of service, knowing that if you hit some roadblocks on agreements with your divorce, that you can still complete your divorce with us.

It is our goal to get your though your Santa Clarita divorce without the need for attorneys.  This can be achieved by the using our Santa Clarita divorce document preparation service and, when needed, get the assistance of professional divorce mediation.