Uncontested Divorce Cases Taking Longer In Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles divorce courts are under some severe strain right now.  With budget cuts, layoffs and court closures, we are really seeing an impact on the level of service we are getting from the courts.

What we are finding is that the California divorce cases are taking much longer than they did in the past.

We are not just talking about cases that go to trial and have to see a judge, we are talking about your everyday uncontested divorce cases with self represented divorce clients that never step foot in the court room.

We are specifically talking about the time it takes for the court to review and approve a final judgment in a divorce case.

When you are representing yourself in your divorce, it is just a matter of getting the paperwork through the system.  The final judgment is the last thing that you submit to the court.

The process of the court reviewing and approving the final judgment has always been long, however we are seeing a steady increase in the time it takes to review the divorce judgments.

First it was 3 months, then four.  Now we are seeing it routinely take 6 months and longer.  Now with the layoffs still so fresh from happening, I bet we will see even longer delays.

This can be a frustrating process.  Especially for those folks that have attempted to do their entire divorce on their own.  They are submitting them, only have it rejected 6 months later when they have completely forgotten about it an assumed everything was fine.  Especially since they did not hear anything for so long.

We recommend (if time is a concern) that you submit your final divorce judgment just as soon as you have completed all the paperwork for your divorce.

You don’t have to wait 6 months before submitting your divorce case for final approval.

You can submit your case within 30 days of your spouse being served (if you are doing a default or hybrid style divorce) or immediately if going by way of uncontested divorce.

You case is going to sit in a pile of other divorce judgment in line for review anyway.  You might as well get your case in line as early as possible.

Warning To Santa Clarita Divorce Clients Regarding San Fernando Court Legal Services

I wanted to issue this warning of types. It is come to my attention through my existing clients, that there is a legal services company standing outside the San Fernando Courthouse offering legal services.

Apparently their game is to approach you and ask if you are representing yourself in your divorce. What they are attempting to do is identify folks who are going to the self help center in an attempt to lure them to their local legal services offices.

I guess this works as a business plan to get new clients, but what has happened is that it seems they will look at your paperwork and say that there is something wrong with it. They are doing a quick review of your divorce paperwork and then pointing out things that are wrong.

Where this has caused a problem is with my clients who i send down there for hearings or to see the facilitator or some other such function.

I received a few calls from my clients who said they were advised by someone who identified themselves as a paralegal and offered to review their paperwork. They quickly pointed out supposed issues with the paperwork that I had completed.

My clients called me to make sure the paperwork was correct. After telling them that their paperwork was, in fact correct, they were able to finish their business at the courthouse.

I don't have an issue with a legal services poaching customers outside the court, but i do have an issue with someone telling people that their paperwork is incorrect when it isn't.

If you are my client, please simply walk past these folks who are doing nothing more than hunting for business dressed up as “free help” from some random stranger standing on the street.

At first I thought it was a pretty good idea to have folks standing out and asking people if they needed help. But after a few moments i realized that is just does not provide the professional image we wish to portray to our clients.

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