Cheap & Online Divorce Services Actually Cost You More | Santa Clarita Divorce

I write pretty often about those cheap online divorce services you can find on the Internet.  And today I want to tell you how these types of services can actually end up costing you more money in the end and how you could have had our Santa Clarita divorce service handle the entire case for you for less.

I received  a call from a gentleman who used one of these online divorce document services.  They paid around $300 for the documents to be prepared by them filing out a questionnaire.  They received the divorce forms and were left confused by what they had to do next.

So they started following the 20 pages of directions they received along with their completed forms.  Step one said they should file the divorce summons and petition.  They did this and paid the $435 fee.

In step 2, the instructions said for the Respondent to file the Response.  So they went down to the courthouse and filed the Response and paid another $435 filing fee.

Filing this Response and paying this fee was totally unnecessary and a waste of their money!

When you are going through an uncontested or amicable divorce, there is no need to file a Response.  There is a process called a Hybrid Divorce in California which allows you to go through the divorce process and only have to pay one fee.

So let’s do the math.  Because they wanted to save money (which we all do) they used an online divorce document assembly service at a cost of $300.  Next they filed a Summons and a Response.  At $435 each that’s $870.    Combined, they have spent $1,170 on their divorce.

Not to mention that they had to do everything themselves.  They had to prepare all their own forms.  Figure out how to file and serve all the documents.  And they have not even prepared or filed their judgment which is the most difficult task!

They could have used our Santa Clarita divorce service and paid less than $1,170 including our fees and the court costs.  We would have prepared each and every document and filed and served them.  These folks would not have had to lift a finger or waste their valuable time trying to figure things out on their own.

Unfortunately, this happens all the time and I get clients calling me who have had trouble completing their divorce with these types of services.

Don’t get tricked into using these cheap online divorce services.

Use our licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in Divorce.  We take care of everything and will save you money and frustration in the end.

Our Santa Clarita Divorce Service Is More Than Just Filling Out Forms

The service we provide, that of assisting folks going through divorce is more than just filling out forms.  We provide our clients with a complete understanding of the divorce process learned from numerous years in the industry.

As a legal document preparation company, I suppose it is easy to assume that all we do is fill out divorce forms.  That is why I wanted to talk about this issue.  If you are one of our clients, you already know how much information we provide about the divorce process and how the courts work.  We are there when you have questions along the way.  That is where are real value is.  Anybody can fill out divorce forms.  Well, not really, but just wanted to emphasize my point.

So what kind of things can you learn when working with us?  Well, for starters, everything there is to know about divorce.

Let me give you an example.  Many times we will have clients come to us and say they have an uncontested divorce.  Then somewhere down the line, things change and now the parties are not in agreement and we have to take another approach.

This other approach may be us talking to them about possible mediation options.  Sometimes, we have to help one of the parties file a motion with the court asking for some type of temporary order.  Really, the sky is the limit.  And when these things happen, you are going to want to be working with a company that has the experience working with divorce courts and divorce law firms so we can guide you through the process.

Even for those of you that think your divorce will be a no brain-er, there are still lots of questions that you will have about divorce that have to answered.  You will be glad you made the choice to work with us regardless if you have the easy uncontested divorce or a more difficult case requiring the use of our extensive knowledge about divorce.

Using Our Santa Clarita Divorce Service When Your Spouse Has An Attorney

I have been getting more and more clients coming to our office for assistance with their divorce where their spouse has an attorney.   I wanted to address what the benefits are of using our service when your spouse has hired an attorney to represent them.

Just yesterday, I had a new client in this situation.  Her husband hired and attorney and filed for divorce.  When this new client came into our office, she said she had been to a few attorneys, but because she did not have money to retain them, they would not help her.

So she came to my office and we discussed what we could do for her and I wanted to share that with my readers.

Her husband had filed for divorce and she needed to file a Response.  Because she had taken so long trying to find an attorney, we were down the the last day to file her response.  We completed her response and then determined that she needed to file a motion for child support and to ask the court to have her husband pay her attorney fees.

So we drafted a declaration and the Request for Order, filed it with the court and obtained a court date.  We also completed all the necessary documents that go along with filing a motion with the court.

The amount of paperwork we completed that day would have taken a law firm several days to complete and cost her upwards of $2,000.  That is a lot of money just to complete the paperwork.  That money is better spent on the attorney if you need them to give you legal advice or represent you in court.  Not to complete paperwork.

In the end, we were able to get her Response filed and file her motion.  Something a divorce lawyer would not touch because she did not have the $3,500 to $5,000 she was quoted to help her.

I can tell you one thing.  In our request for attorneys fees we asked the court to have her husband pay $5,000 towards her attorney fees.  If she gets this award for attorney fees I would bet she won’t be going back to the divorce lawyers that turned her down when she did not have the money.

You can still use our divorce service, even if your spouse has hired an attorney.  We can get all the paperwork done that you need to complete for a fraction of the cost.  And if you are using our service because you don’t have the money to hire and attorney and want to ask the court to award attorney fees, we can help you prepare the appropriate motion so you can have your day in court to ask the court for attorney fees so you can hire an attorney.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service in Santa Clarita and divorce is all we do.

Divorce, Divorce, Divorce Is All We Do In Santa Clarita

Every day, Day in and day out, we deal with folks facing divorce.  After years of working for the divorce courts in Los Angeles County and Santa Clarita area law firms, our experience continues to grow.  And experience is crucial when it comes to divorce.

Because we speak to so many people every day, we sometimes get a question that we have not had before.  Or a question about divorce that is just slightly different because the person asking has a slightly different scenario.  When this happens, we are able to give specific direction on how to tackle their particular situation because of our previous knowledge.

I am amazed at how much there is to know in this industry.  We have been immersed in the culture of divorce now for several years which allows us to provide our clients with an insight into the divorce process like nobody else.

When you are considering hiring a company to help you through the divorce process you need to make sure to use someone with experience.   Not just someone experienced with filling out the forms, but someone like us who can answer specific questions about the process of divorce as well as court procedure and navigating the court systems.

If we had not worked for the divorce courts or in a law firm setting as we have for all those years before opening this business, I don’t see how we could provide this service.  In fact, I don’t see how anybody else could hold themselves out as an expert in divorce without the type of experience we have.

When clients call us or come to our office, they have so many questions about divorce in Santa Clarita.  Many of the questions we answer are based completely on the experience we had with the family law court or while working for a family law firm in Santa Clarita.

I guess what I am saying here is that you need to use a divorce company with experience and not just someone who knows how to fill out the forms.

If you have questions about divorce, please give us a call.

 

How To Keep Your Divorce Amicable – Santa Clarita

How To Keep Your Divorce Amicable – Santa Clarita

There are lots of benefits of having an amicable divorce in Santa Clarita. Probably the biggest advantage is cost. With an amicable divorce, you don’t need to hire an attorney which will save you a ton of money.

There are some things you can do to help keep your divorce amicable throughout the process. The common theme throughout this will be communication.

First, prior to filing for divorce it is a good idea that you try to discuss getting divorced. Try to have a few conversations with your spouse and come up with a plan. Those with a plan of action fare much better.

This means deciding on when to file, who is going to file and agreeing on a divorce document preparation company like us to meet with.

One or both of you can meet with us to make sure you are comfortable using our service. When you meet with us, we will explain the divorce process in full so both parties understand exactly what to expect throughout the process.

The next thing to do to keep your divorce amicable is to avoid hiring a process server. Nobody like having some stranger walk up to them and be handed divorce papers and told they are being served. We can help you avoid having to do this. In fact, you could simply have the spouse that needs to be served come to our office and pick up the documents. We will complete the necessary forms to tell the court that service was completed.

Most issues that come up will be about custody and visitation of children or about money. We will show you how to use the courts free services to help you understand the law so you can make decisions on any issues that you are having trouble coming to an agreement on.

Using the ideas in the article will help keep your divorce amicable. Give us a call so we can come up with a plan for you to keep things running smooth during your divorce.

Getting Divorced And Spouse Avoiding Service Santa Clarita

Getting Divorced And Spouse Avoiding Service Santa Clarita

It only takes one to get divorce and there is nothing your spouse can do to top you. But they can make it more difficult.

In most cases getting the other spouse served the divorce papers is a non issue. You either hire a process server or mail the forms following the guidelines on doing so.

But sometimes the process is not so smooth when a spouse wants to play games or be difficult. The issue with delaying the process of service is that you cannot move on until they are served.

I have two such cases currently. The first is a young couple who’s husband is playing cat and mouse with the process server. He was told wife was filing and for unknown reasons is avoiding being served.

All this is causing is a delay in the case and costing his wife more money because the process server is spending a lot more time trying to serve him. They now have to sit outside the home and conduct surveillance and get him somewhere between the front door of the house and the car.

They have already been to the home several times and he lives with room mates. He does not come to the door and they can tell they have been instructed to tell him that the husband is not home.

In the other case, the wife is being difficult in being served. The process server waits outside the house for her to come home from work. She knows there is someone waiting to serve her so pulls into the garage and closes the door.

Again, all that happens is more time is spent trying to serve her. Because she is doing this, husband decided to serve her at work which will cause her a bit of embarrassment.

When you work with us we try to keep everything going smoothly and explain the process in detail so you understand the divorce process. We try to avoid having these contentious issues in the beginning or at all for that matter.

Do You Need A Process Server For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

Do You Need A Process Server For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

There are some misunderstandings about if you need a process server for your divorce. The reason is because the answer is yes and no and depends on the circumstances. We will explain here.

Normally, the first paper that is filed on your spouse needs to be done by personal service. This would mean hiring a process server or having someone over the age of 18 who is not involved in the case serve your papers.

For instance, if you were the one to file for divorce, you would have to have them served personally. It can even be a family member. One of my clients recently had their adult child hand her dad the papers. This was obviously an amicable divorce situation where everyone was on board.

But there are times where you can simply mail the initial divorce forms to your spouse. When possible, this is my preferred method of serving divorce papers.

There is a form you can use to send the initial divorce documents to your spouse. It is called a notice of acknowledgement of receipt. You have to mail it with 2 copies and have to make sure to check the boxes that says you are serving the summons and petition and any other forms you happen to be mailing to the respondent.

When you use this form, you still have to have to complete a proof of service of summons. This is another area i see where people have issues.

When you mail the initial documents using the notice of acknowledgment of receipt, you need to also complete the proof of service and file both forms with the court. You will check the box that says you used this form and complied with the rules when doing so.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation company that specializes in divorce.

 

Would You Go On Vacation To Get Divorced

Would You Go On Vacation To Get Divorced

People come up with some pretty crazy ideas in business sometimes to stand out from the crowd.   I listened to a Podcast today of an attorney who helps people get divorced through mediation.  But with one twist.  They go on vacation to a destination of their choice to complete their divorce.

The attorney Tracey Rosswurm out of Fort Wayne, Indiana says this is a  cost effective way to get through the divorce process.  At the very least it is getting her some attention.  Heck, she was interviewed by a radio show and now I am writing about it.

Here is how it works.  The couples decide that they would rather mediate their divorce rather than going to court.  They decide on a destination that they would enjoy and go there along with the attorney.

The idea is that you are in a nice place without the daily distractions of life.  You can focus on the issues of the divorce at hand and there is nowhere to go.

So what about the  cost.  The attorney says that the costs of the “destination divorce” is much less than that of going to court.  That would be true if the divorce ever ended up in court in the first place.  But certainly, mediation is more cost effective than both spouses hiring an attorney.

I think there will only be a few people that would choose to do this.  It is hard for me to wrap my head around this idea.  If I were going through a divorce, I would not want to ruin some vacation destination that I love by leaving memories of being there for finalizing a divorce.

I would love to hear your comments on this.  Would you go on vacation to get  divorced?  Do you think this is a sustainable business model or a short lived marketing ploy?

 

Another Post Judgment Child Support Motion In Central District

Another Post Judgment Child Support Motion In Central District

As legal document assistants we are authorized to work directly for folks in preparing their legal documents.  And lately we have been seeing a huge increase in post judgment motions being filed .

This particular motion is asking for a modification of child support and they want the other party to pay for their attorney fees.

The motion that was filed was a request for more child support and stated that the father was now making more money.  In most cases, you file a motion to modify child support if there is a change in circumstance such as a parent making more or less money.

In this case, the mother stated that father was making more money now and wanted the Court to order higher child support based on the guideline child support limits  and that she was earning less money.

It all comes down to how much the parties make and how much custody and visitation each of them have.  The problem sometimes is determining how much the parties truly make, especially when they own a business and are not receiving a paycheck that can be verified.

This motion also asked for the other party to pay for attorneys fees.  That never rubbed my right.  Tell me what you think about this.

A spouse hires an attorney to modify child support.  She works and had access to funds, but because father makes more money, makes a request in the motion that the husband is to pay for all her attorney fees.  If this motion is granted, then the husband has to pay for his wife’s attorney to file a motion against him.  And just to rub salt in the wound, he is not hiring an attorney himself.  He is going to have us prepare our firm prepare the response so he does not have to pay for an attorney he can’t afford.

We specialize in helping folks get through their divorce including preparing post judgment request for orders and motions.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and we serve all of Los Angeles County and all the Courts.

Cost Of Divorce Attorneys Unaffordable For Many In Santa Clarita

Cost Of Divorce Attorneys Unaffordable For Many In Santa Clarita

It’s a fact.  Many people cannot afford the cost of an attorney for their divorce.  Either they don’t have the money or, if they do, are not willing to spend it to get divorced.  That is where our divorce legal document assistance comes into play.

Here is an example of a client that, but for our service, would have been left to figure things out on his own.

A client was recently served with a Request For Order with the mom asking to move away with their child to another state.  He called me to see what we could do for him.  I advised him we would help him prepare a response to the motion along with a declaration, etc.

In his email to me, explaining what he wanted to address on the declaration, he asked me if I thought he would be okay representing himself.  I answered him honestly.  I told him that many people represent themselves.  I told him that because the mom had an attorney, he may be at a disadvantage in his case.

Then I answered his question with a question.  I asked him if he could afford to pay $5,000 to $7,500 for an attorney to prepare his response and represent him at the court hearing.  He replied that he could not afford to pay that much money for an attorney.

And sometimes that is all it comes down to.  Of course, everyone would love to use an attorney for their divorce case if it was affordable.  But it isn’t.  In fact, because attorneys are seeing less and less clients these days, they are actually raising their hourly billing rates to make more off the clients that they do have.

Yes, gone are the days of refinancing our homes to pay for everything.  Cars, toys and even divorce.  Now we feel the pain of that big purchase, going further into debt to pay for the things we don’t really need.

The cost of divorce attorneys in Santa Clarita are unaffordable for many, but there is help out there and we are it.  We are licensed and bonded in the County of Los Angeles to provide legal document assistance.  We specialize in divorce and can provide you with a complete understanding of the divorce process and help you with most family law related matters.  Give us a call for more information.