5 Helpful Divorce Tips When Representing Self | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been getting a lot of exposure on our Santa Clarita Divorce Google+ Business Page and thought we would provide folks looking for divorce assistance with some helpful tips on a variety of issues people face when representing themselves.

We are always looking for ways to get information regarding divorce out, and we learned that we can redistribute our content from our blog to Google Plus and then link that content back to our blog.

When Does The Divorce Process Start?

Have you heard of the 6 month waiting period when going through divorce.  This is one of them most misunderstood issues of divorce.  In this video we discuss what you have to do to get the clock ticking on the 6 month waiting period and tell you when the divorce process actually starts.

What Divorce Documents Should You File First?

When people are going to get divorced, they often think they have to have everything figured out before they ever file the first divorce forms.  This is simply not true.  Divorce is a process and has several steps.  The fist step is to file your initial divorce papers so a case number can be issues and your case opened with the courts.  In this podcast we discuss exactly which forms you need to file to start your California divorce case.

How Spousal Support Works

If you think your spouse is going to want spousal support, you will want to watch this video.  We discuss how spousal support is determined and discuss the court’s spousal support calculator known as a Dissomaster Report.  Watch this video where we discuss how California spousal support is determined.

How To Apply For A Fee Waiver For Your Divorce

If you cannot afford the whopping $435 filing fees for divorce, there may be a way to get your court fees waived.  So far, we have a 100% approval rate for getting our clients court fees waived.  There are some specific income requirements you have to meet, otherwise you have to prove to the court that you cannot afford your court fees and still pay for the necessities of life.  In this video we show you how to prepare the divorce fee waiver.

Why You Should Not Attempt To Complete Your Own Divorce

The divorce process is long and complicated.  While technically you are allowed to complete your own divorce, many have tried and many have failed.  In this podcast, we discuss the issues you will be faced with and common problems of trying to file your own divorce case in California.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service in Santa Clarita that specializes in divorce in California.  For a free phone consultation, please call us at 661-281-0266.

 

Understanding The California Divorce Process [Live Broadcast 7-17-13]

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Please join us for our live radio broadcast on July 17, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. “Understanding The California Divorce Process”.  This will be a live broadcast and we will be taking callers and answering questions.

Click this link on July 17, 2013 at 6:00 to listen on your computer.

We will be hosting these live radio broadcasts every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m., so make sure to tune in weekly.  You can find our Radio Show Page And Upcoming Broadcasts here.  You can also attend the live show from our show page.

In this broadcast we will be providing an overview of the California divorce process and answering frequently asked questions about divorce.

We get calls day in and day out and many times we are answering the same questions over and over.  So this will be a very informative broadcast.

Here is what we will be talking about.

  • An overview of the divorce process
  • The divorce forms
  • How long divorce takes
  • Information needed to file for divorce
  • Common problems when preparing your own divorce
  • Should you get help with your divorce or try to do it yourself

When the broadcast is over, we will be posting the recording to this page.  You can also find all our previous shows on our page that says “On The Air” at the top of site.

On the day of the live event, we will be doing a couple of different things.

First, we will be hosting the live radio show.  Callers can call in or chat and ask their questions.  In addition to the radio show, we will also be recording the event live on our Google Plus page.

If you are a Google Plus user and would like to watch the live video, you can find us on Hangouts On Air at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm specializing in divorce in California.  We are headquartered in northern Los Angeles County and can assist you anywhere in California.

If you have any questions you can reach us at 661-281-0266.  We look forward to hearing from you at our live broadcast.

Completing California Divorce Petition [Podcast] Tutorial

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We strive to get our self help divorce information out to as many people as we can by as many means as we can.

Our latest efforts are in our weekly live radio show and daily Podcasts.

This podcast will detail how to complete the California Divorce Petition form FL-100.  We will walk you step by step through.  And don’t forget, we are a full service divorce document preparation firm.  If you are looking for assistance, we would be happy to discuss completing your California divorce for you.

Here is the podcast we recorded on our radio show.

Listen to internet radio with Tim Blankenship on BlogTalkRadio

This divorce podcast will walk you through the entire divorce form. We cover:

  • Which boxes to check
  • Determining the date of separation
  • What to list as separate property
  • What to list as community property
  • Help on legal custody
  • help on physical custody
  • What termination of spousal support means
  • what termination of jurisdiction means
  • and much more…

The California divorce Petition form is just one of the documents you will need to complete in order to file your divorce case in California.

You can also join us live on our weekly radio show broadcast on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.

Here we will be discussing many different topics all related to California divorce.  In fact, we will be taking live callers who are looking for assistance in completing their California divorce.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in California divorce. We are not attorney and are not a law firm so we will not be answering any questions related to the law or legal type questions.

We focus on providing divorce self help services.  This means cases where you are representing yourself during your divorce.

Please join us on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. and make sure to tell your friends that may need our service.

 

California Divorce Document Preparation Firm Now On The Radio

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We are excited to announce that we are now broadcasting live on BlogTalkRadio every Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.  The news was recently announced on our show this morning.  Here is the show where we made the announcement in case you wanted to learn more.

Listen to internet radio with Tim Blankenship on BlogTalkRadio

Our goal is to get the word out about our California Divorce Self Help Radio show so we can help folks throughout California who are representing themselves during their divorce get the the help they need.

If you are going through divorce in California or thinking of doing so, then you are aware how little information is out there.  And what information is out there about divorce is so hard to understand.  Everything seems to be written in some type of code.

With our Radio show we are hoping to cast a wider net than we have with our blogs.  We are using the paid service which gives us impressions which should help our California Divorce Self Help radio show found by the folks looking for help.

We will be taking callers on the show and answering questions related to the divorce process, divorce procedure and divorce forms.  We want folks to call us and ask us their specific questions so our listeners can learn from those going through the divorce process as well.

The questions we get asked about divorce everyday are pretty much the same.  There is always a little twist in that each person has a little different issue that can change the advice we would give however.

While we hope that people take advantage of the free information we will be providing, we also hope that folks decide to use our divorce legal service as well.  Either way, we feel we are providing a valuable service and at the same time getting our name in front of potential clients.

Make sure to tune into our show at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays to listen to us live!

Uncontested Divorce Cases Taking Longer In Los Angeles County

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

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.

California Divorce | What You Need To Know About Divorce In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There is a lot to know about California divorce. This article will discuss some broad aspects about divorce and what you need to know about divorce in California.

We specialize in divorce in California so we know what questions you have about divorce.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  We help people everyday with their divorce, so we have a pretty good idea of the information you want to know.

If you have searched and found this page, you are most likely at the beginning stages of your research on the issue of divorce.

So let’s discuss some of the considerations you should be thinking about at this stage.

The Divorce Process

One of the first basic questions about divorce is the divorce process itself.  Let’s talk about a few key issues regarding the California Divorce Process.

How Long Does Divorce Take in California?

California has what is called a “cooling off period”.  This cooling off period is 6 months.  This means that your divorce cannot be finalized until 6 months have passed since one of you have been served.  The 6 month clock does not start ticking until the papers have been served.

How much does it cost to get divorced?

The average cost of divorce in California is estimated at $15,000.  I know, that is ridiculous.  Even if you have an easy, uncontested case, divorce attorneys want $5,000 just to get your divorce case stated.  That is why we started this company providing flat fee divorce services.  When you use our services, the cost to file for divorce starts at just $599.

Do You Need An Attorney For Divorce In California?

The answer is NO.  You do not need an attorney for your California Divorce.  You can represent yourself during your divorce.  However, the divorce process is long and complex.  While it is possible to do your own divorce, most people will fail due to the complexity.

We Are Your Solution To Getting Divorced In California!

We are your solution to this problem.  We are a full service divorce company.  We are not attorneys, but are licensed to assist those going through divorce by providing a full service divorce process.  We take care of your entire divorce for one low flat fee.

In all honesty, there is too much information about divorce that can be covered in one article.  The best way to learn more is to call our office and speak to one of our knowledgeable divorce specialists.  Everyone’s situation is just a little different.

We are the only company in Los Angeles County that specializes in divorce.  We have worked for the Los Angeles Superior Courts and large area family law firms and we have helped 1,000’s of people complete their divorce.  We are members of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and Santa Clarita Valley Bar Association.

Call us to learn more about the California divorce process and how we can help you.  You can reach us at 661-281-0266

Information You Need To File For Divorce In California | Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Many people feel that they need to have everything figured out regarding their divorce before they file.  This is not true.

In this post, we will discuss the basic information and forms you need to file your case in California.

The first form you will need is the Petition.  This is form FL-100 and will contain most of the information about your requests and statistical information about your marriage.  Here is the information you need to complete the Petition for divorce.

  1. Your name, address and phone number
  2. Your spouses name address and phone number
  3. Date of marriage
  4. Date of separation
  5. Children’s names, date of birth and city & state they were born
  6. Your requests for legal and physical custody of the children
  7. Who is going to pay attorney fees?
  8. Do you want spousal support?
  9. Do you want to pay spousal support?

That is all the information you need to file the divorce Petition in California.

Next is the divorce summons.  This form only contains your name and address. It is fairly straight forward and does not even require a signature.

Depending on what county you file for divorce in, there will be some kind of case assignment sheet.  They go by different names.   It may be called a “Family Law Case Cover Sheet” or “Notice of Case Assignment”  All it is for is to let the court know where you reside so they can make sure you are filing in the proper court.

The last form you will need is the UCCJEA.  This form wants to know the names of your children and where they have lived for the last 5 years.  The court also wants to know if there are any other cases involving your minor children.

So there are only 3 forms you need to file for divorce.  There are 4 if you have children.

You don’t need much information to file for divorce in California.

When you use our Santa Clarita divorce service, these are the first set of divorce forms we will complete for you and which will be filed with the court and served on your spouse.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  Please give us a call for more information.

Be Aware Of California Divorce Form Changes Effective 7/1/2013

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are in the midst of going through your divorce, you need to be aware that the California divorce forms have been changed as of July 1, 2013.

Not all the forms are changed, but there were some significant changes that will cause you problems if you use the old California divorce forms after this latest update was completed.

The California divorce forms are updated approximately 2 times per year.  There is not generally much notice and we usually find out by receiving our software update disks from our forms provider.

Watch the below video where we discuss a couple of the changes surrounding the disclosures requirements.

I have not had a chance to go through all the California divorce form changes yet, but did want to discuss what we have found thus far.

This relates to the declaration of disclosures which are required to be done in all California Divorce cases.

The courts are now saying that when you complete your preliminary declaration of disclosure in your California divorce case, you will also need to serve 2 years of tax returns.  Some of the divorce courts in California had already required that, but this is a change for us in Los Angeles County.

Now onto the next issue with the changes.  This is addressed to anyone considering using an online divorce form preparation company.  I’m talking about the online divorce form companies that charge you a fee and say they will send you the forms.

In almost all cases, they never update their divorce forms.  They are trying to provide divorce forms to every state in the U.S. and it is too costly to keep up with all the form revisions.

So what they do is send outdated form to you. I can’t tell you how many people call me after being scammed by one of these online California divorce form companies and could not get their paperwork accepted by the court and were faced with multiple rejections of their divorce paperwork.

I have written many articles on the topic of why you should not use an online divorce form company.  I have literally beat it into the ground.  But I am just one person trying to get the word out.

If you’re reading this, please make sure to use a licensed and bonded legal document preparation company.  That is what we do.  This way you know that you are getting someone who is certified to provide legal services and has all the updated and proper divorce forms.

SCV Divorce Service Provides Free Chat Service | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

In an effort to make divorce information more available and easier to obtain, we are trying a new chat service.

While we do get a lot of calls and clients from our website, we know that there are many more people out there who are just not ready to pick up the phone just yet and are still gathering information.

We get several hundred visitors to our websites each day and we think that a lot of people will take advantage of the chat feature to get to know us a little better.

We wanted to use this chat service so folks can reach out to us to ask us questions about divorce, the process and perhaps specific questions pertaining to them.

We also realize that many people are at work and cannot call, but perhaps would be able to chat from their workstation.

It will be interesting to see how well this works out.  Within a few minutes of getting our divorce chat service online on our website, we had a new visitor.  It turned out to be a salesperson trying to sell us something.  Have to admit, I did not expect that as a problem.

We really hope folks utilize the chat feature.  There are some neat options on the user end.

We are able to redirect folks to to specific pages on our blogs while we are on the chat.  Folks can also take a screenshot of the page they are on if they want to save the information for later.  They are also coming out with a mobile version where you can chat with directly from your mobile device.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  We hope you find our Santa Clarita Divorce chat service helpful while looking for a service to help you with your divorce or the information you are looking for.

Another Scam For Cheap And Fast Divorce Services In California

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I can’t tell you how many times I have written articles about folks being scammed by online divorce services.  But I swore to write a new article every time I get a call from another person telling me their horror stories.  So here it goes.

This person decided they wanted to get their divorce completed cheap and fast.  So what did she do?  She Googled “Cheap and fast divorce”

The company that came up, which I won’t go as far to say, told her that they would complete her divorce for a flat fee. The website said the cost was $150.  But when she was getting ready to pay, they told her it was going to be closer to $399.  So she paid the fee and thought all was well.

A few weeks later she received the divorce forms and they were totally blank.  I am going to say that again. The divorce forms were completely blank. Meaning not even her name was on them.

So what she was told on the phone and what she received were two different things.  She literally spent $400 on forms that she could have gotten for free on the internet.

To add insult to injury, she later found that they had charged her close to $600 for the divorce forms she received that were totally worthless.

When she called the company to let them know about the over charge, they informed here that there are regulatory fees that they have to charge by law that they don’t have any control over.

Are you serious?  Regulatory fees?  What a total scam.

I advised her to make a claim with her credit card company and to report the actions of the company.

Sadly, I had to tell her that the documents she received were not worth a single penny. In fact, a review of the documents she received were not even the updated or correct forms the Los Angeles Courts are using.

If you are searching for cheap and fast divorce services in California, just remember that there is a lot of fraud in this industry and on the internet.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation company that specializes in divorce in California.  Please give us a call for more information about our divorce services of just to share your story of how you were scammed when searching for cheap and fast divorce services.