Are You Looking For A Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Are you looking for a Santa Clarita Divorce Service?  Well, the search is over.  You just found Santa Clarita’s only legal document preparation company that specializes in divorce.

When we say divorce service, we are talking about our non-attorney divorce service.  We are licensed and bonded legal document assistants that specialize in divorce. What does this mean?

It means that we have the met or exceeded the necessary educational and experience guidelines to provide our divorce legal services directly to the public.  This means that we can operate without attorney assistance or supervision.

That is why we are able to provide much more affordable prices for our divorce services in Santa Clarita.

If you are looking for a Santa Clarita Divorce service, make sure to watch out for imposters.  Who are these imposters you ask?

Well, unfortunately the divorce legal services business is ripe with fraud.  That’s why there are licensing requirements.  To make sure we are capable and experienced so you are not taken advantage of.

Despite the rules and regulations, there are folks out there flying under the radar offering divorce services.  We have written an article about some of these divorce services that advertise on Craiglist that you will want to do your due diligence research on.

Sadly, we get calls that are lured into these fraudulently operating legal services who later have to come to us after they have lost their money to one of these companies.

As much as we talk and write about this in our blogs, there are simply too many of them out there.

When looking for a Santa Clarita divorce service make sure to do you homework.  Make sure they are legitimate and licensed.  Make sure they are operating out of a business establishment and not their home.  Make sure they specialize in divorce.

We guarantee that if you do these things, all roads will land you right back into our office.

We are the only licensed and bonded legal document assistant company specializing in divorce in Santa Clarita.

Santa Clarita Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce

Welcome to our site all about Santa Clarita Divorce.   If you are looking to learn about divorce in Santa Clarita and how the process works, you will find all the information on this website.

We continue to work hard to explain the Santa Clarita Divorce process in plain English so that people like you and me can understand how the divorce process really works.

We have had many people call us to say that our divorce website was the first site they came across that really helped them understand what is going to take to get divorced in Santa Clarita and helped them answer all their questions about divorce.

When you are considering getting a divorce in Santa Clarita, it is important that you are familiar with the process and understand all the ins and outs of what is going to happen.

That is exactly why we write so much about divorce.  We have now written over 1000 articles about divorce.  From “how to” articles with related videos to writing about our experiences and things you can expect when going through divorce.

Santa Clarita Divorce

We are the first place you should call when deciding on getting divorced.  We are not attorneys, so we are not going to blow a lot of smoke you know where. We just tell you how it is, plain and simple and in a language you can understand.

We have had people call a divorce attorney in Santa Clarita and then call us.  They said they had absolutely no idea what the attorney was saying.  This is not because the attorneys are not smart, it is because they speak in a language that only attorneys do.

Because we are not divorce attorneys, we speak the same language as you do when it comes to explaining the divorce process.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation service that specializes in Santa Clarita Divorce. Give us a call for more information about our Santa Clarita Divorce service.

Will Divorce Mediation Work For You | Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The process of divorce mediation where you and your spouse will sit down with a neutral third party to resolve the issues in your divorce.  Divorce mediation can be good options for many couples going through divorce.

But is divorce mediation for you and will it work?  A lot of this comes down to you and your spouse.  Here are a few things to consider:

  • Is the decision to divorce mutual?
  • Have you considered the financial benefits of mediation?
  • Can you sit in a room with your spouse?
  • Will both of you work towards and amicable agreement?

These are just of few of the questions you will want to ask yourself before deciding on using a Santa Clarita mediation company for your divorce.

We feel mediation should be attempted in all divorce cases, regardless of what your relationship is with your spouse.  We are not mediators so it is not to our benefit to tell you that you should try mediation.

We have seen the downside of spouses fighting it out with their attorneys.  Let me tell you, nobody wins except the your lawyers.

As a legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce in Santa Clarita, we sometimes have clients that are having trouble coming up with a solution to a particular issue.  Perhaps it is financial or perhaps they need help coming up with a suitable parenting plan.

When this happens, we often refer them to get some professional mediation.  Mediation can handle a single issue or they can help you come up with an agreement on all issues related to divorce.

There are many benefits to going through divorce mediation as opposed to hiring an attorney.  You will save yourself financially and emotionally and end up with a better arrangement by using mediation for your divorce.

If you are considering divorce meditation, make sure to give us a call first.  Prior to mediation you will need to file for divorce and prepare you preliminary declaration of disclosures.  We take care of the document preparation and then you can move on to the mediation company if need be.  Once you are done with mediation, you simply come back to us so we can prepare your final divorce judgment.

 

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

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

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.

Different Types Of Divorce Mediators | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We are a company that specializes in divorce document preparation in Santa Clarita.  We are not mediators, but often work with divorce mediators in Santa Clarita and wanted to discuss these different types of mediators.

There are different types of divorce mediators out there and we wanted to share with you this information so you can make the best choice and understand what your money is paying for.

First off, let’s talk about divorce mediators that are actual attorneys.  These types of divorce mediators work as a neutral third party.  This means that they do not represent either one of the spouses, rather they work to assist both of you.

The divorce mediators will meet with you together, explain the law as it relates to your case so both of you can make informed decisions.  They will explain what a judge may or may not order if you go court as well.

Divorce mediators who are attorneys are able to draft a Marital Settlement Agreement or MSA for short.  This marital settlement agreement can be used to submit to the court and has all the legal language required in a divorce judgment.

This marital settlement agreement is then attached to the judgment forms and submitted to the court.

You are going to pay more for these types of divorce mediators because they are attorneys.  However, at the end of the divorce mediation process, you will have a completed MSA ready for submission to the courts.

On the other hand, you have divorce mediators that are not attorneys.  These non attorney mediators cannot provide you with a legal document used for court. Non attorney mediators cannot practice law and therefor cannot draft the MSA which is necessary to submit to the court.  So at the end of your mediation in these cases, you have little more than a written document which will later need to be translated to a marital settlement agreement.

Non attorney mediators are much less in cost than attorney mediators.  Essentially, this is due to the final product you receive.

Depending on what you are trying to achieve in your divorce mediation will dictate which type of divorce mediator you should chose.

We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in divorce.  Please call us for more information regarding mediation services in Santa Clarita.

Santa Clarita Divorce Mediation | A Santa Clarita Divorce Service

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What does it mean to mediate your divorce?  Want the easy answer?  Good!

When you go to a mediator, you are asking a neutral third party attorney to assist you with coming to an agreement about the terms of your divorce.

A mediator will work with both spouses to explain how the law works so you can make informed decisions on how to best divide your assets and debts and to work on parenting plans, etc.  Essentially, mediators will help with whatever issues you are unable to resolve on your own.

Once you are in agreement, they will draft a “marital settlement agreement” or MSA which you will sign.

But why are we discussing this on a divorce document preparation service site you ask?  Because mediation is the next step if you cannot come to an agreement on your divorce.

Let me give you an example.

Many people who don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on their divorce come to me to prepare their divorce for them.  These folks are mostly in agreement on the terms of their divorce.  But there may be one or two sticky points they are still working on.

What we will do is get their divorce filed and start the process.  We will prepare and complete all the necessary mandatory forms including the financial disclosures.  Once this is done, you are ready to work towards some type of agreement on the distribution of your assets and debts.

Let’s assume at this point that you are unable to come to an agreement on say a parenting plan or the amount of support to be paid.  Where you are unable to make decisions, using a mediator can help.

A mediator can provide you with the information you need so you can make informed decisions.  A divorce mediator is far better than the parties going out and hiring individual attorney’s.  There is certainly a cost advantage to using a divorce mediator.

I have clients that come to me who later need mediation.  I refer them out to a local Santa Clarita divorce mediation team who will help them through their issues and draft the marital settlement agreement.

Once the agreement is drafted, they come back to me to finish up the divorce documentation and we submit the final judgment.

What we recommend is that you start your divorce with us and allow us to get all the paperwork done for you.  This will save you a lot of money.  Then if you need to speak to a divorce mediator, you can go to them for help on an agreement.  Then we will wrap up your divorce for you.

Breaking Down Divorce Into Understandable Terms | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I was paid a nice compliment the other day.  A lady had called and said she had watched several of our Santa Clarita Divorce Videos on YouTube.

She went on to say how she liked the fact that we broke down the divorce process into terms she could understand.

And really, breaking down the divorce process is at the heart of what we do with our blogs, videos and podcasts.

We recognized that the divorce process in California is confusing.  While there is a lot of information out there on the web, it is hard to understand and is written in a way that makes you say, “what does that mean”?

So with that in mind, we have taken steps to break down the process in terms you and I can understand.  I will read something some lawyer or judge has said and then on video or in a blog post will say, “here is what this means in plain English”.

Another thing we have done in take the divorce process and break it down into understandable bits and pieces.  We take the process of divorce and make it more digestible by explaining what to do first and exactly how to do it.

We are fortunate to have many clients and lots of calls for help with divorce.  We simply take these questions we get and either write about them on our divorce blogs or post a video about it or do a podcast.  Sometimes we will do all three, just to make sure the information gets out there.

If you have questions about divorce, make sure to read this blog.  There are several hundred articles about divorce that we have written and answer most of the questions you will have about divorce and the process.

When you are ready to take the next step, please give us a call.  One phone call with us and you will walk away with a total understanding of the divorce process and what we can do to help you get through it.

We are a licensed divorce service in Santa Clarita and serve all of Los Angeles County.  Please call us at 661-281-0266 for assistance with your divorce.

 

Watch Out For Divorce Services That Cut Corners | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

The business of providing legal services is ripe with fraud.  That is why there are many rules one must follow in order to become licensed in the field of providing divorce legal services as we do in Santa Clarita.

We have obtained those licenses to provide our Santa Clarita divorce service which required that we proved we had the necessary educations, experience and background.

Unfortunately, there are many that have no experience and are unlicensed who are out there offering their services to the public illegally and who put a bad stain on this industry.

Yesterday I received a call from someone who at first was asking about costs for certain services I provide.  I was asking some questions of this person who I later determined was calling under false pretenses.  Meaning he was not a real or potential client, but was asking questions as if he was one.

This person finally said that they were a process server who also provided family law services and had questions about how we operate.

Seriously, you are a process server and you also provide family law services?  He started to tell me how he does divorce cases and all the corner cutting that he does.

This person had absolutely no clue about how to complete a divorce, but had all the ways to cheat the system worked out.  Meaning how he could do as little as work as possible by not following the court procedure.

This is exactly the type of people that are out there offering their divorce services that you have to watch out for.

So when you are calling around trying to ask how much it is for a divorce, you best make sure to check if they are even licensed to provide the service.

I can guarantee that if you are shopping around for a divorce service  based on price and want the lowest bidder, you are going to end up with one of the characters.

I badly want to post who this person is as I found them online.  But i will just hope they read this post and figure out it was them.  I am just glad this person is not in Santa Clarita.

If you are reading this I suggest you either get licensed to practice in this field and pay your bond and go through the steps to educate yourself and the necessary training to be in this industry.

Or just go back to process serving and stick to what you know.

How To Demand Financial Disclosures During Divorce | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

When going through a divorce there are many forms that have to be filed and served on the other party.  It can get very confusing which divorce forms to fill out.

But what do you do when the other party is not completing the divorce forms they are supposed to complete?

This article deals specifically with how to request the preliminary declaration of disclosure.  This is the schedule of assets and debts and income and expense declaration.

If you are going to file a uncontested divorce or hybrid divorce, both parties will need to complete their financial disclosures.  The divorce process cannot proceed until both parties have completed this step of disclosing their finances and served them on the other party.  It is mandatory that both parties to the divorce complete this step.

Sometimes one of the spouses will not want to complete this step for one reason or another.  But because it is necessary, you will need to nudge them a little.

Here is what we do to ask for someone to complete their financial disclosures.

First, don’t ask for theirs until you have filed and served yours.  So complete your set of disclosures.  When you serve them on your spouse, include a letter that asks that they complete their disclosure withing 30 days.

Wait the 30 days and if no response or no disclosures completed, you can take the next step.  This would be to file a demand with the court.  You would file a “Demand For Production Of Preliminary Declaration Of Disclosure” on the other party.

It is not a discovery request, but rather a demand that they complete their preliminary declaration of disclosure.  This form is filed with the court and then served on the other party.  This lets them know that you mean business and that the court is aware of the request.

In the demand for production of Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure you will indicate the same thing you did in the letter.  Let them know that pursuant to Family Code Section 2104 and 2107 that they have 30 days to complete their disclosures and that failure to comply with this demand may result in you filing a motion with the court to compel such production.

Hopefully, these steps will get your spouses attention and they will complete the necessary documents so you can complete your divorce.

We are a licensed divorce service located at 27240 Turnberry Lane, Ste. 200 Valencia, CA 91355.  Please call us if you would like more information about our services.

You Have 30 Days After Divorce Petition Served To File Response | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

If you are going through a divorce in California, one thing you will receive is the Summons.  The divorce Summons can be scary to read so I wanted to discuss this form in detail.

The first thing the divorce summons says is “You Are Being Sued”.  What do you mean you are being sued?  Look, while this is a family law matter, it is still a lawsuit filed in a court of law.  You just need to get over it.  And understand this. You are being sued, but not like in civil court where you are the defendant because someone has alleged you have done something wrong.

The next thing you will read is the following caption:

“You have 30 calendar days after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response at the court and have copy served on the Petitioner.  A letter or phone call will not protect you.  If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage, your property, and custody of your children…”

Of all the divorce forms, this one troubles people the most and I want to discuss a few things.

First of all, what the court is referring to about the “30 days to file a response” is in regards to the other party having the ability to file a “Request to enter Default”.  While technically it is true that you need to file a response in 30 days, it is not necessary if you are planning on proceeding by way of default or by using a hybrid judgment for your divorce.

I am a big fan of the hybrid divorce.  This is a cross between a default and an uncontested.  A hybrid divorce judgment allows you to do all the things required by an uncontested divorce (both parties complete financial disclosures and enter into a written agreement) and a true default divorce.

When preparing a hybrid style divorce, you do not have to worry about filing a response.  So while the Summons says you have to file a response or risk losing certain rights, it is not part of the paperwork when completing a hybrid divorce in California.  This is because with a hybrid a request to enter default will be filed.

The difference is that the request to enter default will be submitted with the final divorce judgment along with the agreement instead of after the 30 day mark.

If you have more questions about the California Divorce Summons or about the “30 days to respond” language, please feel free to give us a call.

We are a licensed divorce service located at 27240 Turnberry Lane, Ste. 200 Valencia, CA 91355 and can be reached at 661-281-0266.