How to Prepare Divorce Documents for San Bernardino County Court | Los Angeles Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

 

How to Prepare Divorce Documents for San Bernardino County Court

I’m Tim Blankenship of Divorce661. In this guide I’ll walk you through exactly how to prepare divorce paperwork for San Bernardino County so your case isn’t delayed or rejected. I explain the required forms, the mandatory disclosures, how service works, what goes into your judgment package, common mistakes to avoid, and what we do to help clients get their divorces approved quickly.

Overview: The process in a nutshell

Filing for divorce in San Bernardino County follows a predictable sequence. Get these steps right and you avoid the most common cause of delays: court rejections for missing or inconsistent paperwork.

  1. File the initial paperwork (Petition, Summons, and UCCJEA if you have children).
  2. Legally serve your spouse.
  3. Complete and exchange Preliminary Financial Disclosures (mandatory).
  4. Prepare and submit your Judgment package (includes Marital Settlement Agreement if applicable).

Step 1 — Initial filings: Petition, Summons, and UCCJEA

The very first documents are the Petition and Summons. If you and your spouse have children under 18, you must also complete the UCCJEA (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act) form. These establish the court’s jurisdiction and the basic requests in your case (dissolution, property division, custody, support, etc.).

Important tip: San Bernardino accepts eFile for family law documents, so you often don’t need to visit the courthouse in person. However, the forms must be filled out completely and accurately before you submit.

Step 2 — Service: Getting the papers to your spouse

After filing, your spouse must be legally served with the court papers. Service must follow California rules (personal service by a non-party over age 18, or a court-approved method such as substituted service or service by mail when appropriate). The court will not proceed until service is complete and proof of service is filed.

Step 3 — Preliminary Financial Disclosures (mandatory)

San Bernardino courts require both parties to exchange preliminary financial disclosures before the court will review or finalize resolutions. These are not optional.

The required disclosures include:

  • Schedule of Assets and Debts (FL-142): A full accounting of community and separate property, liabilities, retirement accounts, real estate, and other assets.
  • Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150): Monthly income, deductions, and expenses used to calculate temporary support or to inform negotiations.

Complete these forms carefully. Omissions, wrong numbers, or inconsistencies between forms are the most frequent reasons for court rejections later on.

Step 4 — The Judgment package: what the court expects

The last major step is preparing your judgment package for submission once the parties have reached agreement or completed required processes. This package typically includes:

  • Marital Settlement Agreement (if you have one)
  • Final Judgment forms
  • All required attachments and disclosures
  • Any custody agreements or child support worksheets

San Bernardino courts are strict about completeness and internal consistency. If numbers, names, or dates don’t match across forms, the court will reject the package and send it back for corrections.

San Bernardino courts are strict. If anything is missing or filled out incorrectly, your case will be rejected.

Common mistakes that lead to rejection (and how to avoid them)

  • Inconsistent financial numbers across the Income and Expense Declaration, Schedule of Assets and Debts, and settlement agreement — cross-check all figures.
  • Missing signatures or notary where required — always sign and date every form that requests it.
  • Using the wrong county-specific forms or outdated versions — always download the current forms and local mandatory attachments for San Bernardino County.
  • Leaving blanks instead of writing “N/A” or “None” — courts interpret blanks as incomplete.
  • Poorly executed proof of service — follow service rules exactly and file proof promptly.
  • Failing to exchange Preliminary Financial Disclosures before trying to submit the judgment package — disclosures are required prior to court review.

A real example: how careful review speeds approval

We recently helped a San Bernardino couple who prepared their own paperwork and submitted a judgment package that the court rejected due to inconsistencies. We reviewed every form, corrected the discrepancies, completed missing attachments, and refiled everything electronically. Because the revised package was complete and consistent, the court approved their divorce within a few weeks.

Practical checklist before you eFile

  1. Confirm you have the correct, current San Bernardino forms and attachments.
  2. Complete Petition, Summons, and UCCJEA (if kids).
  3. Arrange legal service and prepare proof of service.
  4. Prepare and exchange Schedule of Assets and Debts and Income and Expense Declaration.
  5. Draft Marital Settlement Agreement (if applicable) and assemble the full Judgment package.
  6. Cross-check names, dates, and numbers for consistency across all documents.
  7. Sign and notarize where required, then eFile through the court’s system.

How Divorce661 helps

At Divorce661 we specialize in preparing and filing complete, court-ready divorce paperwork for San Bernardino County. Our service includes:

  • Flat-fee pricing for predictable costs
  • 100% remote service with eFile submission
  • Filing, service coordination, disclosures, and judgment preparation handled start-to-finish
  • Attention to San Bernardino’s strict local requirements to prevent rejections

If you’d like help preparing your divorce documents in San Bernardino County, visit Divorce661.com to schedule a free consultation. We’ll review your situation, prepare the forms correctly the first time, and keep your case moving.

Final thoughts

Filing for divorce can be stressful, but most delays come from paperwork problems that are avoidable. Follow the sequence: file the Petition and Summons (and UCCJEA if needed), serve your spouse correctly, exchange Preliminary Financial Disclosures, and prepare a consistent, complete Judgment package. Cross-check everything before eFiling, and if you’re unsure, get help—fixing mistakes later costs time and money.

For a free consultation and help with San Bernardino County divorce filings, go to Divorce661.com.

 

Santa Clarita Divorce : Common Mistakes When Filing Your Santa Clarita Divorce : Divorce 661

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Santa Clarita Divorce : Common Mistakes When Filing Your Santa Clarita Divorce

I see several issues that continue to come up with people trying to file their own Santa Clarita Divorce. (Video at bottom)

Common Mistakes When Filing Your Santa Clarita Divorce

1.  Names Must Match On Summons & Petition – Using a different version of your name on the Divorce Summons & Petition. The names your use on your summons must match that on the petition. So, for instance. If you use Tim Blankenship on the Summons, use Tim Blankenship on the Petition.

What we see people doing, who are trying to do their own Santa Clarita Divorce is use different variants of their name throughout their divorce paperwork.  Here is an example. They start with Tim Blankenship and then in some places write, Tim S. Blankenship and in others Timothy Blankenship. This usually happens when people are filling out the divorce paperwork by hand or typing it into fillable forms.

2.  Not Using A Date Of Separation – Another issues I see is that people doing their own Santa Clarita Divorce is putting down a date of marriage, but not putting down the date of separation. This is cause for your divorce case to be rejected.

You need to have a date of separation on your divorce petition. “But Tim, we are still living together and not legally separated!” Doesn’t matter, you need to have a date of separation.  In fact, most of my clients are still living together at the time of filing for divorce and there is no requirement that you actually be separated prior to filing for divorce as it is in some states.

Here are some examples of what you can use as the date of separation for your Santa Clarita Divorce. (And yes, you can use a date in the past). You can use the day you discussed with your spouse that you wanted a divorce. You can use a day that you started sleeping on the couch. You can use a date of incident such as when your spouse perhaps did something that caused you wanting a divorce. If nothing else makes sense, then we just use the date of the filing of your divorce as your date of separation.

3.  Requesting Your Name Changed On The Divorce Petition – Okay, I get asked all the time, “can i choose a name” where is asks if you want to restore your former name.  The answer is no. As part of the divorce, you can only revert back to your former, maiden name.

The reason is that if you just choose any old name, and when you go to say Social Security or the DMV, they are going to check that it is, in fact, your former maiden name. The only way to choose a name of your choice is to file a legal name change with the court.

4.  Using An Address For You Minor Children Outside of California – This does not happen too often, but often enough to address it. If you have children, you need to also file a form called a UCCJEA which is form FL-105. The courts want to know where your children have lived for the last 5 years. You children have to be living in California in order for the state to have jurisdiction to make orders for child custody.

If you state that your children are living out of state, you will not be able to have custody orders in California. If you find yourself in this situation, even if you list your children on the divorce petition and then try to turn in your divorce judgment to the court, they will reject your judgment and tell you that the court does not have the jurisdiction to make orders for child custody and that you need to remove the custody portion from your judgment. This is a problem if you need custody orders as part of your Santa Clarita Divorce.

If you need assistance with your Santa Clarita divorce make sure to give us a call. We have local offices right here in Santa Clarita and can assist you with finalizing your divorce.

Santa Clarita Divorce FL-110 Form Completion – California Divorce Tutor

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

This is an introduction to California Divorce Tutor to show you how the online California divorce service works. This is s tutorial to show you a behind the scenes on how to complete California Divorce form FL-110 which is the summons.

The California divorce form FL-110 is a fairly simple form to complete and there is not a whole lot of information to complete, but there is some important information regarding the ATRO’s also known as Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders.