Debbie and Janet would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Stay safe and well. Hope your holiday is filled with family, love and relaxation.
Category Archives: divorce
Divorce
Have you and your spouse come to the realization that it’s just not going to work out between you? Has the word “divorce” entered into your conversation more and more recently? The holiday season is not really a time when people want to think about divorce. But unfortunately holidays don’t stop people from realizing that they shouldn’t be married anymore. In fact, sometimes holidays actually make you realize that divorce is the only answer for you.
Are you finding it difficult to take that 1st step toward divorce? Once you have decided that it’s time to take that step, call Debbie at Court Forms Plus. She is a Legal Document Assistant (LDA) who can fill out divorce documents for you. Having an LDA assist you with divorce documents is an alternative to the high cost of having an attorney. We are caring people who want to assist you in filling out divorce documents. Let us help you through an emotional and stressful time in a caring and peaceful environment.
We are not attorneys. We can only offer self-help services at your specific direction.
Divorce documents without Lawyers
It was announced this week that Kris Jenner filed for divorce from, Bruce Jenner, her husband of 23 years. She filed “In Pro Per” which means that she did not use a lawyer to complete her documents. The news report stated that they had “come to an agreement”. What I find interesting about this announcement is that almost every celebrity who has ever had divorce documents filled out and filed use a lawyer. Yet these two, who obviously have the funds available for a lawyer choose to represent themselves. Why do you suppose that is?
For one thing, when you represent yourself, and use a Legal Document Assistant, you have total control over all aspects of your divorce. You and your spouse are the ones that decide everything. Another good thing about representing yourself is that in most counties in California, if you agree and submit the divorce documents in a timely fashion, you won’t even need to go to Court. The two of you discuss, either by phone, in person, by text or email, however is comfortable to you, all aspects of your divorce. Once you’ve determined what your issues are and have agreed on them, your Legal Document Assistant will fill out the divorce documents and in most cases, submit them to Court for you, if you wish.
Another positive aspect about doing your own divorce is that, as long as you stay agreeable and submit the divorce documents to the Court in the proper time, things move much quicker. Yes, it still takes 6 months and 1 day from date of service to become final. But your time spent with your Legal Document Assistant filling out divorce documents is only about 2 to 3 months. And if you need advice most Legal Document Assistants have lawyers that they will refer you to.
It appears that Kris and Bruce Jenner thought about their options and chose the best course of action for them by filing their divorce documents “In Pro Per”. If you and your spouse are contemplating filing for divorce, feel that you can be agreeable and don’t need advice, weigh YOUR options. You may be better off following Kris and Bruce’s lead.
“I am not an attorney. I can only offer self-help at your specific direction.”
QDROs, Retirement, pension or 401k split in divorce
Most people who go through a divorce don’t realize that they are entitled to a certain portion of their spouse’s retirement, pension or 401k. Others know they are entitled to a share, but choose not ask for it. The document needed to split a retirement, pension or 401k is called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QDRO for short. When you make the decision to go forward with doing the documents to insure that you receive your share of your spouse’s retirement, pension or 401k, finding just the right person to do the documents for you can be a challenge. It is so important that the QDRO be typed correctly. If the QDRO isn’t typed correctly, it can affect the amount you receive, how you receive it, when you receive it and many other factors. Processing a QDRO is a long process that can become longer if the Plan doesn’t pre-approve the QDRO the first time. Usually the reason a Plan doesn’t approve the draft is either the person typing the QDRO (or retirement split) didn’t request a sample from the Plan, which is VERY important, or they didn’t pay attention to the QDRO sample that the Plan provides, and made errors. It is also important to make sure that you still have a retirement account with that Plan! I know this sounds strange, but I have a customer who contracted with me to do his QDRO. The customer’s responsibility is to bring me all of the necessary information, such as final divorce documents (showing that the ex spouse was awarded a share of the pension) and the name/phone number and email address of the person at the Plan where the pension is held and the draft of the QDRO is to be sent for pre-approval. My customer did all of those things and even called the Plan and requested that they send me their sample of the QDRO they prefer to be used when splitting their pension plans. What he failed to do was to check and make sure he still had an account! I did my part by typing the QDRO to split his pension and sending the draft of the QDRO to the Plan for pre-approval. Today I received a letter back from the Plan, stating that my client received a “total distribution” from the Plan in 2008! This brings up a whole other issue that now has to be dealt with. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Deeds in Trusts, Divorces & more
Most Legal Document Assistants take continuing education classes once a month. This month, we attended a class in Hayward, on preparing deeds. Many of us offer the preparation of deeds to our customers, so we were happy to attend this class. No matter how much you may think you know, there is always something to learn at these classes.
There are many instances where one may need to have a new deed prepared.
When drafting a Trust, a deed is generally prepared to transfer title of real property to the name of the Trust. We usually use Trust Transfer deeds for this situation.
In a divorce action, deeds are often prepared when one party of the divorce gives up his/her interest in real property to the other party. These deeds can be Interspousal Transfer deeds, Grant deeds or Quit claim deeds. Sometimes, one may want to add a new spouse or adult child to the deed. In all of these instances, preparation of the deed is very important. If the deed isn’t correctly prepared, there can be issues in the future. If you want to transfer title of your property to a trust, or if you are getting divorced and need a deed prepared to quit claim title to your spouse, we can help you.
We are not attorneys. We cannot give you advice. If you need advice, you will need to consult with an attorney