There are many reasons why people seek divorce services. Incompatibility, differences in life choices, infidelity, unrealistic expectations, lack of equality in the relationship, how to raise the children, financial reasons, emotional and/or substance abuse, and changes in life goals are all various reasons why individuals may seek a divorce. Regardless of the reason, deciding to end a marriage is never an easy decision. The hopes and dreams that each partner may have had for the future will now be forever changed and the thought of this can be overwhelming. When the decision has been made to dissolve your marriage, it is important to have the support of friends and family that can be there for you during this time and a profession that can help you through navigating the legal process which will make going through this process less stressful.
When beginning the process of divorce, one should first understand that it is possible to have an ‘amicable’ divorce, especially if both parties have mutually agreed to part ways. In fact, working together to reach an amicable settlement can actually be advantageous to all parties involved. If there are children involved, working together to decide what is in the best interests of your children versus having to go through mediation will help reduce the stress that you and your children may feel. Additionally, reaching an agreement about the disposition of any assets or debts can also avoid the courts deciding what will happen to your assets. By working together, both parties can avoid strangers from deciding the final outcome of their divorce proceedings.
To assist parties in alleviating unnecessary stress in having to navigate the complicated court process for their divorce, it is important to seek divorce services from someone who is familiar with the legal process. Many may believe that this means hiring expensive attorneys who will charge much more for this process which many times also extends the time to get your case processed through the court system as well, and in the end, you may or may not settle your divorce the way you had hoped to. Additionally, with attorneys charging upwards of $400 or more per hour, hiring attorneys to process your divorce when you are already in agreement is not necessary and can cost you so much more than working with a service like ours. When parties have reached an agreement and need assistance in navigating the court process, a Legal Document Assistant is an affordable way to help both parties prepare and file all required documentation, while also ensuring that you maintain control of all terms so that the final outcome will reflect what they wanted and not what the court deems appropriate. With our extensive experience in Family Law, Priority One Legal Document Services, Inc. can assist you in processing your divorce case efficiently and affordably to eliminate any unnecessary added stress during this time.
Filing a legal separation can create some boundaries and protection during the parties’ time apart and can legally separate the parties’ assets and financial responsibilities, while also establishing support, and child custody orders if there are children involved while keeping the party’s marital status intact. Having these orders in place allows the parties to live their lives separately with structure while determining if they are happier doing so. Additionally, couples may file a legal separation versus a divorce due to religious reasons, personal beliefs, and to maintain benefits they receive as a married couple such as health insurance coverage (should the medical provider allow you to do so), social security and pension benefits. Filing a legal separation may also provide the ability to receive tax benefits as you are still legally married which you can confirm with a profession tax advisor.
If you decide to file for legal separation and a judgment is entered for the legal separation, you must understand that should you decide to proceed with a divorce in the future, you will typically need to file an entirely separate case to do so. While you can often incorporate orders from the legal separation into the divorce case, you will typically need to go through a similar process through the court system again.
If you are considering filing for a legal separation versus a divorce, we suggest that you first speak with a family law attorney for legal advice so that you can make the right decision moving forward.
The process for legal separation is very similar to a divorce process and has several steps involved. As such, it is important to seek the help of a professional who is familiar with the court’s requirements, documents, procedures, and timelines to ensure that everything is handled correctly and avoid wasting unnecessary time and money.
There are numerous reasons why someone may request an adult name change. An adult name change may be requested to clarify one’s name due to misspellings or other errors which may cause issues with their legal documents. With the government’s requirement for the Real ID’s for travel, we are seeing more and more requests for adult name changes in order to meet the requirements for these ID’s. As the Department of Motor Vehicles requires that the name on the documentation required to obtain a Real ID be identical to one another and also to what Social Security has on record, it has become even more imperative for individuals to correct issues with their name and have a greater consistency on various legal documents.
In addition to correcting issues with one’s name, some individuals may request a legal name change to completely change their name simply because they do not like the name given to them at birth, they wish to carry the last name of a parent that raised them but was not their biological parent, they wish to have the same surname as a partner, they wish to change their name for religious reasons, they have changed their gender, or in some cases even to make a political statement.
Whatever the reason, requesting an adult name change is a legal process that has several steps involved. As such, it is important to seek the help of a professional who is familiar with the court’s requirements, procedures, and timelines to ensure that everything is handled correctly and avoid wasting unnecessary time and money.
As our service will only assist in cases where both parties are fully agreeable, it is important to understand what this really means to be in full agreement:
When considering trying to file your divorce or legal separation case on your own with the court, there are many things you should consider before doing so. We have many clients that have attempted to do this on their own and wish they had hired a professional to assist them from the very beginning.
Our team here at Priority One Legal Document Services, Inc. has been providing legal document services in the Bay Area for our clients for over 30 years. Our service helps people who are looking for assistance with the preparation and processing of their divorce, dissolution of domestic partnership, and legal separations that are residing in either Santa Clara, San Mateo or San Benito counties and are in full agreement and do not wish to have to hire attorneys to prepare and process their cases. We also assist with adult legal name changes in Santa Clara County only. We are here to provide our clients with a great service while ensuring their documents are prepared and processed correctly through the court at a reasonable cost.
While the cost of using our service is substantially less than the majority of attorneys, the exact cost is determined on a flat fee case-by-case basis once we have the opportunity to understand the specifics of your case and everything involved during the complimentary consultation. There are reports as stated in Findlaw.com that the average cost of legal fees for when hiring an attorney for divorce is around $17,500 for a divorcing spouse with no children and around $26,000 for a divorcing spouse with kids, and can even be in an upwards $38,000 or greater as stated in other articles and surveys and by our clients as well that once had an attorney involved in their case.
In addition to the fees for our services, there will also be court filing fees, based upon the type of case you are filing with the court. This fee varies and will also be discussed during the consultation appointment.
Once we have the opportunity to discuss your case with you in detail, we can determine exactly what fees will be involved for our service to assist you. Please rest assured that there are no “hidden costs” and our fees are competitive and reasonable for the high level of expertise and services you will receive when working with our office.
