Court clerks do not approve your forms for legal sufficiency Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, California
Don Glass, Esq
$695 to $995 Flat Fee Uncontested Divorce
951-326-8005 or 951-501-3554
https://attorneyprepareddivorceforms.com
https://californiaonlinedivorceattorney.com
Court clerks do not approve your forms for legal sufficiency as to YOUR personal legal rights. So, a paralegal who gives you a guarantee the court will accept your papers means very little.
The court clerk inspects each document to ensure it complies with the court’s rules on how legal documents should be formatted. Next, the court clerk verifies that the case number and caption are for a valid case. Court clerks aren’t attorneys and they can’t give you legal advice.
The primary tasks of the court clerk in a new divorce case are to collect the filing fee and take your paperwork on behalf of the judge. Whether your paperwork is legally sufficient is determined by the judge, not by the court clerk.
If you file divorce paperwork and the judge decides it’s not legally sufficient, especially if there’s a problem with the divorce petition, and you do nothing about it, the judge can dismiss your case.
However, generally speaking, the judge’s office may notify you if there are deficiencies in your divorce paperwork and give you a certain amount of time to file amended documents. This isn’t always easy since some rejection notices don’t tell you what’s wrong. This means you’ll either need to figure it out yourself quickly or hire an attorney to figure it out for you.
Court clerks do not check your forms for these commons mistakes: Your forms are filed with these mistakes:
- Name is not consistent on all forms- but accepted by clerk: They may spell it one way on the initial paperwork and another way on subsequent documents. They may add aninitial or a middle name. This could also happen when a spouse is served and he/she signs the name differently. Any discrepancies in the name may cause the papers to be rejected
- Assets are not listed on all forms- but accepted by clerk: They do not realize that ‘property’ refers not only to a home or condo, but also to retirement funds, investment funds and bank accounts.
- All Debt is not listed on all forms- but accepted by clerk: They do not realize that debt, accumulated during the marriage, is community debt and as such needs to be shared and listed.
- Wrong Addresses filed with the court- but accepted by clerk: If the court does not have the proper address for the petitioner or respondent, important court dates will be overlooked which may cause the case to be dismissed.
- Wrong box was checkedor no box checked- but accepted by clerk: This mistake may cause your divorce papers to be defective and then rejected by the court. A rejection typically happens late in the divorce process and may require you to file an amendment or redo of the divorce paperwork.
- Proof of Service is defective- but accepted by clerk: This may cause delays and sometimes a complete dismissal of the case.
- Other mistakes court clerks may file anyway:
A signature was not notarized;
Signature missing on a document;
Documents were filed with blanks;
Documents were signed and/or filed too soon or too late.
So, when you file your documents, court clerks do not check for these commons mistakes. Each of these mistakes can create costly delays in your divorce case. Each one may even cause you to have to start all over again and incur more fees. Divorce is too important to do it without much thought! An experienced divorce lawyer can advise you as to your issues and prepare the divorce paperwork correctly saving you valuable time.
A Divorce attorney can also save you money!
Don Glass, Esq
$695 to $995 Flat Fee Uncontested Divorce
951-326-8005 or 951-501-3554
https://attorneyprepareddivorceforms.com
