Uncontested Divorce? We’ve Helped More Than 2K Bay Area Couples

2015 was a banner year for celebrity divorces—Ben and Jen, Gwen and Gavin, Miranda and Blake. Shockingly, even Miss Piggy and Kermit are calling it quits. For celebrities, getting a divorce requires elaborate preparation. They work carefully with their publicists, planning the announcements months in advance to gain optimal exposure. There are press releases, photoshoots and intense media coverage.

Divorce is a painful and emotional process

For the rest of us, it seems odd that anyone would want to turn something so dismal as a failed relationship into a media event. There are emotional and economic issues and the need to create a new normal for the children. At California Document Preparers, we’ve helped more than 2,000 couples get divorced, and while our clients are relieved when it’s finally over, we know that it’s also painful and represents a lot of hard work. As a result, our family law specialists are especially sensitive to the needs of our divorce clients. When you begin working on your uncontested divorce, you will be working with a dedicated specialist who is available by phone and email for questions and support.

What is an uncontested divorce?

This means that a couple agrees on divorce-related issues, which include child custody and support and division of property—both assets and liabilities. If you and your spouse can work out these issues yourselves, you will save yourselves and your family considerable time, money and distress. You will also spare your children the agony of an extended legal battle and disrupt their routines as little as possible so they adjust to the new family reality.

What to expect from California Document Preparers?

Your first visit to a California Document Preparers office is for the purpose of information gathering.

1. We will collect information about you, your family and your finances in our “First Steps” and “Preliminary Disclosure” workbooks. Many of our clients take these workbooks home, where they have access to their online banking accounts and financial records, so they can complete this information in privacy and without feeling pressured.
2. Second visit: Signing your petition and other disclosure documents. You’ll carefully review and sign your petition and all the documents that go along with it. This meeting is usually when you’ll pay the court-filing fee.
3. Serving documents. This is the formal process of delivering the documents to your spouse, which can be done in person, by mail or by publication.

Figuring out settlement: Division of assets and a parenting plan

This may be the hardest part—developing a comprehensive plan for division of assets and debt and support and custody of your children. Some couples do all of this relatively easily, but for those for whom this is a challenge, California Document Preparers has a network of excellent professionals to whom we can refer you, including local attorneys, financial advisors, accountants, mediators, and other trained professionals.

One more thing—there’s just one set price for an uncontested divorce, and that includes filing fees, copies, notarizing and servicing documents. No surprises. 

If you have questions about an uncontested divorce, we welcome your questions. Talk to a family law specialist at one of our three Bay Area California Document Preparers offices. We help you through every step of this process.