maryland family law attorney

maryland family law attorney
If you live in the State of California and you, a divorce, you are very happy, free divorce forms available. Right? Good Art ...

California has a complete set of forms for divorce, contact your county's Superior Court, or download at the California on-line self-help Law Center. They are Adobe Acrobat fillable forms and you can find a free Adobe Reader program on the Adobe website. (Theoretically, you can only fill it by hand with a black pen, but court clerks really hate, dass)

So, if the forms are, why are there so many people out there selling divorce kits on the Internet? Unfortunately, the California Self-Help Center is not quite as helpful as you might think. I have 138 different forms of family alone, and very few of them have the instructions how to fill. Most of them will not be your case, but you really have no way of figuring out which apply. And, they can be very, very confusing. Here is one of my personal favorites: Declaration Re Service of Declaration of Disclosure. Only a lawyer could have a title like that.

Let's look at some of the recent studies. A study by a Task Force on Pro SE litigants (people who consider themselves) estimates that up to 60% of people filing for divorce in California are on their own divorces. Another recent study estimates that up to third of people who believe they are getting their own divorce in Los Angeles has never stopped, and do not know.

What is going on here? The people are aware of the access to the free forms, but they are not the skills they need to use them. When you sign up for your own divorce, you have to make some other means to help.

Of course, I believe that my e-book is the best way, but I can be a little prejudiced on this issue. Here are some other resources that are worth check-out:

Ed Sherman's Nolo Press - Ed wrote the Grand-Daddy of all divorce kits and is a practicing lawyer in Santa Cruz. His book, "How to Do Your Own Divorce in California", "has been around for many, many years and has over one million copies. He has a very good product and an excellent reputation. The book also comes with a CD with forms and the programs needed to it. You may request copies of your book store or its Web site at nolo.com. (A word of caution - nearly every library in the state, has a copy of this book, but it is best to select a new edition. California changes forms, it is twice a year, and you want the latest edition of the book.)

Sphinx Press - "" As for divorce in California "- also a very good book, written by a pair of lawyers and regularly updated. The edition that I have not won, a CD with forms, but tear out forms on the back. Again, unless you have a kind of writers, it is best to view the forms you need from the self-help center, instead of using the stylus.

The Alpha California Divorce Kit, by Kermit Burton - the author is a former legal secretary and, although it is not so much explanation of the system, as the two previous books, there are indeed examples of each completed form. Not with this CD, but it is comforting to be able to view the forms and make sure that you have done it right.

Bob Pickus "", "Divorce and Family Law in California" - the author is an attorney in Alameda and clinics on family law. There are no forms or instructions with this, but I really recommend. It has some very good and intensive discussions in of all issues in the California divorce.

If you live in Los Angeles, you can switch to the LA Superior Court Web site and download a document entitled "A handbook on procedures for the handling of standard and uncontested judgments Submitted by declaration pursuant to Family Code Section 2336th "" As you might guess from the title, it is in legal language and it is just as boring as ditch water, but it shows you how your divorce.

Be sure to view the Web site of the Court to local rules and forms. If you are half way through, you can always have access to your province Familienrecht moderator for more information. Good luck!

Daniel Adair is the author of the California Divorce Course, an online guide for the submission Own California Divorce (http://divorcecalifornia.biz/index.html)