HEGGSTAD PETITIONS – What Is It and How Does It Work?

As more living trusts are created, more Heggstad Petitions are filed in California’s probate courts. What is a Heggstad Petition ? It is a legal way to put a deceased person’s property into their living trust that had been inadvertently excluded. Although there are less costs, time and steps involved in filing a Heggstad than filing a regular probate, why would anyone want to put their loved ones and beneficiaries through that? The whole point of the living trust was to save time, money, headaches and keep your affairs private. Don’t let this happen to your loved ones.

It’s very simple […]

By |Misc, Probate|
Read More

A Brief Look Back in Time – Just Document Preparation and the California Court’s evolution in the Self Help Movement

1996 – After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree and paralegal certificate, Annette Gomez started working independently as a freelance paralegal in her business, formerly known as Legal Action.

1997 – In response to the growing number of self represented litigants, California introduces Family Law Facilitators to the courts to offer free attorney services. Self Help departments opened in all the family law courts offering classes and other forms of help to the public.

1998 – California became the first state to create and formally regulate what is now known as the legal document assistant profession. Annette Gomez was the 4th person in […]

By |Misc, Press releases|
Read More

Where to File Family Law Cases in Riverside County

With divorce rates at an all-time high, it is more and more common that residents in Riverside County will be forced to utilize the services of the California Family Law Courts. This could be for simple divorces with no issues or complex family law cases with custody, visitation, child and spousal support and asset and debt division. No matter how simple or complex the case, if your residence is in Riverside County the Riverside County Family Law Courts will be where your case is filed and processed. Each county in California essentially handles family law cases in the same way, […]

By |Divorce, Misc|
Read More

Availability of Public Court Records for Riverside County

Modern Technology and the Courts Intersect

With the advance of technology, as well as the widespread use of it, it is no surprise that almost any piece of information is available online. This is no different for most court records for California and specifically the Superior Courts of Riverside County. With 58 Counties in California, most of these courts have made available court proceeding information for anyone who cares to look it up. While the amount of information available does vary from County to County, and also depending on the type of case, for the most part, access to specific information […]

By |Court Forms, Local Resources, Misc|
Read More

Notice & Appearance of Employee Benefit Plan

Have your received a notice and appearance of employee benefit plan from CalPERS? If you have received this notice in the mail you are not alone. The notice was sent because you are probably going through or finishing a family law case where a CalPERS account is subject to be divided.

What is it? The notice and appearance of employee benefit plan, California Judicial Counsel form FL- 374 is usually sent out by the CalPERS community property unit after they have been served a Joinder, or been made aware that they are a party to a family law case.

What information is […]

By |Misc|
Read More