Gina Famularo of Family Law Matters Talks to Katherine with It Needs to Be Said in an Interview About Her Firm and New Program Divorce in a Day


Katherine:	Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today on “This Needs to Be Said”, our friend Gina Famularo of Family Law Matters is joining us again today. She has a very interesting, I think it’s interesting, when we’re thinking about Family Law Matters and divorce because her organization has made it, I want to say user friendly. I mean I know that’s tough to think about when you’re thinking of separating from someone that you planned your life with, but it’s a user friendly way of moving on with your life. And what I mean by that is that you’re able to say, hey, this isn’t working out for us. Let’s come together and solve our current problem and so we can move on. So no one wants to hold anybody back with this program that she’s going to share with us today. So for those of you who have thought of attorneys as somebody that’s out to get you, no, no, no.
Katherine:	The attorneys that come on this needs to be said, have compassion. They have with this particular law practice, has Christian values that they put out front. So if that’s important to you, that’s something to consider as well as they are people just like you and me and they have experienced what we’re going through, what they’re sharing with you or they’ve helped so many people going through this and they show compassion. So compassion, not sharks, not someone trying to take your money, but someone who’s trying to equip you for the next part of your life. Now, that’s what I’ve learned since they’ve been on here, but I want you to take your pen and paper out, get ready to take notes. Gina’s going to share with us about a program that their firm offers called “Divorce in a Day”. Welcome back, Gina. How are you?
Attorney Gina:	I’m good, how are you doing Katherine?
Katherine:	I am fantastic. So I have a little idea about what you all are offering and I know we’ll get into that during the interview, but before that, I said a little bit because I know you and some of the listeners who have heard you on the show, but for those who are just joining us in, just getting to know “This Needs to Be Said”, as well as “Family Law Matters”. Tell us a little bit about your firm.
Attorney Gina:	Thank you so much for the question Katherine. As you’ve already stated, Family Law Matters is a family Law Firm with Christian values and we are very proud to proclaim those. Our motto is we protect you and your loved ones using Christian principles. We emphasize integrity, honesty, and keeping one word. We tell our staff, if you make a promise, you need to keep it. If you can’t keep the promise, don’t make it. What I think is most different about us is that we emphasize forgiveness and how this one trial in our client’s life can turn into a blessing. I think we’ve all heard horror stories about how divorce attorneys take thousands of dollars from their clients and at the end, the only thing that the client has is no money in their pocket and a situation that’s much worse and they ended up being bitter. For us, we see ourselves as a ministry. Of course we have to be competent and of course we have to counsel our clients and represent them in court, but I think what sets us apart is we try to keep things in perspective for our clients. We try to always remind them that this is part of a better plan, that this is a trial that they’re going through, that they’re going to come out the other end stronger and better for it. We actually have a saying on her wall that says “all things work together for God, for good, for those who love God”. That’s from Romans eight 28. Yep, that is right, and to us it means that no matter how bad the situation is for our clients, God has a greater plan. As long as they keep the safe, they do the right thing. At the end of his trial, they’re going to be showered with blessings. And that is our mission to always encourage reminder clients of that.
Katherine:	I know this is not necessarily a question that we have for this interview, but I have, um, a thought for you. I thought for myself as I’m thinking about this, the more I get to spend time with you Gina and the attorneys at your firm, I think more and more about how I’ve gone through life, trying to avoid having to deal with something that would say, I made a mistake. I did something bad, I failed. However, what you just said to me was, you know, there is redemption, you know, and how, and when we talk about it and, and those who believe in God and, and Christian principles, they’ve heard about it as well. But how often do we get the practice that, and so it’s awesome that you all practice what redemption looks like. And Romans eight 28 is a favorite scripture of mine. So that just, it helps us, even though this makes me bad or it feels uncomfortable, say uncomfortable. You have an opportunity for something that you didn’t even imagine that could be good to come out of this. You know so I just wanted to add that piece. You sound like you want to say something, come on in.
Attorney Gina:	Oh, I’m sorry. I was just going to say Katherine. Yeah. We help people get out of bad marriages that God didn’t intend them to be in, in the first place.
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Katherine:	Hmm. Yeah, that’s good news. That is good news. It’s just amazing when you all come on to the show and share with me how something may look bad when the listener tunes in, when I even get on with you, I’m thinking, oh Gosh, how are they going to make this good Right. And every time you surprised me and I can talk to you a hundred times and I know that you’ll have something new to share with me. That’s just the way that we are as people. But it’s just amazing because you have to break down the barriers. I only imagine what your job is like. You have to break down the barriers of this person feeling bad. They’ve gotten themselves in this situation or that this is happening to them. Um, am I going against what God has said for me. All of those questions, and then you can get to the work of showing them that you’re competent and that you can help them get through it, so kudos to your team for being able to get through that, and to help people.
Katherine:	Huge side note, we’re going to move on so that people can continue to get good information from you. Where are your offices located because you now have two, right?
Attorney Gina:	That’s correct. We serve Riverside County. We have one office in Temecula, California. The other is in Corona, California, and we serve the court houses of Vista, Hemet, Riverside downtown, and downtown San Bernardino.
Katherine:	Now we talked about divorces, but what else? So, what other types of cases do you handle?
Attorney Gina:	Sure. We handle pretty much anything that is related to families, hence the name, “Family Law Matters”. That would include such things as divorce or legal separation, annulments, child custody, support, adoption, domestic violence or guardianships.
Katherine:	I understand that you have launched a new service and I did start talking about that in the beginning, called “Divorce in a Day”. Give us the information, give us the scope. What is this divorce in a day, and the reason I want to know it is because I’ve never been married. I’ve heard about people getting divorced, I’ve even, you know, supported friends, you know, during the divorce and well, given moral support. However, in my mind and my understanding is it takes a long time to get this done. So now you have this program called divorce in a day. Could you tell us a bit about it?
Attorney Gina:	Absolutely. We’re very excited to announce this. In fact, the average divorce is about eight to 10 months, the process. But we have a program as you indicated, “Divorce in a Day” where we help the people go through the process through mediation in one day. So it is limited to certain people, but as long as they got most of the details worked out and they don’t want to do this themselves, they need, they know they need an attorney, they know it’s too big of a problem for them to handle on their own, but they don’t want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars running through the court system of they don’t want to wait months to resolve this. We’re here to help.
Katherine:	So you’re saying if I was in this situation to get divorced, I can, I can shorten the time by getting divorced in one single day.
Attorney Gina:	That’s kind of a trick question. It’s kind of a yes. So in order to get divorced, you have to work out certain terms and our process is created to work out all those terms in five hours. When our clients walk into the office, we get down to work, roll up our sleeves and start the process and five hours later when they walk out, they’ll have a full agreement, meaning all the details are worked out. However it really in practicality takes about six or eight weeks for the paperwork to go through the court system. We do all that for our clients and for clients are really in a hurry. They need to know that it takes six months to remarry after the paperwork is filed. So the paperwork’s done in a day, the process is done in a day. They have the paperwork in their hand after the judge signs it about six weeks later and six months later, six months later, if you guys are in a hurry, you can remarry.
Katherine:	Oh boy. Okay. Well that’s good news. For those who are not yet married, they may find themselves in a situation or really more seriously and those who are in a situation that they’re, you know, wanting to know, can this work for me. Is there an approval process? Um, do I need to qualify? Is this for anyone? How does this work?
Attorney Gina:	Sure. They actually, they do actually need to qualify. So we have very specific requirements for divorce in a day. First, they must have assets of less than $400,000. Meaning it’s got to be a simple case. If it’s complex, obviously a five hour streamlined process is not going to work. Secondly, and equally as important is there can be no history of domestic violence. We don’t want one person bullying the other in the mediation process. Third, they need to have an open mind. There’s no point in coming in here if you’re not going to at least be willing to negotiate.
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Katherine:	Okay, I was thinking, I have one more question to add with that. Okay. Now obviously this is something again, that’s that obviously that’s such an unassuming word. Um, when the couple comes to you, they need to be in agreement. They need to say, okay, this is what we both want. We both want to be away from each other. We want to move on with our lives in different directions. So they’re coming together to, and you said it has to be simple. So what are the things that they’re coming to terms in agreement with you, other than no, domestic violence making less than $400,000 annually. What, what would they need to agree on? What may be the other obstacles that they may not agree on to qualify for this program?
Attorney Gina:	Well, they would, they would pretty much qualify as long as they’re flexible, as long as they’re willing to be open. We usually ask that they have one agreement regardless of what it is. But we do the whole thing. So what we do during this process, as we close our office and dedicate our entire office to this divorce in a day for our clients, we start the process with a short informational video. We educate them about the divorce process and then we have a question and answer session with an attorney. We then have them fill out a list of forms that have them agree to the process and agreed to the mediation. And then we have them meet with a paralegal for a few minutes to, um, wrap up the forms, and then we send them to a different room. And in the first room they meet with an attorney, and that attorney will work through with them custody. They have an hour to do so. If the custody is done, they move on to the second room. The slates wiped clean. They have a new attorney to negotiate with them and they work out property and debts. After they work out that, they move to a third room, new attorney again and they work out support at the end of this process. Hopefully they have an agreement and if they do, they go to lunch and when they come back an hour later. We finish the process by signing all the documents, they go home, we file the documents for them, and a few weeks later they get their divorce judgment in the mail.
Katherine:	And all of this is done in your office. It sounds like they’re moving from room to room.
Attorney Gina:	Yes, yes. So we negotiate it. We write it up, we notarize it, we file it – we do everything. All they need is an open mind.
Katherine:	Well, I think this is great. Again, I don’t need it and I’ve never been married. But I love having information because I have experienced how tough it is for people to go through this. And it’s heartbreaking for the friends to see you split up for whatever reason. So it’s not just that the couple is going through it. So I think this kind of format, this program that you all have will be not just for the couple but for the people who are supporting them because they now know that John and Jane have come up with a solution and they’ve gone through this process. And it sounds to me like a more caring situation. Is there a possibility that once these people have come and you have preapproved them, and they get to a point, and they just can’t agree on things, are they able to, is it a one-time qualification or can they go and come back when they can agree on something? How does it work? What are the guidelines here? We come to you, we can’t get it together – can we come back?
Attorney Gina:	Absolutely. So divorce in a day is a one day program. However, if they’re close and they just need to iron out a few more details, they can come through the program again. There would be however a new fee to do so. But absolutely they can come back more than once. We also actually offer private mediation services as well, so that would be something we would explore with someone like that.
Katherine:	Okay. Okay. And this is a huge conversation and I know our time is ending up here. I liked it. You all shared with me that “divorce in a day” is a low cost practical solution to breaking, to a broken legal system and it’s so many times that people look at something and said this, this isn’t quite working right and I liked that you all did that. Found a solution that is still within the parameters of what the expectation is of getting a divorce. The things you have to do, but it doesn’t have to drag out if you’re certain of what you want to do. I’m, I’m grateful that you all have put something like this in place. We’ll put this in place. We are going to have to talk about this some more in a future interview if you don’t mind because right now I need you to let everyone know how to get in touch with you outside of this needs to be said.
Attorney Gina:	Thank you so much. If you’d like to contact us at family law matters, you can reach us at our Temecula office at (951) 587-0505 that’s (951) 587-0505 you can also reach a set of corona office at (951) 264-7377 that’s (951) 264-7377 or visit us at our website on mycustodydivorce.com.
Katherine:	Gina, thank you so much for being here on this needs to be said today and we will talk with you next time. Have a wonderful day.
Attorney Gina:	Thank you and God bless you.
Katherine:	Thank you. God bless you as well.
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