In California, like the other states, the process of divorce is the legal procedure for ending your marriage and resolving the issues you need to resolve to be able to separate your life from your spouse’s life. To complete the process of divorce, you and your spouse file legal paperwork, exchange financial information, and resolve property, support, and parenting issues before a court officially divorces you. California law authorizes judges to issue a final divorce order only once six months have passed from the date the respondent is served with the summons and petition or appears in the case, whichever occurs first. Disagreements, discovery, property valuation, custody issues, and court proceedings can prolong the process.
Pakpour Banks LLP helps clients throughout Northern California make the legal and financial decisions that arise during divorce. Our practice covers divorce, property division, child custody, child support, spousal support, mediation, and more. We pursue negotiated resolutions when appropriate while remaining prepared to litigate issues that require a judge’s decision.
Not Sure Which Divorce Path Fits Your Situation?
California gives you three ways to file, typical, joint petition, or summary dissolution for simpler cases, and each comes with its own steps for service, financial disclosures, and timing. A judge can’t finalize anything until six months after your spouse is served, so knowing your path early can save real time.
What Does Divorce Do in California?
Divorce, which California law calls dissolution of marriage, legally ends your marriage. The proceeding also resolves the rights and obligations that you must address to separate your life from your spouse’s.
When you divorce, you typically need to decide, or ask a court to decide for you, how you and your spouse will resolve:
- Property and debts. The spouses must identify assets and obligations, determine whether they are community or separate property, and divide community property and debts.
- Support. You may need to determine amounts for child support, spousal support, or both.
- Parenting issues. If you share minor children, you may need orders addressing legal custody, physical custody, and parenting time.
The divorce procedure provides a way to establish the facts needed to resolve these issues and turn the final resolution into an enforceable court judgment.
What Is the Process of Divorce in California?
So, what is the process of divorce in California? California provides three basic pathways that you can use:
- The typical filing process,
- A joint-petition process, and
- Summary dissolution for couples whose lives are minimally intertwined.
After the case starts, the spouses typically need to exchange financial information, address immediate problems, resolve final terms, and enter a judgment. Some filing methods require extra steps.
Beginning a Divorce Case
In the typical divorce process, one spouse files legal paperwork with a California court requesting a divorce. To be eligible to file in California, at least one of the spouses generally must have lived in California for the previous six months and in the county where you file for at least three months.
Since January 1, 2026, spouses can initiate the divorce process together by filing a joint petition. You do not need to agree on every final term when you file, but both spouses must intend to work toward complete agreement. If they cannot ultimately agree, the case cannot be completed through the joint-petition procedure.
Summary dissolution provides a simpler process for qualifying couples. You may be able to use the summary dissolution process if you:
- Have been married for less than five years,
- Have no children together,
- Have limited amounts of property and debt,
- Have no interest in most real property,
- Waive spousal support, and
- Agree on how to divide property and debt.
Summary dissolution skips many of the following steps. A California divorce lawyer can help you decide which filing process makes the most sense in your circumstances.
Serving Divorce Papers and Responding
When one spouse files for divorce rather than the spouses filing jointly, the filing spouse must ensure another adult formally serves the filed papers on the other spouse. The other spouse, the respondent, generally has 30 days after service to file a Response. This specific legal document informs the court what the spouse is requesting regarding issues such as property, support, and custody.
If the respondent does not file a response, the petitioner may ask the court to proceed by default. Default allows the case to move forward without the other spouse participating, ensuring you can still get divorced even if your spouse refuses to cooperate.
Exchanging Financial Disclosures
In a one-filer divorce, the filing spouse generally must provide specific preliminary financial disclosures within 60 days after filing, and the respondent generally has 60 days after filing a response. Joint petitioners must exchange financial disclosures within 60 days after filing together.
The disclosures identify what you own, what you owe, what you earn, and what you spend. That information allows you to determine what assets and debts you own separately and together, what that property is worth, and what income is available when support is disputed.
Addressing Immediate Issues While the Divorce Is Pending
Spouses often need a temporary resolution on issues while the divorce case is pending, such as a temporary child custody order while you resolve your long-term arrangements. During the typical divorce process, either spouse can ask the court for temporary orders addressing matters such as child custody, child support, spousal support, attorney fees, or control of certain property.
Reaching an Agreement or Asking the Court to Decide
After you have enough information to evaluate your property, finances, and parenting issues, you must resolve the terms that allow you to separate your lives. If you agree, you work with your attorneys to put the terms of your divorce into a written settlement and submit it to the court.
If you cannot resolve every issue through negotiation or mediation, the case may continue through discovery, motions, settlement proceedings, hearings, and trial. At trial, the judge decides issues that the parties cannot settle.
Finalizing the Divorce
Once you resolve all issues, your attorneys submit final papers to the court. The judge reviews and, if your agreement addresses everything it needs to, signs the judgment. Once the judge issues a final judgment of divorce, you and your spouse are no longer married.
Get Guidance Through the California Divorce Process
Your attorney can guide you through the divorce process in your particular circumstances. Pakpour Banks LLP represents clients in Davis, Woodland, Sacramento, West Sacramento, Vacaville, Dixon, Fairfield, Roseville, Elk Grove, and surrounding Northern California communities. Our team includes attorneys Brian Pakpour and Keith Banks, and we handle divorce matters involving property division, child custody, child support, mediation, and litigation. We seek to resolve disputes without unnecessary conflict or expense when possible, while remaining prepared to advocate in court when a judge must make a decision.
Contact Pakpour Banks LLP to discuss the next steps in your California divorce.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal resources during the content development process:
- California Family Code § 2320.
- California Family Code § 2330.
- California Family Code § 2339.
- California Family Code § 2400.
Brian enters the family law profession with a refreshing approach to these proceedings: heal families; don’t destroy them. In some cases, this means the family is going to look different than it did before. In other cases, this means a new family is created where there was none before. Either way, individuals should leave family court knowing their voices were heard, and with healthy attitudes about themselves and those they love.