By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Published · Updated
6 months in California and 3 months in your county before filing, then a 6-month wait from service before it is final. Legal separation is available and carries no 6-month residency rule.
California divorce — legally called 'dissolution of marriage' — runs on a strict community property system and a disclosure process that starts almost immediately, so the preparation work you do before filing matters more here than in many other states.
| Residency requirement | One spouse must have lived in California for the last 6 months and in the current county for the last 3 months before filing. (Registered domestic partners are not subject to this residency rule.) |
|---|---|
| Grounds | No-fault only — 'irreconcilable differences' causing irremediable breakdown of the marriage, or permanent legal incapacity to make decisions (Family Code §2310). You do not need your spouse's agreement or a specific reason. |
| Waiting period | Minimum 6 months from when the other spouse is served (or from filing, for summary dissolution) before the divorce can become final. |
| Legal separation | California grants legal separation as a court judgment. Unlike divorce it has no six-month residency requirement — one spouse need only live in California when filing — so it is often used by people who have just moved. It settles custody, support and property but leaves you married. |
| If you were never married | California does not create common-law marriage, and length of cohabitation gives no property rights. Unmarried partners' claims rest on agreement between them rather than family law — the line of cases that began with Marvin v Marvin. Custody and child support apply regardless. |
| Where you file | The Superior Court in the California county where you (or your spouse) meet the residency requirement. Some courts offer e-filing; check your local court's website. |
| Filing fee | Payable when you file the initial Petition. Set by regulation and revised from time to time. A fee waiver is available if you cannot afford it (Form FW-001). Filing fees are set by the court and change without notice: check the current schedule on the court's own website before you file, and ask about a fee waiver if the cost is a barrier. |
| Starting forms | FL-100 (Petition—Marriage/Domestic Partnership), FL-110 (Summons), FL-115 (Proof of Service of Summons), and FL-105 (UCCJEA Declaration) if you have children together with your spouse. |
| Simplified option | Summary dissolution is available if you've been married under 5 years, have no children together, have limited property/debt, don't want spousal support, and both agree — still subject to the 6-month wait. Legal separation (using the same forms) is a non-divorce alternative with no waiting period, ending finances/custody without ending the marriage. |
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California is one of the small number of true community property states. As a general rule, anything either spouse earned or acquired during the marriage is community property and is split equally — not 'equitably' or by some flexible fairness standard, but 50/50, absent a valid agreement otherwise. Separate property — what you owned before marriage, gifts to you individually, and inheritances — generally stays yours, but only if you can trace it and it wasn't commingled into joint accounts or joint credit along the way. Property bought out of state during the marriage that would have been community property had it been bought in California is treated as 'quasi-community property' and divided the same way once you file here.
There is no fault-based divorce in California; the only ground is 'irreconcilable differences.' To file, one spouse must have lived in California for six months and in the filing county for three months. Cases go through the Superior Court of California in the relevant county, and by statute a dissolution cannot be finalized in less than six months from the date the other spouse was served or appeared in the case — even an entirely uncontested case with full agreement on every issue. That six-month clock is a floor, not a target; disclosure, negotiation, and court processing routinely extend well past it.
California requires both spouses to exchange a Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure early in the case, and this step cannot be skipped or waived by agreement — it's one of the few truly mandatory pieces of the process. It packages several Judicial Council forms: a Schedule of Assets and Debts (listing everything owned and owed, separately and jointly), an Income and Expense Declaration, and disclosure of tax returns. The obligation is to disclose completely and accurately, whether or not you think an asset is 'yours' — the burden of proving something is separate property falls on the spouse claiming it.
Later in the case, a Final Declaration of Disclosure updates that picture before judgment, though spouses who reach full agreement can sometimes waive the final round. Because the preliminary disclosure comes so early, the practical lesson is to start assembling your financial picture before you file, not after — statements, deeds, retirement account summaries, and business records take longer to gather than people expect, and incomplete disclosure can delay a case for months or expose a spouse to real legal consequences if it looks deliberate.
Build your file around what the disclosure forms will ask for: recent tax returns, pay stubs, and all bank, brokerage, retirement, and pension statements for both spouses. Add mortgage statements and any appraisal or market estimate for real property, vehicle titles and loan balances, and a list of all debts including credit cards and lines of credit. If a business is involved, gather its financial statements — business valuation is one of the more contested areas in California cases with self-employed spouses.
If you're asserting that something is separate property — money you brought into the marriage, an inheritance, a gift — pull the original documentation now: the account statement from before the wedding, the will or estate letter, records showing where that money went afterward. Tracing gets harder the longer accounts have been commingled, so the earlier you document the origin, the stronger your position.
California child support is calculated using a statewide guideline formula (courts use a program often called DissoMaster or similar software) that weighs both parents' incomes and the percentage of time each parent has with the children — which is why disputes over custodial timeshare and accurate income reporting are so common. Spousal support, by contrast, has no fixed formula for a final award; temporary support during the case often follows a guideline calculation, but long-term support is decided under a list of factors in the Family Code, including the length of the marriage and each spouse's earning capacity.
Custody and visitation decisions are governed by the best-interest-of-the-child standard, and California courts generally favor arrangements that support frequent and continuing contact with both parents. Specific, workable parenting plan proposals tend to fare better than general statements of intent.
California does grant legal separation, by judgment of the superior court in the county where either spouse lives or where the couple last lived together. The petition rests on the same basis as a divorce — irreconcilable differences causing an irremediable breakdown, or a spouse's permanent legal incapacity to make decisions.
The difference that matters most in practice is residency. A California divorce requires six months in the state and three months in the county; a legal separation requires only that one spouse live in California when the petition is filed. People who have recently moved sometimes file for legal separation first and amend to a divorce once they qualify.
A legal separation settles custody, child and spousal support and the division of property, and the resulting order binds both spouses. What it does not do is end the marriage. Either spouse can ask the court to set the order aside and reconcile, and neither can remarry without a divorce.
California abolished common-law marriage well over a century ago. No amount of living together creates a marriage here, and none of the community property machinery applies to a couple who never married — not the presumption of equal division, not spousal support, not the residency rules on this page.
What unmarried partners have instead are claims based on what they agreed between themselves. California recognises that an unmarried couple can make enforceable agreements about property and support, express or implied from their conduct — the principle established in Marvin v Marvin and the reason such claims are still nicknamed palimony. These are civil claims, not family-law entitlements, and they turn on what can be proved about the agreement.
One warning worth carrying: a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that still creates them is generally recognised in California. If you lived as a couple in Texas, Colorado or another such state and met its test there, California will usually treat you as married — with everything that follows.
1) Start your Schedule of Assets and Debts as a working draft now, even before filing — you'll need something close to it for the Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure regardless of timing. 2) Separate your separate-property claims from community assets early, and gather the tracing paperwork while it's still easy to find. 3) Confirm you meet the six-month state / three-month county residency requirement before filing, since it affects where you can file at all. 4) Get at least one consultation with a California family law attorney, even if you plan to handle much of the case yourself — the disclosure rules carry real consequences for getting them wrong. 5) Keep every letter from the other side's attorney and every deadline it sets, since California's disclosure and response timelines are often the first thing that becomes contested.
Confirm you or your spouse meet California's 6-month/3-month residency rule. If you've been married less than 5 years, have no kids together, and agree on a simple property split, ask about the faster summary dissolution track instead of standard divorce.
Complete Form FL-100 (Petition—Marriage/Domestic Partnership) and FL-110 (Summons), plus FL-105 if you have minor children together. File originals and copies with the Superior Court clerk in your county and pay the filing fee (or file Form FW-001 for a fee waiver).
Someone other than you (18 or older, not a party to the case) must deliver the filed papers to your spouse and complete Form FL-115 (Proof of Service of Summons), which gets filed with the court.
Your spouse has 30 days to file a Response. If they don't respond, you may eventually be able to move toward a default judgment; if they do respond, the case proceeds as contested or uncontested depending on how much you agree on.
Within 60 days of filing, both spouses must complete and exchange a Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure — Form FL-140 as the cover sheet, with Form FL-150 (Income and Expense Declaration) and Form FL-142 or FL-160 (assets and debts). These are exchanged with each other, not filed with the court, but proof of service is.
Negotiate directly, through mediation, or with attorneys on child custody/visitation, child and spousal support, and division of property and debts. Agreements can be written into a marital settlement agreement.
California requires a minimum of 6 months from the date your spouse was served before a divorce can be finalized, no matter how quickly you reach agreement.
Once the waiting period has passed and terms are settled (or after a default or trial), file the closing paperwork — typically Form FL-170 (Declaration for Default/Uncontested Dissolution), FL-180 (Judgment), and FL-190 (Notice of Entry of Judgment). Your divorce is final when the court files the Notice of Entry of Judgment.
Community property — generally anything earned or acquired during the marriage — is split equally as a starting point. Separate property, such as what you owned before marriage or received as a gift or inheritance, is not divided, provided it can be traced and wasn't commingled.
State law sets a six-month minimum from the date the other spouse is served or appears in the case before a dissolution can be finalized, even when both spouses agree on everything. Contested disclosure or custody issues typically extend the timeline well beyond that floor.
No. The Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure is mandatory in California and cannot be waived by agreement, though the later Final Declaration of Disclosure can sometimes be waived once both spouses have reached full agreement.
A legal separation settles the same issues a divorce does — custody, child and spousal support, and the division of property — but it does not end the marriage, so neither spouse can remarry. The practical difference at the outset is residency: divorce requires six months in California and three months in the county, while legal separation only requires that one spouse live in the state when filing. That is why people who have recently moved sometimes start with a legal separation and amend to a divorce later.
No. California does not create common-law marriage, and living together for any length of time gives neither partner community property rights or spousal support. Unmarried partners rely instead on agreements between themselves, express or implied, under the line of cases beginning with Marvin v Marvin. One important exception: a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them is generally recognised in California, so a couple who qualified in Texas or Colorado will usually be treated as married here.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. There is no statewide crisis line here that we could verify, so use the national one: contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 if a call is not safe. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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