FL-107-INFO Legal Steps for a Divorce or Legal Separation The petitioner (the person who files the first divorce or legal separation forms with the court) fills out and files with the court clerk at least a Petition--Marriage/Domestic Partnership (form FL-100) and a Summons (form FL-110) and, if there are children of the relationship, a Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (form FL-105). The forms needed to start your case and information about filing fees and fee waivers are available at "Filing Your Case," at courts.ca.gov/filing. The court clerk will stamp and return copies of the filed forms to the petitioner. STEP 1. Start Your Case Someone 18 or older­not the petitioner­serves the spouse or domestic partner (called the respondent) with all the forms from Step 1 plus a blank Response--Marriage/Domestic Partnership (form FL-120) and files with the court a proof-of-service form, such as Proof of Service of Summons (form FL-115), telling when and how the respondent was served. (To serve means "to give in the proper legal way.") For more information, see "Serving Your First Set of Court Forms" at courts.ca.gov/filing. The respondent has 30 days to file and serve a Response. So, the petitioner must wait 30 days before starting Step 4. STEP 2. Serve the Forms At the same time as Step 1 or within 60 days of filing the Petition, the petitioner must fill out and have these documents served on the respondent: Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-140), Income and Expense Declaration (form FL-150), Schedule of Assets and Debts (form FL-142) or Property Declaration (form FL-160), and all tax returns filed by the party in the two years before serving the disclosure documents. These disclosure documents are not filed with the court. If the respondent files a Response, he or she must also complete and serve the same disclosure documents on the petitioner within 60 days of filing the Response. The 60-day time frame for serving the disclosures may be changed by written agreement between the parties or by court order. The petitioner and respondent each file a Declaration Regarding Service (form FL-141) with the court saying disclosures were served. If the respondent does not serve disclosures, the petitioner can still finish the case without them. For more information, see "Fill Out and Serve Your Financial Declaration of Disclosure Forms" at courts.ca.gov/filing (click on Step 4). STEP 3. Disclose Financial Information STEP 4. Finish the Divorce or Legal Separation Case in One of Four Ways Respondent does not file a Response (called "default") No Response and NO written agreement: Petitioner waits 30 days after Step 2 is complete and prepares a proposed Judgment (form FL-180), together with all other needed forms. See "True Default Case" at courts. ca.gov/truedefault. Respondent files a Response Response AND written agreement: Either party files Appearance, Stipulations, and Waivers (form FL-130) and the proposed Judgment with written agreement attached and other needed forms. See "Uncontested Case" at courts. ca.gov/uncontested. Response and NO agreement: Parties must go to trial to have a judge resolve the issues. See "Contested Case" at courts.ca.gov/contested. No Response BUT written agreement: Petitioner attaches the signed and notarized agreement to the proposed Judgment (form FL-180), together with all other needed forms. See "Default Case with Written Agreement" at courts. ca.gov/defaultagree. IMPORTANT NOTICES The earliest you can be divorced is six months and one day from one of these three dates (whichever occurs first): (1) the date Respondent was served with the Summons (form FL-110) and Petition (form FL-100), (2) the date the Response (form FL-120) was filed, or (3) the date Appearance, Stipulations, and Waivers (form FL-130) was filed. Legal separation has no waiting period. You are NOT divorced or legally separated until the court enters a Judgment in your case. If you need court orders for child support, custody, parenting time (visitation), spousal or partner support, restraining orders, or other issues, file a Request for Order (form FL-300) asking for temporary orders. See "Request for Order Information" at courts.ca.gov/divorcerequests for more information. Annulments: See courts.ca.gov/annulment for information about annulments. You must keep the court and the other party informed of any change in your mailing address or other contact information. File and serve a Notice of Change of Address or Other Contact Information (form MC-040) on the other party or his or her attorney to let them know about the change in your contact information. Judicial Council of California, www.courts.ca.gov Revise January 1, 2015, Optional Form Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.83 Legal Steps for a Divorce or Legal Separation FL-107-INFO, Page 1 of 2 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com FL-107-INFO Legal Steps for a Divorce or Legal Separation Do you have a registered domestic partnership? The process for a divorce or legal separation of a domestic partnership is the same as on page 1. For information about ending your domestic partnership in the superior court, see courts.ca. gov/filing. To find out if you are eligible to end your domestic partnership through the Secretary of State, see courts.ca. gov/summdissodp. Note: There may be differences in federal taxes and other issues for domestic partnerships. Seek advice from an attorney experienced in domestic partner law. What if you want a legal separation? The process on page 1 is the same, except you will NOT get a Judgment for legal separation unless both parties agree to a legal separation OR if respondent has not filed a Response. If both parties agree to be legally separated but do not agree on other issues, the parties must go to trial to have a judge resolve those issues. You are NOT legally separated until you receive a Judgment signed by the court. For more information, see "Legal Separation" at courts.ca.gov/legalseparation. AFTER the court enters a judgment for legal separation, if you decide you want a divorce, you must start a new case to request a divorce and pay another filing fee. Getting help to resolve divorce or legal separation cases You may prefer to resolve some or all of the issues in your divorce or legal separation case without having the court decide for you. You and your spouse or domestic partner can put your agreement in writing and file it in your case. But your agreement