You can stop a divorce after filing in California at any point before a judge signs the final judgment, but how you do it depends on whether your spouse has filed a Response. If they have not, you can dismiss the case on your own by filing a short form with the clerk. If they have, both of you must sign the dismissal.
If Your Spouse Has Not Filed a Response
When you are the petitioner and your spouse has not yet filed a Response (Form FL-120), the case is yours to end. Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 581, the person who filed the complaint can request dismissal in writing to the clerk at any time before trial begins.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 581 No hearing. No judge’s permission. Your spouse does not need to agree or even know in advance.
This holds true whether your spouse was never served or was served and simply chose not to respond. You file the paperwork, the clerk processes it, and the case closes.
If Your Spouse Has Already Responded
Once a Response is on file, the dynamic shifts. Section 581 blocks a unilateral dismissal when the other side has sought affirmative relief through a cross-complaint, and in family law a Response that includes its own request for dissolution counts as affirmative relief.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 581 From that point forward, both spouses must sign the dismissal form.2Judicial Branch of California. Dismiss Your Divorce or Legal Separation
One scenario catches petitioners off guard. If your spouse’s Response asked for dissolution and your spouse refuses to sign the dismissal, the case can continue on their request alone. Dismissing your own petition does not end a divorce your spouse is actively pursuing. If you want to reconcile and your spouse does not, you cannot force them out of the court process.
The Forms You File
Two forms do the work, both available on the California Courts website or from your local Superior Court clerk:
- Request for Dismissal (Form CIV-110), which formally asks the court to close the case.3Judicial Branch of California. Request for Dismissal (CIV-110)
- Notice of Entry of Dismissal and Proof of Service (Form CIV-120), which documents the court’s action and shows the other party was notified.3Judicial Branch of California. Request for Dismissal (CIV-110)
On CIV-110, check “Entire action” so the whole case closes rather than a single claim. You will also pick between “without prejudice” and “with prejudice,” which is addressed below. If your spouse filed a Response, their signature must appear on CIV-110.
File the original with the Superior Court clerk in the county where the case was filed, bringing at least two copies so everyone receives a stamped version. After the clerk records the dismissal, mail a stamped copy to your spouse. California’s statewide fee schedule does not list a separate charge for filing a dismissal, though individual courts may assess minor processing fees, so call the clerk’s office before you go.
Without Prejudice or With Prejudice
The California Courts self-help guide recommends checking “without prejudice,” which preserves the right of either spouse to file for divorce or legal separation in the future.2Judicial Branch of California. Dismiss Your Divorce or Legal Separation If reconciliation does not hold, you can start a new case without any legal barrier from the old one.
In ordinary civil litigation, “with prejudice” permanently bars refiling. The distinction matters less in divorce because California is a no-fault state and dissolution rests on irreconcilable differences.4California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2310 A future filing would turn on the state of the marriage at that later time, not the facts from the dismissed case. Even so, there is no reason to invite a legal argument about it. Check “without prejudice.”
What Happens to Temporary Orders When the Case Closes
Filing for divorce in California triggers Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders (ATROs) on both spouses, restricting things like transferring property, canceling insurance, and taking children out of state. Dismissal terminates those orders. Neither spouse remains bound.
The same goes for any other temporary orders the court issued during the case: temporary spousal support, custody arrangements, orders dividing specific bills. A voluntary dismissal closes the case entirely, and temporary orders do not survive a closed case. If you were relying on a temporary custody arrangement, you lose the court’s enforcement mechanism the moment the dismissal is recorded.
This trips up reconciling couples. If the reconciliation later falls apart, nothing from the dismissed case carries over. You would file a new petition, and the court would start fresh on temporary orders, custody, and support.2Judicial Branch of California. Dismiss Your Divorce or Legal Separation Any agreements from the first case carry no legal weight in the second.
If the Final Judgment Has Already Been Signed
No divorce in California becomes final until at least six months after the respondent is served or first appears, whichever comes first.5California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2339 Within that window, dismissal remains available. After the judge signs the final judgment, there is no pending case to dismiss.
California Family Code Section 2122 does allow a motion to set aside a divorce judgment, but only on narrow grounds: actual fraud, perjury in the financial disclosures, duress, mental incapacity, mistake, or failure to comply with mandatory disclosure requirements.6California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2122 Each ground has its own deadline. Fraud and perjury must be brought within one year of discovery. Duress and mental incapacity must be filed within two years of the judgment. Mistake and disclosure violations carry a one-year deadline from entry of judgment or discovery of the violation.
What is not on that list is a mutual change of heart. If both former spouses want to be married again after the divorce is final, the legal path is remarriage, not vacating the old judgment.