Divorce Laws in California: Grounds, Waiting Period, and Property

Divorce laws in California rest on three ideas: no-fault grounds, community property, and a mandatory six-month wait. Either spouse can end the marriage without proving the other did anything wrong, assets and debts built up during the marriage are split equally, and no judgment can be signed until at least six months have passed since the other spouse was served. To file, one spouse must have lived in California for six months and in the filing county for three. Filing fees run roughly $435 to $450 for the petition, and the same amount applies to the response.

Residency and Where You Can File

At least one spouse must have been a California resident for the six months immediately before filing, and that spouse must have lived in the filing county for at least three months.¹ If you moved recently, you wait until you qualify or you use a different path.

Two exceptions matter. Same-sex couples who married in California but now live in a state that will not dissolve the marriage can file in the California county where the wedding took place, even if neither spouse lives in California now.² And legal separation has no residency requirement at all, so if you need court orders on custody, support, or property right away, you can file for separation first and convert to divorce once you meet the six-month threshold.³

No-Fault Grounds

California recognizes only two grounds for dissolving a marriage: irreconcilable differences and permanent legal incapacity to make decisions.¹ Almost every case uses the first. It means the marriage has broken down and cannot be fixed. You do not have to explain why, and your spouse does not have to agree the marriage is over.

Because the state is no-fault, you cannot raise adultery, abandonment, or similar misconduct as a reason for the divorce itself. Misconduct can still matter in narrower contexts. Documented domestic violence, in particular, affects spousal support and custody decisions. But it does not control whether the divorce is granted.

The Six-Month Waiting Period

The state imposes a mandatory six-month wait before a divorce can become final. The clock starts on the date the responding spouse is served with the summons and petition, or the date that spouse first appears in the case, whichever comes earlier.⁴ This is a floor, not a goal. Even if everything is agreed on day one, no judge will sign the judgment before six months have passed. The court can extend the wait for good cause, though that is unusual. Contested cases routinely run much longer than the minimum.

The divorce is final when a judge signs the judgment. Most couples get there through a negotiated settlement submitted for court approval; if the parties cannot settle, the case goes to trial.

What Happens the Moment You File

Filing the petition triggers automatic temporary restraining orders, called ATROs, that bind the filer immediately and the other spouse upon service. They are printed on the summons. They cover four areas:

Property: neither spouse may transfer, hide, borrow against, or dispose of any property without the other’s written consent or a court order, except for ordinary living expenses and running a business. Extraordinary spending requires five business days’ notice to the other spouse.
Insurance: neither spouse may cancel, cash out, change beneficiaries on, or borrow against life, health, auto, or disability policies.
Children: neither parent may take the children out of California or apply for a new passport for them without consent or a court order.
Estate planning: neither spouse may create or change nonprobate transfers affecting property distribution without consent or a court order.

Violating an ATRO can bring sanctions, and the orders stay in effect until the divorce is final or the court modifies them.⁵

Both spouses must also exchange preliminary declarations of disclosure under penalty of perjury, listing every asset, debt, and source of income. The filing spouse serves this within 60 days of filing the petition; the responding spouse serves theirs within 60 days of filing a response.⁶ Hiding assets or lying can lead a court to set aside parts of the final judgment later.

Dividing Property and Debts

California is a community property state. The court must divide the community estate equally unless both spouses agree in writing to something else.⁷ The 50/50 rule covers assets and debts both. Income earned during the marriage, retirement contributions, real estate bought with marital funds, and credit card debt run up during the marriage are community property regardless of whose name is on the account.

Separate Property

Not everything gets split. Separate property belongs to one spouse alone and stays out of the division. It includes anything owned before the marriage, gifts and inheritances received by one spouse even during the marriage, and earnings after the date of separation.⁸ A house one spouse bought before the wedding is separate property, but if community income paid the mortgage or funded improvements during the marriage, the other spouse may have a claim on a portion of the increased value.

The Date of Separation

The date of separation is the line between community and separate property, which makes it one of the most consequential facts in a divorce. California defines it as the date of a complete and final break in the marriage. Two things must be true: one spouse expressed the intent to end the marriage to the other, and that spouse’s conduct matched the intent.⁹ Saying the marriage is over but continuing to share finances and a home can muddy the date, and a disputed date is often heavily litigated because it shifts which earnings and debts count as community.

When separate and community funds get mixed, as when an inheritance is deposited into a joint account or premarital savings go into a family home, tracing the money back to its source becomes a forensic accounting question. That takes time and raises cost.

Spousal Support

Support comes in two forms. Temporary support is paid while the case is pending and is typically calculated by a local county formula meant to keep both households afloat. Long-term support is set in the final judgment and runs on a broader set of statutory factors, including the length of the marriage, the standard of living established during it, each spouse’s earning capacity and ability to pay, their age and health, the needs of children in each household, and any documented history of domestic violence.¹⁰ No single factor controls.

Duration follows a general pattern. For marriages shorter than ten years, support is often expected to last about half the length of the marriage; a six-year marriage, for example, might produce roughly three years of support. For marriages of ten years or more, there is no automatic end date, and the court keeps ongoing authority to modify.¹¹

Domestic violence changes the picture sharply. If one spouse was convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor against the other within five years before filing, or while the case is pending, there is a legal presumption that the convicted spouse will not receive spousal support. The convicted spouse can try to rebut the presumption, but the burden sits with them. The court can also move the date of separation to the date of the violent incident, which in turn affects property division.¹²

Custody and Child Support

Custody has two parts. Legal custody is the authority to make major decisions about a child’s health, education, and welfare. Physical custody is where the child lives. Joint legal custody is common, and courts are open to joint physical custody when both parents are fit and able to cooperate.

Every custody decision runs through the best interest of the child standard. The court looks at the child’s health, safety, and welfare; any history of abuse by either parent; the nature and amount of contact with each parent; and any pattern of substance abuse.¹³ The underlying goal is frequent and continuing contact with both parents when that contact is safe.

If parents cannot agree on custody or visitation, California requires mediation before the court will hold a contested hearing.¹⁴ Some counties use recommending mediators who will advise the judge if parents do not settle; others use non-recommending mediators who simply report that no agreement was reached. Either way, mediation comes first.

Child support follows a mandatory statewide guideline formula based on each parent’s net monthly disposable income and the percentage of time each parent has physical custody. Higher-earning parents who spend less time with the children pay more. The formula scales with the number of children and accounts for tax impacts and certain deductions.¹⁵ Judges can deviate in limited circumstances, but the formula drives most cases.

Support generally ends when the child turns 18 and graduates from high school. If the child is still in high school full time at 18, support continues until graduation or age 19, whichever comes first. Support also ends if the child marries, joins the military, or is emancipated. Parents can agree to extend support, and courts can order continued support for an adult child with a disability who cannot be self-supporting.¹⁶

Simpler and Alternative Paths

Summary Dissolution

Short marriages with little property and no children may qualify for summary dissolution, a streamlined version of divorce with less paperwork and lower cost. Every one of these conditions must be met:

Married or in a registered domestic partnership for less than five years.
No minor children together and neither spouse is pregnant.
No interest in real estate, except a rental lease expiring within a year of filing.
Combined debts under $7,000, not counting car loans.
Combined community property worth less than $57,000, and neither spouse’s separate property exceeds $57,000.
Both spouses waive spousal support.
Both spouses agree on how to divide all property and debts.

Miss any one and the regular divorce process applies.¹⁷ The six-month wait still applies, and during that time either spouse can stop the case by filing a revocation.

Legal Separation

A legal separation does not end the marriage. You remain married and cannot remarry, but you can get court orders dividing property and debts, setting custody and visitation, and awarding support. It has no residency requirement.³ It is useful when you need court protection quickly but have not yet lived in California long enough to file for divorce, or when religious, insurance, or personal reasons rule out ending the marriage.

Annulment

An annulment treats the marriage as if it was never valid. There is no six-month residency requirement and no six-month wait; you only need to be living in California when you file.¹⁸ The tradeoff is proof. Some marriages are automatically void, including incestuous and bigamous marriages. Others are voidable on specific grounds: a spouse under 18 without a judge’s permission to marry, fraud, unsound mind, force, or permanent physical incapacity to consummate the marriage. Most voidable grounds carry a four-year filing deadline, and missing the deadline leaves divorce as the only option.¹⁹

1
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2310 – Grounds for Dissolution
2
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2320 – Requirements for Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage
3
Superior Court of California. Divorce, Legal Separation, and Annulment
4
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2339 – Waiting Period for Judgment
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California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2040 – Summons and Temporary Restraining Orders
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California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2104 – Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure
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California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2550 – Equal Division of Community Estate
8
California Courts. Property and Debts in a Divorce
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California Legislative Information. California Family Code 70 – Date of Separation
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California Legislative Information. California Family Code 4320 – Spousal Support Factors
11
California Courts. Long-Term Spousal Support
12
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 4325 – Domestic Violence and Spousal Support
13
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3011 – Best Interest of the Child
14
Justia Law. California Family Code 3170-3173 – Mediation of Custody and Visitation Issues
15
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 4055 – Statewide Uniform Guideline
16
California Courts. Child Support
17
California Courts. Find Out if You Qualify for Summary Dissolution
18
California Courts. Annulment
19
California Courts. Legal Reasons a Judge Can Annul a Marriage