You can file for divorce in California online in any county whose superior court accepts electronic filing for family law cases, using the free forms published by the Judicial Council on the state’s self-help court website. The “online” part is the submission method; the legal process is the same standard dissolution every California divorce goes through, and it takes a minimum of six months from the day your spouse is served before the marriage legally ends.1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2339 Here is what the process looks like from eligibility through final judgment.
Who Can File in California
At least one spouse must have lived in California for the last six months and in the county of filing for the last three months.2California Courts. Divorce in California If neither spouse meets the county requirement, you can still open a case in a county where one of you lives, but the court may not be able to issue a final judgment on every issue until the residency threshold is met.
California is a no-fault state. You do not have to prove wrongdoing. “Irreconcilable differences” is the only ground you need to state in the Petition.
Does Your County Accept E-Filing?
Many California superior courts accept electronic filing through approved third-party providers, but not all of them, and the list of authorized providers varies by county. Check your county court’s website for family law e-filing before you plan on filing from home. Where e-filing is available, you submit documents and pay fees online and receive electronic confirmation when the clerk accepts the filing. Where it is not, you file in person or by mail.
Check Whether You Qualify for Summary Dissolution
Before you start the standard forms, see whether you qualify for summary dissolution, a shorter track with fewer forms and no formal service of papers. You have to meet every one of these conditions:3California Courts. Find Out if You Qualify for Summary Dissolution
- No more than five years between your wedding date and your date of separation.
- No minor children born or adopted during the marriage, and neither spouse is pregnant.
- Neither spouse owns any real estate, aside from a residential lease that ends within a year of filing.
- Combined marital debts under $7,000, excluding car loans.
- Community property worth less than $57,000, and each spouse’s separate property also worth less than $57,000, excluding cars.
- Both spouses waive spousal support.
- Both spouses have already signed a written agreement dividing all assets and debts.
Summary dissolution still carries the same six-month waiting period, and either spouse can cancel the case at any point during that window, which voids everything and sends you back to a standard filing if you still want the divorce. If any one of the conditions above fails, you file a standard dissolution.
Fill Out the Starting Forms
A standard California divorce begins with two forms:
- The Petition — Marriage/Domestic Partnership (Form FL-100), which tells the court you want a divorce and lists the issues to resolve: property, support, custody.4California Courts. Petition – Marriage/Domestic Partnership (Family Law) (FL-100)
- The Summons (Form FL-110), which notifies your spouse that a case has been filed and starts their 30-day response clock.5California Courts. Summons (FL-110)
Read the back of the Summons before you file. It prints a set of automatic restraining orders that take effect against both spouses the moment service happens, and the restrictions matter from day one.
If You Have Children Under 18
Add the Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (Form FL-105) to your initial filing.6California Courts. Fill Out Your Divorce Forms It tells the court where each child has lived for the last five years and whether other custody cases exist, so the court can confirm it has jurisdiction. Parenting plan and child support forms come later, filed with or before your final judgment.
File the Forms and Handle the Fee
You file the signed forms with the superior court clerk in your county, either through the court’s e-filing portal or in person. The filing fee is $435 to $450 depending on the county.7California Courts. File Your Divorce Forms Your spouse pays the same range when filing a Response.
Fee Waiver
If you cannot afford the fee, file a Request to Waive Court Fees (Form FW-001) with your Petition. You qualify if any one of the following is true:8California Courts. Ask for a Fee Waiver
- You receive Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKs, SSI, unemployment, General Assistance, or certain other government benefits.
- Your household income is below the threshold printed on the form.
- Paying court fees would prevent you from covering basic household necessities.
The court may ask you to appear and show proof. If your finances improve during the case, you must tell the court within five days. A granted waiver expires 60 days after the case ends.
Serve Your Spouse
Filing starts the case, but nothing moves until your spouse is formally served with a copy of the Petition and Summons. You cannot deliver the papers yourself. Service must be done by someone at least 18 years old who is not a party to the case — a friend, a relative, or a professional process server.9Judicial Council of California. California Courts Form FL-115 – Proof of Service of Summons
Service by Mail if Your Spouse Cooperates
If your spouse is willing, a cheaper option is service by mail with a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt (Form POS-015).10California Courts. Serve by Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt A third party (still not you) mails the papers; your spouse signs and returns the acknowledgment within 20 days.11California Courts. Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt – Civil (POS-015) Service is complete on the date your spouse signs. If the acknowledgment never comes back, you arrange personal service.
File Proof of Service
Whoever served the papers completes the Proof of Service of Summons (Form FL-115) and files it with the court. Until that form is on file, the case does not advance. The date of service also starts two clocks that run through the rest of your case: your spouse’s 30 days to respond, and the six-month minimum before the court can finalize anything.
What Changes the Moment Your Spouse Is Served
Service triggers a set of automatic temporary restraining orders that bind both spouses equally.12California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2040 Neither of you can:
- Take minor children out of state or get them new passports without the other’s written consent or a court order.
- Transfer, hide, sell, or borrow against property, community or separate, outside the ordinary course of business or necessities of life.
- Cancel, change beneficiaries on, or cash out insurance policies (health, life, auto, disability) covering either spouse or the children.
- Create or change nonprobate transfers that would reroute how property passes.
These stay in effect for the entire case unless the court modifies them. Any extraordinary expenditure requires at least five business days’ notice to your spouse and an accounting to the court. Violations can bring sanctions, so read the back of the Summons before service happens, not after.
The 30-Day Response Window
Your spouse has 30 days from the date of service to file a Response (Form FL-120). In a cooperative online divorce, two things typically happen: either the respondent files a Response and the couple submits a signed settlement, or the respondent files nothing because the two of you have already worked everything out on paper.
If Your Spouse Does Not Respond
After 30 days with no Response, you can ask the court to enter a default by filing a Request to Enter Default (Form FL-165).13California Courts. Request to Enter Default (FL-165) Default means the judge decides property, support, and custody based only on what you submitted.14California Courts. Default in a Divorce or Legal Separation You can either file FL-165 together with your full final judgment packet or file it first to lock out a late Response and submit the judgment paperwork afterward.15California Courts. How to Finish Your Divorce if Your Spouse Didn’t Respond
Default does not stop you from using a written agreement. If you and your spouse signed terms outside the formal response, that agreement can still become part of the judgment. This is a common path in cooperative online divorces where the non-filing spouse just skips the formal paperwork.
Exchange Financial Disclosures (This Is Where Cases Stall)
California requires both spouses to exchange full financial disclosures before the court will finalize anything. The petitioner has 60 days from filing the Petition; the respondent has 60 days from filing the Response.16California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2104 The duty of honesty between spouses is a fiduciary one.17California Legislative Information. California Family Code 721
The disclosure packet is:
- Declaration of Disclosure (Form FL-140), the cover form certifying you have provided the required financial information.18Judicial Council of California. California Courts Form FL-140 – Declaration of Disclosure
- Income and Expense Declaration (Form FL-150), with your income, tax information, and monthly expenses.19Judicial Council of California. Form FL-150 – Income and Expense Declaration
- Schedule of Assets and Debts (Form FL-142), listing all community and separate property, retirement accounts, bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, and liabilities.20California Courts. Schedule of Assets and Debts (FL-142)
You do not file these forms with the court. You send them to your spouse. What you file is a Declaration Regarding Service (Form FL-141) telling the court the exchange happened.21California Courts. Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure and Income and Expense Declaration (Form FL-141) The court will not enter a judgment until both parties’ FL-141s are on file. Self-represented filers lose months here by assuming the clerk has what the clerk does not actually have.
Get the Final Judgment
No California divorce is final until at least six months have passed from the date of service, or the date your spouse first appeared in the case, whichever is earlier. The court can extend that period but cannot shorten it. You are allowed to submit the final paperwork before the six months expire; the judge simply holds off signing until the clock runs.
The core finalization form is the Judgment (Form FL-180).22California Courts. Judgment (FL-180) It sits on top of your settlement agreement or other orders covering property division, support, and (if children are involved) custody and child support. California self-help resources suggest leaving the marital-status-ends date blank so the court can fill in the earliest legal date, which is six months and one day after service.
Before the judge will sign, the court file needs to contain, at a minimum:
- Proof of Service of Summons (FL-115).
- Declarations Regarding Service of Disclosures (FL-141) from both spouses.
- The Judgment (FL-180) with your settlement or orders attached.
- Request to Enter Default (FL-165), if your spouse never responded.
Once the judge signs, you are divorced as of the date on the Judgment. Single status restores on that date whether or not you have picked up your copy of the signed paperwork yet.