To file for divorce in Los Angeles County, you take a completed Petition (Form FL-100) and Summons (Form FL-110) to the Superior Court family law courthouse assigned to your zip code, pay the $435 filing fee, and then arrange for someone else to personally serve your spouse with the papers. Before any of that, at least one spouse must have lived in California for six months and in Los Angeles County for three months. The case cannot become final for at least six months after your spouse is served.
Confirm You Meet the Residency Requirement
California requires that at least one spouse has been a resident of the state for six continuous months and a resident of the county of filing for three continuous months immediately before the petition goes in.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 2320 – Residence Requirements The same spouse has to satisfy both, and the clock counts backward from your filing date. Someone who moved to LA County two months ago from San Diego still has to wait another month, even after years in California.
If you’re short on time, legal separation has no residency requirement under Family Code 2320. You can file for separation now, resolve custody, support, and property division, and amend the case to a divorce once you hit the residency threshold.
Find Your Assigned Courthouse
Los Angeles County runs twelve family law courthouses, and you don’t choose among them. The court assigns your filing location based on where you live.2Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Family Law Courthouses Use the Filing Court Locator on the Los Angeles Superior Court website, enter your zip code or city, and the tool returns the correct courthouse.3Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Filing Court Locator Check it before you drive anywhere. The clerk at the wrong courthouse will reject your paperwork.
Complete the Required Forms
Every California divorce opens with two forms. The Petition (FL-100) tells the court who you are, when and where you married, when you separated, and what you want decided about property, debts, and support. The Summons (FL-110) is the formal notice to your spouse that a case has started and that they have 30 days to respond.4Judicial Branch of California. Fill Out Your Divorce Forms
If you have any children under 18 with your spouse, you also need the Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (FL-105), which lists where the children have lived and whether any other custody case exists.4Judicial Branch of California. Fill Out Your Divorce Forms All of the forms are free from the California Courts website or any court clerk.
File the Petition and Pay the Fee
Bring the originals and at least two copies to the clerk’s office at your assigned courthouse. The clerk keeps the originals and hands back stamped copies with your case number and filing date. Hold on to those stamped copies; you need them to serve your spouse.
The filing fee is $435.5Judicial Branch of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026 Your spouse will pay the same $435 when they file their response, so plan on $870 in court fees for the two sides combined.
If you can’t afford the fee, request a waiver. You qualify if you receive certain public benefits, your household income is below the threshold, or paying would prevent you from covering basic living expenses. Meeting any one of those is enough.6California Courts. Ask for a Fee Waiver Submit the Request to Waive Court Fees (FW-001) with your petition.
Filing Electronically
Los Angeles Superior Court accepts electronic filing for family law cases. If you have an attorney, e-filing is mandatory unless the court grants an exemption. Self-represented filers may e-file but aren’t required to.7Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Family Law E-Filing FAQs E-filing runs through approved third-party Electronic Filing Service Providers, which charge their own processing fees on top of the $435. Documents submitted before midnight count as filed that business day.
Serve Your Spouse
Filing doesn’t notify your spouse. You have to arrange for someone else to physically deliver the papers, and you can’t do it yourself. The server must be at least 18 and not a party to the case. A friend, relative, professional process server, or the county sheriff can all do it.8California Courts | Self Help Guide. Serve Your Divorce Papers Expect $40 to $200 for a professional server.
The server hands your spouse the stamped Petition and Summons, a blank Response (FL-120), and any other blank forms your spouse needs to answer. If your spouse refuses to take them, the server can set the papers down nearby and state what they are. That still counts as valid personal service.8California Courts | Self Help Guide. Serve Your Divorce Papers
After delivery, the server completes and signs a Proof of Service of Summons (FL-115) listing the date, time, and address of service. You file the original FL-115 with the court. The case won’t move forward until that proof is on file.8California Courts | Self Help Guide. Serve Your Divorce Papers
Know the Automatic Restraining Orders That Hit at Filing
Filing the petition triggers a set of automatic temporary restraining orders against you. The moment your spouse is served, the same orders apply to them. They’re printed right on the Summons, and violating them can lead to sanctions or contempt.
Neither spouse may:
- Take minor children out of California or apply for new or replacement passports for them without the other spouse’s written consent or a court order.
- Transfer, sell, hide, or borrow against any property, community or separate, outside ordinary living expenses or the usual course of business. Any proposed extraordinary expense requires at least five business days’ written notice to the other spouse.
- Cancel, cash out, or change beneficiaries on any life, health, auto, or disability insurance covering either spouse or the children.
- Create or change any nonprobate transfer affecting how property passes.
These restrictions remain in force throughout the case.9California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 2040 If you need to sell a car, drop a spouse from a health plan, or refinance a house, get written agreement or a court order first.
Exchange Preliminary Financial Disclosures
California requires both spouses to exchange a preliminary declaration of disclosure early in the case. It isn’t optional and can’t be waived by agreement. As the petitioner, you have 60 days from filing the petition to serve yours. The respondent has 60 days from filing their response.10California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 2104
The preliminary disclosure includes an Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150), a Schedule of Assets and Debts (FL-142), and your tax returns from the prior two years. Here’s a detail people miss: you serve these on your spouse but do not file them with the court. What you file is a Declaration Regarding Service (FL-141) confirming the exchange happened.11Judicial Council of California. Declaration of Disclosure Form FL-140 Skipping the preliminary disclosure is the fastest way to have your judgment thrown out later.
What Happens If Your Spouse Doesn’t Respond
After being served, your spouse has 30 days to file a Response (FL-120). Miss that window and you can ask the court to enter a default, which cuts your spouse out of the case. In a default, the court can grant the orders you requested in your petition without any input from your spouse, including property division and custody.12California Courts | Self Help Guide. File Your Response
A late response may still be accepted as long as no default has actually been entered yet. A spouse past the deadline should contact the court right away.12California Courts | Self Help Guide. File Your Response
The Six-Month Waiting Period
Even with full agreement, no California divorce becomes final before six months pass. The clock starts on the date your spouse is served, or the date your spouse first appears in the case, whichever comes first.13California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2339 The court can extend the period for good cause but cannot shorten it.
You aren’t frozen during those six months. You can negotiate property division, work out custody, and settle support, and many couples resolve everything well before the time is up. What the waiting period prevents is the court signing a judgment that legally ends the marriage any sooner. Until the judgment is entered, you remain legally married for tax, insurance, and inheritance purposes.
Summary Dissolution: A Shorter Path for a Narrow Set of Couples
If your marriage fits a strict set of conditions, summary dissolution replaces the standard process with a joint petition and less paperwork. There’s no service step because you file together. You qualify only if all of the following are true:
- Five years or less between the date of marriage and the date of separation.
- No children born to or adopted by the couple, and neither spouse is pregnant.
- Neither spouse owns any interest in land or buildings. A short-term rental lease is fine if it expires within a year and has no purchase option.
- Community property under $57,000, and neither spouse’s separate property above $57,000, with vehicles excluded from both totals.
- Community debts, excluding vehicle loans, of $7,000 or less.
- Full agreement on how to divide everything, and agreement that neither spouse will receive spousal support.
Miss one condition and you’re back to the standard dissolution process. The $435 filing fee and the six-month waiting period still apply. What you save is the paperwork and the back-and-forth of a contested case.