Divorce papers in California are standardized Judicial Council forms. Every superior court in the state uses the same ones, so the paperwork looks identical whether the case is filed in Los Angeles or Humboldt County. Most forms run two to four pages, carry an official court heading at the top, and are built from numbered sections, checkboxes, and short blanks for names, dates, dollar amounts, and property descriptions. Before any of them reach a judge, one spouse must have lived in California for six months and in the filing county for three months.1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2320
Each form has a code in the upper corner (FL-100, FL-110, and so on). If you’ve been handed a stack of divorce papers, those codes are the quickest way to tell what each page is for.
The Petition: Form FL-100
A California divorce starts with the Petition — Marriage/Domestic Partnership, Form FL-100. It’s several pages long, organized into numbered sections with checkboxes, and tells the court that one spouse wants a dissolution, legal separation, or annulment.2Judicial Branch of California. Petition — Marriage/Domestic Partnership (Family Law) (FL-100)
The opening sections ask for both spouses’ names, the date of marriage, and the date of separation. If there are minor children, each child’s name, birthdate, and age gets listed. The form then moves through legal grounds (almost always “irreconcilable differences”), followed by separate sections for child custody, child support, spousal support, and the division of community property. At this stage these are requests, not orders — the petitioner is telling the court what they want, not what the court has decided.3Judicial Council of California. Petition — Marriage/Domestic Partnership
The Summons: Form FL-110
Filed alongside the petition is the Summons, Form FL-110. It’s two pages, carries an official court heading, and does two things. First, it warns the other spouse that a divorce case has been filed and gives them 30 calendar days after service to file a response. Second, the back of the summons contains automatic temporary restraining orders (ATROs) that take effect immediately and bind both spouses, not just the one being served.4California Courts. California Courts Form FL-110 – Summons (Family Law)
Those orders, printed right on the summons, prohibit both parties from:
- Removing minor children from the state or applying for new passports for them without written consent or a court order.
- Canceling, cashing out, or changing beneficiaries on life, health, auto, or disability insurance policies that cover either spouse or the children.
- Transferring, selling, borrowing against, or hiding community or separate property outside the normal course of business or necessities of life.
- Changing trusts, pay-on-death accounts, survivorship rights, or other nonprobate transfers without consent or a court order.
Both spouses must also notify each other at least five business days before any extraordinary expenditure. Violating the ATROs can result in sanctions, so the back page is worth reading in full.4California Courts. California Courts Form FL-110 – Summons (Family Law)
Proof of Service: Form FL-115
The petition and summons must be delivered to the other spouse by someone at least 18 years old who isn’t a party to the case — a friend, family member, professional process server, or in some counties the sheriff. The petitioner cannot do it personally. After the papers are handed over, the server completes Form FL-115, Proof of Service of Summons, which is filed with the court to confirm the other spouse was properly notified.5California Courts Self Help Guide. Serve Your Divorce Papers6Judicial Council of California. Judicial Council of California Form FL-115 – Proof of Service of Summons It’s a short form with blanks for the date, time, address, and method of service.
The Response: Form FL-120
The served spouse has 30 calendar days to file a Response — Marriage/Domestic Partnership, Form FL-120. It looks nearly identical to the petition: same numbered sections, same checkboxes for child custody, support, and property requests. The responding spouse can agree with everything in the petition, dispute specific requests, or make different requests of their own.7California Courts Self Help Guide. Response — Marriage/Domestic Partnership (Family Law) (FL-120)
If no response is filed within 30 days, the petitioner can ask the court to enter a default and proceed without the other spouse’s input.8California Courts Self Help Guide. How to Finish Your Divorce If Your Spouse Did Not Respond
The Financial Disclosure Package
California requires both spouses to exchange detailed financial information. These forms are not filed with the court — they’re served on the other spouse. A separate form (FL-141) is then filed to confirm that happened. The petitioner must serve the preliminary disclosure within 60 days of filing the petition; the respondent has 60 days from filing their response.9California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2104 Skipping disclosure can be grounds for a judge to set aside the final judgment later.
Declaration of Disclosure: Form FL-140
Form FL-140 is essentially a cover sheet. It lists which financial documents are being provided to the other spouse: the asset and debt schedule, the income and expense declaration, and two years of tax returns.10Judicial Council of California. Form FL-140 – Declaration of Disclosure
Schedule of Assets and Debts (FL-142) or Property Declaration (FL-160)
These forms carry the real detail. Either one works. FL-142 is a line-by-line spreadsheet-style listing of every asset and every debt, with columns for description, date acquired, current fair market value, and amount owed.11California Courts. Schedule of Assets and Debts FL-160 covers the same ground and adds a section for how the filer would like the property divided.12California Courts. Property Declaration (FL-160) Assets include real estate, bank accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, and business interests. Debts include mortgages, credit cards, student loans, and anything else owed.
Income and Expense Declaration: Form FL-150
FL-150 is four pages and takes the longest to complete. It asks for average monthly income from all sources (the instructions say to add the last 12 months and divide by 12), the employer’s name and address, and paycheck details including deductions. The second half covers monthly expenses in granular detail: housing, food, childcare, insurance, transportation, and more. Courts rely heavily on this form when setting child and spousal support.13Judicial Council of California. Income and Expense Declaration
Request for Order: Form FL-300
Divorce cases often take months, and some issues can’t wait. Form FL-300 lets either spouse ask the court for temporary orders while the case is pending — interim custody arrangements, temporary spousal support, or an order requiring one spouse to pay the other’s attorney fees are common examples.14California Courts Self Help Guide. Request for Order (Form FL-300)
The first page has checkboxes identifying what’s being requested. Pages two through four hold the details and reasoning. If the box for temporary emergency orders is checked, a judge may act on the request before the hearing date. Anyone handed one of these forms should look closely at whether emergency orders were requested and whether a judge has already signed anything on the attached pages.
The Judgment: Form FL-180
Form FL-180 is the document that legally ends the marriage. It carries the court’s official heading and includes checkboxes confirming the type of judgment: dissolution, legal separation, or annulment. When a judge signs it, the marriage is terminated and both parties are restored to the status of single persons.15Judicial Council of California. California Courts Form FL-180 – Judgment (Family Law)
The judgment itself is short, often just a couple of pages of checkboxes and blanks, because the substantive terms sit in attachments. In contested cases, the judge issues detailed orders on separate attachment forms. In uncontested cases, the parties usually draft a Marital Settlement Agreement (sometimes called a stipulated judgment), a typed document signed by both spouses that spells out who gets what property, how debts are divided, custody and visitation schedules, and support amounts. The judge reviews it and, if approved, incorporates it into the judgment by reference, making every provision a binding court order.16California Courts. Judgment (FL-180)
Qualified Domestic Relations Order: Form FL-460
If either spouse has a 401(k), pension, or other employer-sponsored retirement plan, dividing that account requires a separate court order called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. The judgment alone is not enough. Without a valid QDRO, the plan administrator cannot legally pay benefits to anyone other than the plan participant, regardless of what the divorce decree says.17U.S. Department of Labor. Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Under ERISA: A Practical Guide to Dividing Retirement Benefits California has a Judicial Council form for this, FL-460, though many attorneys draft custom QDROs tailored to the specific plan’s requirements.18California Courts. Qualified Domestic Relations Order for Support (FL-460) A QDRO looks different from the other divorce forms because it’s addressed to the plan administrator rather than to the court.
A Shorter Set of Papers: Summary Dissolution
Couples who meet strict eligibility rules can use a streamlined summary dissolution instead of the standard petition-and-response process. The paperwork is simpler and shorter, but the qualifying criteria are narrow. Both spouses must agree to the divorce, the marriage must have lasted five years or less from the date of separation, and there can be no minor children or current pregnancy. Neither spouse can own real estate (a short-term lease without a purchase option is allowed). Community property assets must total less than $25,000, excluding cars and debts, and neither spouse can have separate property worth more than that same amount. Combined debts incurred during the marriage, excluding car loans, cannot exceed $4,000. Both spouses must waive the right to spousal support and the right to appeal.
If any one of those conditions doesn’t fit, the standard petition-and-summons forms described above are required.