Family Law
Family Law Forms Assistant Program:
Avoid waiting in line... fill out your forms online! If the following applies to you, click on the link below to use our
new user-friendly form completion program:
- You have a family law case and would like to modify child custody, visitation, child support or spousal
support orders
- Your case is not a domestic violence case
- Your case involves the Department of Child Support Services but you only want to modify child custody and/or visitation
Click here to use the Family Law Forms Assistant Program
Forms and Form Kits:
General Information:
Our Resource Center can assist self-represented litigants with their family law cases such as divorces,
legal separations, and paternity cases. Although we can explain court procedures and review forms, we cannot provide legal advice, and do not
have the ability to complete forms for you. You can visit our Resource Center in person, or contact by phone or email for assistance.
For general information on family law basics, you can click on each topic below:
There are 2 main ways to end a marriage or registered domestic partnership in California: divorce (dissolution) or annulment. Note: Legal Separation does not end a marriage. Click on the links below for more information:
Dissolution of Marriage/Domestic Partnership
Summary Dissolution
Annulment (or Nullity)
Legal Separation
If you and the other parent have never been married, you may need to file a Petition to Establish Parental
Relationship in order to
request child custody, visitation and/or child support. This type of case is used to establish parentage
between
minor child(ren) and
their biological father and establish child custody and visitation orders. Click on the below link for more
information:
If you are married and do not want to file for divorce or legal separation, you can file a Petition for Custody
and
Support to ask the
judge to make orders regarding the issues of custody, visitation and child support. Click on the link below for
more
information:
Through the Request for Order you can request court orders, such as child custody, visitation, child support,
spousal support,
attorney fees and other issues. You need an open case to file a Request for Order, or you can file a new case
at the
same time.
Click on the link below for more information regarding a Request for Order:
If you have been served with a family law Petition or Request for Order, you may file a response to the
Petition
and/or a Responsive
Declaration to the Request for Order. A response lets the Court know if there is something that you do not agree
with
on the Petition or
Request for Order. Click on the link below for more information regarding filing a response:
When you are ready to finish your case, you will need to prepare a judgment. A judgment can be finalized
in
different ways. It may
be by mutual agreement, by default, or decided in court. Click on the link below for more information on how to
finalize your case:
Dissolution of Marriage/Domestic Partnership
What is it?
This petition (also known as Divorce) ends your marriage or domestic partnership. Once your dissolution of
marriage is finalized, you go back to single status and you are able to remarry.
California is a "no fault" divorce state, which means that the spouse or domestic partner that is asking for the
divorce does not have to prove that the other spouse or domestic partner did something wrong. To get a no fault divorce,
the spouse or domestic partner has to state that the couple cannot get along. Legally, this is called
"irreconcilable differences." Through your divorce you can address the following issues:
- Child custody and visitation;
- Child support;
- Spousal or partner support;
- The division of property and debts; and
- Attorney’s fees
The divorce process will take at least 6 months, starting from the date the Petitioner has the other party served
with the Summons and Petition. This is a mandatory waiting period required by California law. There are many
forms to fill out during the divorce process, and it can become complicated. You can contact the Self-Help Center
for assistance with this process, or you can visit the California Court’s Self-Help Center website.
What are the requirements?
In California you MUST meet the residency requirements.
- Either you or your spouse must have lived in California for the last 6 months and the last 3 months in the
county
where you plan on filing for the divorce; and
- If you and your spouse have lived in California for at least 6 months but in different counties for at least 3
months, you can file in either county.
Summary Dissolution
What is it?
Some couples that have been married or in a registered domestic partnership for less than 5 years can get a
"summary dissolution" as long as they also meet other requirements. A summary dissolution is an easier way
to
end your marriage or domestic partnership (or both).
What are the requirements?
Both parties agree and are willing to fill out this paperwork together and meet the following:
- Married & together less than 5 years (count marriage date to separation date);
- No children of this marriage;
- You don’t own too much (nor owe too much);
- No land or buildings;
- Value of property (minus cars) is $40,000 for community property;
- Each person has no more than $40,000 for separate property (minus cars);
- Total of debts is less than $6000 (minus cars);
- Neither party wants to get spousal support (alimony);
- Agree about how to divide up any property or debts;
- At least one has lived in California for 6 months and in County of San Bernardino for 3 months (exception
for same sex couples who were married in California but can’t get a divorce in their home state).
Within six months, either party could file the Notice of Revocation of Petition for Summary Dissolution. That filing
will vacate the judgment. If one of the spouses then wishes to be divorced, that person will need to file the
regular divorce paperwork. You can contact the Self-Help Center for assistance with this process, or you can visit the
California Court’s Self-Help Center website.
Annulment (or Nullity)
What is it?
An annulment (or “nullity of marriage” or “nullity of domestic partnership”) is when a
court says your marriage or
domestic partnership is NOT legally valid. After an annulment, it is like your marriage or domestic partnership
never
happened because it was never legal.
To get an annulment, you must be able to prove to the judge that one of below reasons is true in your case.
This makes an annulment case very different from a divorce or a legal separation. Unlike a divorce,
“irreconcilable differences” is not a reason for getting an annulment. The nullity process can become complicated. You
can contact the Self-Help Center for assistance with this process, or you can visit the California Court’s Self-Help Center website for more information.
Below are the reasons for an annulment. Each reason has important details you have to prove to get a court to give you an annulment:
A marriage and domestic partnership is NEVER legally valid (void) when it is:
- Incestuous: This is when the people who are married or in a registered domestic partnership are close
blood
relatives.
- Bigamous: This is when a spouse or domestic partner is already married to or in a registered domestic
partnership with someone else
Other marriages and domestic partnerships can be declared invalid (voidable) based on:
- Age at the time of marriage or domestic partnership: The party filing for the annulment
was under 18-years-old at the time of the marriage or domestic partnership, unless the party filing freely
cohabitated with the other as his or her spouse after attaining the age of consent.
- Prior existing marriage or domestic partnership: Either party was already legally
married or in a registered domestic partnership, and the marriage or domestic partnership took place after the former
spouse or domestic partner was absent for 5 years and not known to be living or generally thought to be dead.
- Unsound mind: Either party was of “unsound mind” or unable to
understand the nature of the marriage or domestic partnership, unless the party of unsound mind, after coming to reason, freely lived with
the other as his or her spouse.
- Fraud: Either party got married or registered the domestic partnership as a result of
fraud, unless the party whose consent was obtained by fraud, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud,
freely lived with the other as his or her spouse.
- Force: Either party consented to getting married or filing a domestic partnership as a result of force.
- Physical incapacity: Either party was, at the time of marriage, physically incapable of
entering into the marriage state, and that incapacity continues, and appears to be incurable.
Legal Separation
What is it?
If you cannot (or do not want to) get a divorce, you can ask the judge for a legal separation.
A legal separation does not end a marriage or domestic partnership. You cannot marry or enter into a
partnership with someone else if you are legally separated (and not divorced). If you ask for a legal separation,
you may be able to change to a divorce case later if you meet certain requirements.
Like a divorce, you can address the following issues:
- Child custody and visitation;
- Child support;
- Spousal or partner support;
- The division of property and debts; and
- Attorney’s fees
To get a legal separation, you follow the same basic process used for a divorce. There are many forms to
fill out during the legal separation process, and it can become complicated. You can contact the Self-Help Center
for assistance with this process, or you can visit the California Court’s Self-Help Center website.
What are the requirements?
- You can file in California if at least 1 of you is living in California.
- Once enough time has passed so that you meet the residency requirement for a divorce, you can file an
“amended petition” and ask the court for a divorce (if you want a divorce).
Petition to Establish Parent-Child Relationship
What is it?
In parentage cases, also called "paternity cases," the court makes orders that say who the child's legal
parents are. If parents are married when a child is born, there is usually no question about parentage. But for unmarried
parents, parentage of their children needs to be established legally.
Establishing parentage is necessary before custody, visitation, or child support will be ordered by a court.
You can ask the judge for child support or custody and visitation orders as part of a case that establishes the
child’s parentage.
What are the requirements?
To start a parentage action in California, your child must have been a resident of California for the past six
months and must currently reside in the County where you plan on filing your petition.
If there is a post judgment Department of Child Support (DCSS) case and the child(ren) resides in our
county and the parents are unmarried, it will not be necessary to file a Petition to Establish Parental Relationship as
that parentage finding was made at the time of the judgment in the DCSS case. You can contact the Self-Help
Center for assistance with this process, or you can visit the California Court’s Self-Help Center website.
Petition for Custody and Support
What is it?
If you and the other parent are married and you do NOT want to get a divorce, legal separation, or annulment,
you
can start a case called a Petition for Custody and Support of Minor Children. This lets the court make custody
and
visitation orders and other orders.
You can also file this Petition if:
- The parents signed a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity “POP” (usually done at the
hospital) and it is with the
State Office of Vital Statistics – a copy of the POP must be attached if you mark this box on the Petition,
or
- If paternity has been established through a judgment in a DCSS (also known as Department of Child
Support
Services) case in another county.
What are the restrictions?
Through the Petition for Custody and Support you are able to ask the judge to make orders regarding the
issues of
custody, visitation and child support only. If you are married and are requesting spousal support or property
issues, you will need to file for a Dissolution of Marriage, Legal Separation or Nullity. You can contact the Self-
Help
Center for assistance with this process, or you can visit the California Court’s Self-Help Center
website.
Request for Order
What is it?
To request orders from the Court such as child custody and visitation, child support, or spousal support, you or
the
other parent must request an order from the court by filing a Request for Order. The Request for Order forms are
used to schedule a court hearing date to obtain court orders in a family law case.
What are the requirements?
How to do this depends on where you are at in the family court process:
- Do you already have a family court case?
- If orders have already been made, you can request a modification to existing child custody and
visitation, child support, and spousal support. Click here to complete the forms online using the Family Law Forms Assistant Program.
- Are you starting a case for the first time?
- You can file the Request for Order at the same time you file a new case.
Our Self-Help Center can assist you with this process and email you the forms as well, or you can visit the
California Court’s Self-Help Center website for more information.
Responding to a Petition or Request for Order
How do I file a Response to the Petition?
When responding to a Petition, it is important for you to know that you have options:
- One option is not to respond to the divorce case. If you have very carefully read all of the paperwork that
you
were served with and AGREE with ALL of the information listed (for example: property, debts, support, child
custody), then you do not need to respond.
- If you disagree with ANYTHING within the divorce petition, then you have the option of filing a response
with
the court. The purpose of filing a response in the case is to give you the opportunity to present your requests
in the
case.
If you decide to respond, you will have to pay the current filing fee. If you decide not to respond, then after 30
days from the date you were served with the Petition, the other party can enter you into a default status (which
means that you can no longer respond). The other party will then begin the process to get a default judgment. In
that
default judgment, the other party cannot request anything more than what was listed in their original petition.
If it has been more than 30 days since you were given the legal documents, you may be able to file your
Response, so long as the other party has not filed and entered a Request to Enter Default against you.
If the other party has filed the Request to Enter Default then you may request a hearing to ask the judge for
special permission to file a Response. There are legal deadlines to make this special request.
How do I file a Response Declaration to a Request for Order?
A Responsive Declaration to the Request for Order must be filed and served with any supporting documents
within
9 Calendar days of the hearing. The Responsive Declaration to the Request for Order must set forth facts
sufficient
to notify the other party of the declarant's contentions in response to the request for order and in support of any
relief
requested. You can contact the Self-Help Center for assistance with this process, or you can visit the California
Court’s Self-Help Center website.
Finalizing your Family Law Case
Once you have completed the required steps and are ready to complete your divorce or legal separation,
you will need to submit a judgment to finalize your case. The court will not contact you to finalize your case.
There are many forms to fill out for different types of judgments, and it can become complicated depending on
the nature of your case. However, you may contact our Resource Center for assistance with this process.