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California Divorce Court – How to Divorce Without Appearing There

icon1 Posted by DivorceLine in Divorce Articles on 12 23rd, 2025 | 5 responses

Going to California divorce court and letting a judge make all the decisions is not the finest way to get divorced. If you and your spouse can work together to agree on the legal problems of your case–how you’ll deal with division of your property and debts, aid, and parenting if you have minor kids–there’s a a lot far better choice.

The two of you can produce a written agreement, known as a Settlement Agreement, as component of an uncontested divorce. In California, this was formerly referred to as a Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA); but because enactment of The California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003, the term “Marital” was removed so that the agreement may well be utilized by both married couples and domestic partners.

Even if cooperating with your soon-to-be ex is the last factor you will need to do, the benefits of working out a Settlement Agreement are so significant that you Need to struggle lengthy and challenging to get one.

The objective of filling out California divorce forms and creating your Settlement Agreement is to get a Judgment that will settle the legal problems in your case and order your marriage dissolved.

There are two techniques you can get your Judgment in California:

1) Filing a California divorce form FL-170, the Declaration for Default or Uncontested Dissolution, with your final papers. This is the easiest approach since you can file all the needed forms by mail, or personally deliver them to the court Clerk’s office, With out having to appear in California divorce court.

2) Going to a hearing in a California Much better Court. Most counties in California do not will need a hearing if your case is uncontested (you’ve been able to develop a Settlement Agreement, which becomes your Judgment, or the spouse who is not the Petitioner did not file a response), so if you have an uncontested divorce, you almost certainly won’t Ought to appear in court, but it can take place.

What To Do If You Should Appear In California Divorce Court

In the unlikely event that you are asked to appear at a hearing with an uncontested divorce, don’t worry, it’s less complicated than you could possibly believe. Only the Petitioner has to go, and the hearing will be quite brief. Most of your time at the courthouse will be spent waiting for your hearing to begin. California family law judges see significantly of instances and will take no unique interest in yours unless there’s some thing unusual about it.

First you will Should set a date for your hearing with the Clerk at your California county’s divorce court. At the hearing, when you are known as, you take the stand and make statements about the facts of your case.

Your job at the hearing is to present evidence to the court that will permit the judge to make decisions. Be certain to bring with you any documents you have about the title or value of property or debts to be divided. If aid is involved, bring recent pay stubs, accounting statements and tax returns to show the income of you and your spouse.

If you have a contested case, you will have no alternative. You will Should appear in a California divorce court.

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5 Responses to “California Divorce Court – How to Divorce Without Appearing There”

  1. honeycomb terbaik says:
    June 25, 2011 at 2:40 am

    This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. this is very nice one and gives indepth information. thanks for this nice article

  2. Falke68@yahoo.com says:
    July 14, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    Great blog and excellent post! My husband and I are going through a divorce so finding this blog makes the divorce process a lot easier. Thanks again and I’ll definitely be reading a lot of your posts.

  3. Connie Lanning says:
    July 14, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    Great blog and excellent post! My husband and I are going through a divorce so finding this blog makes the divorce process a lot easier. Thanks again and I’ll definitely be reading a lot of your posts.

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  5. Freeman Larbie says:
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