Considering or Getting a Divorce in San Mateo?

California was one of the first states to adopt no-fault divorce — meaning no longer is it necessary to convince a court that your circumstances justify a termination of your marriage contract. Now, to obtain a divorce (called a dissolution), the party simply needs to allege either that irreconcilable differences have arisen between you and your spouse, or that your spouse suffers from incurable insanity at the time of the divorce petition (hardly ever used).

The party seeking divorce in California must also prove that he/she was a California resident for at six (6) months before filing and was a resident of the county in which the petition was filed for at least three (3) months prior to filing. This six month/three month rule only applies in divorce proceedings; it does not apply to legal separation or annulment proceedings.

Filing a dissolution petition triggers a series of automatic restraining orders (ATROs) that go into effect automatically against both parties once you serve divorce papers and the divorce process begins. These ATROs affect child custody and the disposition of community and separate property pending the divorce becoming final. For example, neither party will be allowed to take their minor children out of state without the other spouse's written permission or a court order. Nor will either party, in most instances, be allowed to cancel or change the beneficiaries on their insurance policies (health or life insurance) or transfer or conceal or otherwise affect community or separate property. And both parties are required to notify the other spouse before any out-of-the-ordinary spending-and be prepared to account for such expenditures to a judge. These are valid court orders and violation of any of them can result in the offending party being charged with contempt of court.

In addition to the ATROs either party in a divorce proceeding can request the court to enter any number of temporary orders pending trial, including temporary child support and visitation orders, temporary orders for child support or spousal support, and temporary orders for an award of lawyers’s fees.

If a party served with divorce papers (petition) does not file a response within thirty (30) days of being served, the petitioner (the party filing the petition) can apply for the clerk to enter a default judgment—meaning that a judgment will be entered based solely on the allegations in the dissolution petition.

To obtain a judgment of divorce in California, both parties must provide various financial disclosures to each other, and file proof of service of such disclosures with the court. The earliest the court can enter a judgment of divorce is six (6) months after the petitioner serves the responding party with a copy of the dissolution petitioner and summons.

It is important to understand that, although California no-fault divorce process is very simple, it is not automatic. To be legally divorced, the parties must obtain a court order terminating the marital contract. Without such an order, the parties remain married and are not free to legally re-marry.

If the parties have been married for less than five years, have no children from the marriage, own very little, if any, community property, and owe very little community debt, it is possible to obtain what is called a summary dissolution of marriage.

Whether you have filed or have been served with divorce/separation/annulment papers, a divorce lawyer from our offices can help you sift through the California divorce laws. We are prepared to sit down with you in an affordable consultation and go over all of your legal options and give you specific answers to your questions.

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