What You Need to Know About Filing for Divorce When Your Spouse is Out of State
Certain residency requirements must be met in order to file for a California divorce. Here’s how to file for a California divorce when your spouse is out of state.
California’s residency requirements for divorce require one of the married spouses to have lived in California for the last 6 months, and in the county in which the divorce is being filed for the last 3 months. If one does not meet these requirements, they have other options.
California Residency Requirements for Divorce
For a married couple to get a divorce in California, one of the spouses must have lived in California for the last 6 months and the county where the spouse plans to file the divorce for the last 3 months. If one cannot meet the residency requirements, one can file for a legal separation. Once enough time has passed to meet the residency requirement for a divorce, one may then file an “amended petition” and ask the court for a divorce.
However, there are exceptions to this rule. If a same-sex couple got married in California and currently resides in a different state that does not terminate same-sex marriages, they can choose to file for divorce in California. This is regardless of whether or not the same-sex spouses meet the residency requirements. However, the same-sex couple must file for divorce in the county in which they were married.
How to File for Divorce in California
The process for filing for a divorce in California when one spouse is out of state is the same as if the spouse lived in-state. The only difference might be that the spouse being served may have to be served by mail. The following lays out the steps for filing a California divorce when your spouse is out of state.
1. Fill out these forms
The spouse starting the case is the petitioner. The petitioner should complete the following forms:
- The Petition—Marriage/Domestic Partnership Form FL-100
- Summons (Family Law) Form FL-110
- If one has children under the age of 18 with their spouse, fill out the Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)—Form FL-105/GC-120
Make sure to make copies of the forms to give to the other spouse. The original forms are for the courts.
2. File the forms with the court clerk and pay the appropriate filing fees
3. Serve the first set of court forms
California law requires that the receiving spouse be informed that the divorce process has started. In order for one to do this, one must “serve” their spouse with copies of all their court papers.
In the case of one spouse living out of state, divorce papers will most likely have to be served via mail. In “service by mail”, someone other than a party to the case must mail the documents to the other party. Check with the court first to see if service by mail is allowed before using this method to serve the papers.
4. Fill out and serve the proper financial disclosure forms
The financial disclosure forms must be submitted no later than 60 days after the filing of a divorce petition. These forms provide each of the spouses with written information about what each one owes, separately and together, in order to divide the property and debts equally.
- Declaration of Disclosure Form FL-140
- Schedule of Assets and Debts Form FL-142
- Income and Expense Declaration Form FL-150
The disclosure documents must include all tax returns filed in the last 2 years.
Make a copy of the forms and serve them to the receiving spouse (must be done by someone other than the petitioner and who is at least 18 years of age).
5. File the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure
This is Form FL-141. Make two copies of this form and file both with the county clerk. The clerk will keep the original and return the copies back, stamped “Filed.”
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