California divorce online

Do you qualify for California divorce online?

Do you have information on the current location of your spouse?

Yes

No

Are you and your spouse in agreement regarding all aspects (this may include property and debt distribution, child support and custody)?

Yes

No

Check your eligibility

Residency Requirements

Either you or your spouse should be a resident of this state for a period of no less than 6 months. The period of time being a resident of a certain county also important: At least three months of residence in the county is required.

The only exception to the residency requirements is same sex marriage. Courts of this state will consider a matter even if both spouses are not residents of the state in case if:

• The marriage was entered in this state
• Both spouses are the residents of the state where same sex marriages are not recognized

Please double check with the court if you do not meet residency requirements.

Reasons for Divorce in the State of California

California courts recognize only no-fault divorces caused by irreconcilable differences. If you do not want to continue your marriage and you want to end your marriage permanently, you have irreconcilable differences.

Parenting Issues

At the very beginning of filing for divorce both parents have equal rights. No preference based on sex can be given, as a judge will make decisions based on the best interests of the child. There are no direct instructions concerning the age and maturity of the child, however, the older and more mature a child is, the more attention will be given to their opinion.

In California, courts are very unfavorable towards a parent interfering with the child’s relationship with the other parent.

There are legal and joint custody, which deal with the decision-making that affects the child’s well-being and development and physical presence with a parent. In this state, joint physical and legal custody is favored. If both parties cannot arrive at this decision, the court will develop a detailed parenting plan.

Child Support

California has its own guidelines on how to calculate child support. The amount of the support is determined by attorneys usually who use special licensed software programs. The support depends on the number of children, income of the parents, timeshare defined by the custody, tax filing status of both parents and tax-deductible expenses. We use the same formula to determine the amount of child support.

Support ends when the child reaches the age of 18 and graduates from high school. If the child has not graduated at the age 18, then the support continues until they graduate or age 19, whichever occurs first.

Filing Fees

Remember to ask your county’s court officer about filing fees, since our fee excludes court filing fees — which differ from county to county.