How to Start Your Divorce Case

Posted by Inderraj SinghJul 09, 2021

The decision to end your marriage is the beginning of your divorce case.  The process to dissolve your marriage can be very time consuming, expensive, tedious, frustrating, and confusing.  There are plenty of websites on google that offer "cheap" paralegal or other "attorney" like services but the ultimate cost of these services is your dissatisfaction with these "cheap" services that often do very little to aid you in your time of need. 

Although there are various forms that need to be filed during the course of your divorce proceeding.  This post is dedicated to inform the readers of bare-bones steps necessary to initiate a divorce case.  The information in this post is generic only and may not be suitable for your individual case. Therefore, you should always check with your local court, clerk's office, and consult local court rules and various California family law statutes to ensure you are filing all the forms required to initiate a case.  

Bare Minimum to Initiate a Case

To initiate your divorce case you need the following forms:

1. FL-100 (Petition);

2. FL-110 (Summons);

3. FL-105 (UCCEJA) (if you have minor children);

4. FL-150 (Income and Expense);

5. FL-142 (Schedule of Debts and Assets);

6. FL-140 (Declaration of Disclosures); and

6. Any necessary attachments and exhibits as indicated on your filings (e.g., Attachment 9(a) or Attachment 10 etc.). 

Upon completion and signing of the required forms, you can follow the local court's prompt to e-file your petitions.  Please ensure to thoroughly check your forms for completeness by checking that all the areas with dates, names, signatures etc., have been completed.  Filing these forms is merely the beginning.  Once filed with the court, you must serve the conformed copies along with the blank copies for response on the opposing party (be sure to check the local process service requirements in accordance with your local court rules).

Divorce can be a lengthy, frustrating, confusing, and expensive endeavor.  At The Singh Law Office, we can help you with your divorce case and help alleviate some of your burden by walking each step of your case with you, providing you expert legal advice, drafting any and all necessary pleadings, responses, and petitions.  

Contact our law firm today to get your free case assessment! 

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Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.