California Divorce Laws

According to definitions provided by California divorce laws and the Family Code, marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between a man and a woman, to which the consent of the parties capable of making that contract is necessary. Consent alone does not constitute marriage. Consent must be followed by the issuance of a license and solemnization, subject to two exceptions. These exceptions are:

• 425. If no record of the solemnization of a marriage previously contracted is known to exist, the parties may purchase a License and Certificate of Declaration of Marriage from the county clerk in the parties' county of residence. The license and certificate shall be returned to the county recorder of the county in which the license was issued.
• 501. Except as provided in Section 502, a confidential marriage license shall be issued by the county clerk upon the personal appearance of the parties to be married and their payment of the fees required by Sections 26840.1 and 26840.8 of the Government Code and any fee imposed pursuant to the authorization of Section 26840.3 of. the Government Code.

California divorce laws provide that a confidential marriage license is valid only for a period of 90 days after its issuance by the county clerk and may only be used in the county in which it was issued. The county clerk must maintain confidential marriage certificates as permanent records which are not be open to public except upon order of the court issued upon a showing of good cause.

California Divorce Laws - Requirements for Dissolution of Marriage

Both a dissolution of marriage and legal separation must begin by filing a petition with a superior court.. California divorce laws are specific, setting forth technical requirements for this pleading. These requirements include personal information regarding the identity of parties, date of marriage, date of separation, the length of time between marriage and separation, identity of children, if any, and the age and birth date of each minor child. Further, the code requires:

• 2330.1. In any proceeding for dissolution of marriage under California divorce laws, for legal separation of the parties, or for the support of children, the petition or complaint may list children born before the marriage to the same parties and, pursuant to the terms of the Uniform Parentage Act and related California divorce laws, a determination of paternity may be made in the action. In addition, a supplemental complaint may be filed, in any of those proceedings under California divorce laws, pursuant to Section 464 of the Code of Civil Procedure, seeking a judgment or order of paternity or support for a child of the mother and father of the child whose paternity and support are already in issue before the court. A supplemental complaint for paternity or support of children may be filed without leave of court either before or after final judgment in the underlying action. Service of the supplemental summons and complaint shall be made in the manner provided by California divorce laws generally, for the initial service of a summons by this code.
• 2330.3. (a) Dissolution actions authorized by California divorce laws, to the greatest extent possible, shall be assigned to the same superior court department for all purposes of California divorce laws, in order that all decisions in a case through final judgment shall be made by the same judicial officer. (b) The Judicial Council shall adopt a standard of judicial administration prescribing a minimum length of assignment of a judicial officer to a family law assignment. (c) This section shall be operative on July 1, 1997.

If no demand for money, property, costs, or attorney's fees is contained in the petition and the judgment of dissolution of marriage is entered by default, California divorce laws do not require filing of income and expense declarations or property declarations.

*Reference to code sections pertain to the Family Code provide by California divorce laws unless otherwise noted.

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