Updated October 16, 2026. Quick answer: California’s Judicial Council publishes the divorce form set including Petition-Marriage/Domestic Partnership (form FL-100), Summons (Family Law) (form FL-110), Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150) and Judgment (Family Law) (form FL-180). The Statewide Civil Fee Schedule lists $435 for the petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage, with the note that fees marked with an asterisk vary in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco counties because of a local courthouse surcharge, and the court self-help guide says the fee is $435-$450.
California divorce forms at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Official forms | California’s Judicial Council publishes the divorce form set including Petition-Marriage/Domestic Partnership (form FL-100), Summons (Family Law) (form FL-110), Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150) and Judgment (Family Law) (form FL-180). |
| Filing fee | The Statewide Civil Fee Schedule lists $435 for the petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage, with the note that fees marked with an asterisk vary in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco counties because of a local courthouse surcharge, and the court self-help guide says the fee is $435-$450. |
| Fee waiver | The fee waiver request is form FW-001, Request to Waive Court Fees. |
| Residency before filing | Except for the same-sex marriage rule in Family Code 2320(b) (a marriage entered in California where neither spouse lives in a jurisdiction that will dissolve it), one spouse must have been a California resident for six months and a resident of the filing county for three months before the petition is filed. |
| Waiting period | Subject to Family Code sections 2340 to 2344, a dissolution judgment is not final until six months have passed from service of the summons and petition or the respondent’s appearance, whichever is first, and the court may extend that period for good cause. |
| Settlement agreement | Fam. Code 2550 has the court divide the community estate equally except upon the spouses’ written agreement or an oral stipulation in open court, and the Judgment form FL-180 lets a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment supply the property, custody and child support terms. |
| Source | Judicial Council of California / California Courts Self Help Guide; Judicial Council of California; Legislative Counsel of California |
The official forms
California’s Judicial Council publishes the divorce form set including Petition-Marriage/Domestic Partnership (form FL-100), Summons (Family Law) (form FL-110), Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150) and Judgment (Family Law) (form FL-180).
The text itself:
- Start a divorce: Choose and fill out your divorce forms (California Courts Self Help Guide): “Petition-Marriage/Domestic Partnership (form FL-100)”
- Start a divorce: Choose and fill out your divorce forms (California Courts Self Help Guide): “Summons (Family Law) (form FL-110)”
- FL-180 Judgment (Family Law): “JUDGMENT (Family Law)”
The forms are linked in the sources at the foot of this page. A court clerk or a lawyer decides which of them fits your case; this page does not.
The filing fee
The Statewide Civil Fee Schedule lists $435 for the petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage, with the note that fees marked with an asterisk vary in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco counties because of a local courthouse surcharge, and the court self-help guide says the fee is $435-$450.
Fees change, and CMG’s table of divorce filing fees by state shows which states’ statutes it has read. If you cannot afford the fee: The fee waiver request is form FW-001, Request to Waive Court Fees.
The text itself:
- Start a divorce: Choose and fill out your divorce forms (California Courts Self Help Guide): “The filing fee for a divorce case is $435-$450”
- FW-001 Request to Waive Court Fees: “Request to Waive Court Fees”
Residency and the waiting period
Residency: Except for the same-sex marriage rule in Family Code 2320(b) (a marriage entered in California where neither spouse lives in a jurisdiction that will dissolve it), one spouse must have been a California resident for six months and a resident of the filing county for three months before the petition is filed.
Waiting period: Subject to Family Code sections 2340 to 2344, a dissolution judgment is not final until six months have passed from service of the summons and petition or the respondent’s appearance, whichever is first, and the court may extend that period for good cause.
The text itself:
- California Family Code sections 2320, 2339, 2550, 2551 (Legislative Counsel bulk data, pubinfo_2025.zip LAW_SECTION_TBL lobs): “has been a resident of this state for six months”
- California Family Code sections 2320, 2339, 2550, 2551 (Legislative Counsel bulk data, pubinfo_2025.zip LAW_SECTION_TBL lobs): “until six months have expired from the date of service”
Where a settlement agreement fits
Fam. Code 2550 has the court divide the community estate equally except upon the spouses’ written agreement or an oral stipulation in open court, and the Judgment form FL-180 lets a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment supply the property, custody and child support terms.
The text itself:
- FL-180 Judgment (Family Law): “Settlement agreement, stipulation for judgment, or other written agreement”
- California Family Code sections 2320, 2339, 2550, 2551 (Legislative Counsel bulk data, pubinfo_2025.zip LAW_SECTION_TBL lobs): “Except upon the written agreement of the parties”
CMG’s QDRO cost and divorce and your money pages cover what a divorce does to retirement accounts and taxes.
What the documents do not say
- Whether the court system offers these forms free of charge: not found in the documents read.
- The Family Code text was read from the Legislative Counsel’s bulk data file, because the official site refuses scripted access.
- The statewide fee schedule read is the January 1, 2023 version; the court self-help page gives a range rather than one figure.
- Child custody, child support and property-division rules, and local court rules, were not read.
Common mistakes
- Reading the six months in Family Code 2339 as a wait before filing; it runs from service or the respondent’s appearance to the earliest date the judgment can be final.
- Assuming the answer for one state applies to another, or that a form filled in correctly is the same as a form the court has accepted.
Related: divorce filing fees by state, divorce and your money, and what a QDRO costs.
Sources
- Start a divorce: Choose and fill out your divorce forms (California Courts Self Help Guide): https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/divorce/start-divorce/forms
- FL-180 Judgment (Family Law): https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl180.pdf
- FW-001 Request to Waive Court Fees: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fw001.pdf
- Superior Court of California Statewide Civil Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2023): https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-12/statewide-civil-fee-schedule-eff-01012023.pdf
- California Family Code sections 2320, 2339, 2550, 2551 (Legislative Counsel bulk data, pubinfo_2025.zip LAW_SECTION_TBL lobs): https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip
- FL-100 Petition (Marriage/Domestic Partnership): https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl100.pdf
- FL-150 Income and Expense Declaration: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 16, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a tax professional or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.