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Divorce Timeline
FILING THE PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION
In order to commence a divorce proceeding in the state of California,
an individual must file a Petition. The individual who is iniciating
the divorce proceeding is called the “Petitioner”
and the other spouse becomes the “Respondent”. The
filing of the Petition is an important event because it triggers
the “6-month waiting period”. No individual may
get a final divorce in California in less than 6 months. Therefore,
once the individual has filed the Petition, the 6-month waiting
period begins to run.
MOTIONS TO THE COURT
During this 6 month waiting period, the Petitioner and Respondent
should make the appropriate motions to the Court for restraining
orders, custody of the child(ren), and support orders. Usually,
these proceedings are accomplished in an Order to Show Cause
hearing. There, the Court will allocate child visitation with
the parents and may order support for one of the parties.
The goal here is to maintain the status quo, while the divorce
proceedings are in progress.
During this time, there may be asset allocations and custody
evaluations, if there is a child(ren) involved. This is a
critical time in the divorce proceeding wherein the Court,
attorneys, and forensic accountants are trying to figure out
what the Petitioner and Respondent are entitled to under the
law.
In addition, when there is a child(ren) involved in the divorce,
most Courts may order a Child Custody Evaluation. Generally,
the Court will appoint a Psychologist to evaluate the parties’
interaction with the child(ren) and report the findings to
the Court. The evaluation and findings become important when
child custody and visitation are at issue. However, when the
parties agree about child(ren) custody and visitation, the
need for a custody evaluation is minimized.
SETTLEMENT/TRIAL
Generally after the 6-month waiting period has elapsed, the
parties, and/or their respective attorneys, will either: settle
the case or go to trial on the contested issues. If the Petitioner
and Respondent agree on all the issues, the case will settle
and one of the attorneys will draw up the settlement papers,
which will include all the issues in the divorce proceeding.
If there are any contested issues, the case will go to trial
where the Judge will determine the division of assets and/or
child custody issues.
FINAL JUDGMENT
Whether the parties in a dissolution proceeding settle their
case before trial or proceed to trial, there must be a final
Judgment. The final Judgment allows all the issues to be resolved
and terminates the marital status of the parties so they may
remarry.
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