Cryptocurrency does not sit in a bank where a statement arrives each month, and that is exactly why it causes trouble in divorce. It can be hard to find, hard to value, and easy to mislabel. The good news is that California’s rules for it are not new or exotic: crypto is treated as property, and the same community property and disclosure rules that apply to every other asset apply to it. ...
Domestic Violence Restraining Orders and Divorce in California: How They Interact
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For confidential support at any time, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233, by text (text START to 88788), or at thehotline.org. This article explains how the legal processes work. It is not a safety plan, and it can’t replace one, your county’s Self-Help Center and local domestic violence advocacy organizations can help with that directly. A domestic violence restraining order and a divorce are two separate legal processes in California, but they frequently run alongside each other, and a restraining order can directly affect how a divorce case plays out, especially around custody. Here’s how the two actually connect. ...
SB 1427 and California's New Joint Petition for Divorce: What Changed in 2026
If you and your spouse agree on getting divorced and on how to handle everything that comes with it, California now lets you file the case together, as equals, instead of one of you suing the other. This is the biggest structural change to how a California divorce starts in years, and it comes from a specific law: Senate Bill 1427. Here’s what SB 1427 actually did, who can use it, and how it compares to the options that already existed. ...
Legal Separation vs. Divorce vs. Annulment in California: What's the Difference?
If you are trying to end or change a marriage in California, you may be considering legal separation, divorce, or annulment. These are not interchangeable choices. Legal separation lets you live apart and obtain court orders while remaining married, divorce ends the marriage, and annulment asks the court to find that the marriage was not legally valid from the beginning. The best option depends on facts such as your California residency, property and debt, children, health insurance, religious or personal beliefs, and whether there is a genuine legal reason the marriage may have been invalid. This guide explains the differences in plain English. It is not a substitute for advice about your specific circumstances. ...
Dividing Retirement Accounts in a California Divorce: QDROs, Pensions, and IRAs
If you or your spouse have a 401(k), pension, or IRA, dividing it correctly is one of the highest-stakes pieces of a California divorce — get the paperwork wrong, and it can mean real tax penalties or losing access to funds you’re legally entitled to. Retirement accounts are community property under the same rules covered in community property division, but they need this specific process on top of the standard disclosure forms. See The Complete California Divorce Roadmap for how this fits into the rest of your case. ...
Form FL-150 (Income and Expense Declaration): When You Need It and How to Get It Right
If your case involves child support, spousal support, or a request for attorney fees, you’ll run into Form FL-150 — and you’ll likely need to fill it out more than once. This form comes up constantly across other topics on this site, from child support calculations to community property disclosures to spousal support, so here’s a dedicated look at what it actually requires. For every other form in a California divorce, see What Forms Do You Need to Get a Divorce in California? ...
Move-Away Cases in California: What Happens When a Parent Wants to Relocate
Custody and a parenting plan usually aren’t the end of the story. Life changes — a new job, a new relationship, a need to be closer to family — and sometimes one parent wants to move somewhere that would seriously disrupt the existing custody schedule. California has a specific legal framework for exactly this situation, built mostly around two landmark court decisions rather than a single simple rule. Quick Answer: How California Handles Move-Away Requests ...
Separate Property and Inheritance in a California Divorce: When 'Yours' Stays Yours
If you owned something before you got married, or you received a gift or inheritance during the marriage, you’d probably assume it’s simply yours to keep in a divorce. Usually, that’s true. But there are specific, well-defined ways that “yours” can quietly turn into “ours” without either spouse meaning for it to happen — and this article walks through exactly what those are, in plain language. Quick Answer: What Stays Separate Property ...
Spousal Support in California: The 14 Factors, How Long It Lasts, and the 2026 Tax Change
Unlike child support, California has no fixed formula for long-term spousal support — no plug-in-the-numbers calculator, no statewide table. Instead, judges weigh a specific list of factors written into law, and the outcome depends heavily on the length of the marriage and the specifics of both spouses’ situations. Here’s how that actually works, what changes once a marriage crosses the 10-year mark, and a real 2026 tax law change that affects the math for anyone finalizing support this year. ...
California Child Support Calculation: The Guideline Formula and the 2024 SB 343 Update Explained
Once custody and a parenting schedule are in place, the next question is almost always: how much child support will actually be owed? California doesn’t leave this to negotiation or guesswork — it uses a fixed statewide formula that courts are required to follow in nearly every case. Here’s how that formula actually works, what a significant 2024 legal change means for your numbers, and where to run the real calculation yourself. ...