California Divorce

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. ...

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. ...

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? ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

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. ...

Once you understand the difference between legal and physical custody, the next question is usually: how do you actually put an arrangement on paper in a way the court will accept? That document is called a parenting plan, and it’s the practical heart of any custody case — whether you and your co-parent agree on everything or you’re heading into mediation. Here’s what a California parenting plan actually needs to cover, which forms carry it, and how to avoid the vague language that causes disputes later. ...

If you have children, custody is usually the part of a California divorce that matters most — and the part with the least room for guesswork. California doesn’t default to one parent over the other; instead, every decision is measured against a single legal standard: what’s actually best for the child. Here’s how that standard works in practice, what the different types of custody actually mean, and what to expect if you and your co-parent don’t agree right away. ...

California is a community property state — which means most of what you and your spouse own gets treated as jointly owned the moment you divorce, regardless of whose name is on the title or whose paycheck bought it. That single rule shapes almost every financial decision in a California divorce, so understanding it early saves real time and money later. Here’s exactly how property gets divided, what counts as “yours” versus “shared,” and which forms make it official. ...