HOW TO PETITION FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF

MARRIAGE

Divorce is a process. In reality, it may have begun long ago, with cracks forming in the foundation of your relationship. From a legal perspective, however, it doesn’t kick off until you file the original petition for the dissolution of marriage in the appropriate county.

That may sound daunting and complex, but it isn’t so bad. As in most legal issues, it will likely be to your benefit to enlist the help of a professional, of an attorney who specializes in family law and divorce, but that doesn’t mean you can’t at least familiarize yourself with the steps ahead of time.

THE FORM

Like with so many legal endeavors, this one starts with a form. In this case, in the state of California, it’s not even a particularly complicated form. At just three pages, the petition for the dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership requests your basic information, that of your spouse, and contacts for any legal representation either side may have.

You do have to provide the details of your situation, starting with the very basic question: what exactly are you filing for? On this form, you can petition for a divorce, for a legal separation, or to nullify either your marriage or domestic partnership. Information about the status of your union—a marriage, a domestic partnership established in California, or one established elsewhere—must also be provided, as well as any relevant dates. This includes the date established, the date separated, and the amount of time in between.

California is a no-fault divorce state, which means that in order to be granted a divorce, you don’t have to prove that one spouse or the other was at fault. All that needs to be said is that there are “irreconcilable differences,” or for one party to have the “permanent legal incapacity to make decisions.”

If you’re looking to nullify or void a marriage or domestic partnership, things do get a bit trickier, and you must provide a cause. Reasons for this range from incest and bigamy to fraud, force, and previously existing marriages. You can even check the box for “unsound mind” as an explanation.

CUSTODY AND CHILD SUPPORT

As children may complicate a marriage or relationship, so, too, can they complicate a divorce. The form gets a bit more intricate when the thorny issue of guardianship comes into play. Just checking off the box does not mean that you get custody of your children, but it requests that the court make a ruling on this matter.

You will be asked to specify the type of custody you want, in both a legal and physical capacity. The options are that you, the Petitioner, retain custody; that your soon-to-be ex, the Respondent, receives custody; or you can request a shared, joint guardianship of any minor children.

There is also a section where you lay out your preferences when it comes to visitation, which presents a similar set of options as custody. You can request visitation for yourself, or that it be granted to your spouse. Depending on what your request entails, this section leads you to a variety of other forms that cover topics ranging from determining which parent gets the kids on a particular holiday to protecting them from abduction and stopping your spouse from taking them out of state without permission.

When there are children involved in the dissolution of marriage or a domestic partnership, there is also often child support. This is where the form goes next, specifying that the court will take into account the financial state of the two spouses and make a ruling on any child support payments. A number of factors will play into this decision, including who ultimately has majority custody of the children and the finances of the two parties involved.

SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Next up, you can request that the court make a decision regarding spousal support. This may take a number of different forms, and can include asking for money to be paid to one party or the other, or even terminating the court’s ability to award spousal support entirely.

In California, when determining the extent of spousal support, the court may take into account a number of factors. This list includes the marketable skills and future earning potential of each party, whether or not you or your spouse significantly contributed to the career prospects of the other, ability to pay, standard of living, shared debt, the health of both parties, the duration of the marriage, and anything else the court deems applicable to a specific situation.

The length of time spousal support must be paid is left to the discretion of the court. For marriages under ten years, a general rule of thumb is that it will be paid for roughly half that length. That is not set in stone, however, and in some cases, especially considering longer unions and financial circumstances, there may be no end date specified.

DIVISION OF PROPERTYNear the end of the petition for the dissolution of marriage comes the section that deals with the distribution of property. Here you can declare any separate, joint, or “quasi-community” assets for the court to take into consideration and divide between you.

California is a community property state. What that means, as the name implies, is that any debts and assets acquired during a marriage, even those that may be held in the name of one spouse or the other, are viewed as belonging to both parties, and can be split down the middle in the case of divorce. Just because it can be divided like this, doesn’t mean it has to be that way. The two sides can come to an agreement on how to divvy up possessions and obligations, but if push comes to shove, the legal standard is a 50/50 split.

Divorce can be a long, complicated process, one where any number of factors can muddy the waters. At a base level, however, the initial petition for the dissolution of marriage can be relatively simple. It’s where you lay out the key information and issues that the court will deal with and resolve in this particular case, and where you specify what you want out of your divorce.

From there it’s really up to the parties involved how messy a divorce gets. It’s possible for things to progress quickly and in an amicable fashion. Or you and your spouse can fight and squabble about every last detail.

As with most legal issues, even in the most straightforward cases, there may be more going on than initially meets the eye. You will likely be best served by enlisting the help of an experienced divorce attorney. If you have any questions about the dissolution of marriage, please feel free to contact the offices of Goldberg Jones in San Diego, and we’ll be happy to discuss the specifics of your situation.

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