Commencing a Divorce or Legal Separation

Once you have decided to file for a divorce or legal separation, whether you retain an attorney or represent yourself, you must file a Summons and Petition. Actually, if you are represented by an attorney, he or she will do it for you. If there are minor children involved, you must also file a Declaration Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. All Family Law Forms are available through the Sacramento County Superior Court or the Judicial Council Forms website to download.

The Petitioner (person filing the Summons and Petition) must pay a filing fee of $355.00 to Sacramento County Superior Court unless they qualify for a fee waiver under the low-income guidelines. If you cannot afford to pay the filing fee, download the Information Sheet on Waiver of Court Fees and Costs. By the way, there is absolutely no advantage in being the Petitioner or Respondent, whether you are the one who files or are the one who is served by your spouse.

Once the Summons and Petition have been filed, the opposing party (Respondent) must be served. He or she can be served by any person over the age of 18 who is not a party to the legal action. That's any adult except for you. Most people have a process server or the County Sheriff serve the opposing  party. the cost is usually about $25 to $50. Some people have a family member or friend serve the papers in order to save the fee, but this can lead to problems if the other side claims they never received the papers.

In addition to serving a filed copy of the Summons and Petition, and Declaration Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act if appropriate, you must also serve a blank form Response for the Respondent. Once this has been completed, the person who served the Respondent must complete a Proof of Personal Service to be filed with court.

 When filing any court papers, you should present the original and two copies to the Clerk, and they must be two-hole punched at the top. The Clerk will keep the original for court files, and return two endorsed copies to you. One is for your records, and the other is to serve on the opposing party. Once the opposing party has been served, he or she has 30 days within which to file their Response. 

So that's how a divorce or legal separation is started. The hard part comes later. You can also get help in filling out forms at the Self-Help Center. Every county has one, and they are valuable in explaining forms and procedures if you are representing yourself and don't understand. But if you are represented by counsel, then all of this will be taken care of by your attorney. In my next post I'll begin to explain disclosures and discovery.