File for Divorce in California, Without the Confusion.
Divorce can be complicated. Getting started doesn’t have to be. DocDraft helps you understand the California divorce process, prepare personalized legal documents, and take the next step toward your future—with attorney help available when you need it.
- AI-powered document preparation
- California-specific guidance
- Attorney help available
- saved on legal fees
- $100M+
- documents created
- 50,000+
- customers served
- 23,000+
- saved per matter
- $1,200
Your next chapter starts with a simpler process.
Whether you and your spouse agree on everything or you’re still working through the details, DocDraft helps you begin the divorce process with confidence.
Understand what comes next
Tell us about your marriage, your circumstances, and what you’re trying to accomplish. We’ll help you organize the information relevant to your divorce.
Prepare personalized divorce documents
Get help drafting divorce paperwork based on your situation and applicable California requirements.
Get attorney help when you need it
Some divorces involve complex financial questions, disagreements, or parenting arrangements. Additional legal guidance is available when professional assistance could make a difference.
What can DocDraft help you with?
Divorce Petitions
Get help preparing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (Form FL-100), the form generally used to begin a divorce case in California.
Uncontested Divorce
Prepare paperwork for situations where you and your spouse agree on the important terms of your divorce.
Divorce With Children
Organize information involving custody, parenting arrangements, child support, and other matters affecting your children.
Property & Debt Division
Work through important details about your property, finances, debts, and proposed division of marital assets.
Divorce Judgments & Agreements
Get help preparing proposed agreements and documents that set out the terms of your divorce.
Responding to Divorce Papers
Understand common next steps and get help preparing relevant documents if your spouse has already filed for divorce.
How DocDraft works
Tell us about your situation
Answer straightforward questions about your marriage, family, property, and what you’d like to accomplish.
Prepare your divorce documents
DocDraft helps you organize the details and create personalized paperwork based on your answers.
Take the next step with confidence
Review your documents, understand the process ahead, and access additional attorney assistance when needed.
- Tell me what happened.
- My spouse and I agree on how to divide our home and savings.
- Which California county is this in?
- Los Angeles County
- What would you like this document to do?
- An uncontested dissolution petition we can both review.
- Divorce Petition (FL-100) outlineFirst draft ready to review
Irreconcilable differences have led to the irremediable breakdown of the marriage, and the parties have agreed on how to divide their community property.
How does divorce work in California?
California calls divorce a dissolution of marriage, and it has specific rules governing when and where you can file, what paperwork you need, and how the process moves forward.
Understanding these requirements can make getting started much easier.
Meet the residency requirement
Generally, one spouse must have lived in California for 6 months and in the county where you file for 3 months. If you don't meet it yet, you can file for legal separation and change to a divorce later.
File a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage
A California divorce generally begins when one spouse files a Petition (Form FL-100) and a Summons (Form FL-110) with the Superior Court in the county where either spouse lives. Since 2026, spouses who agree can instead file a Joint Petition (Form FL-700) together.
Notify your spouse
When one spouse files, someone other than that spouse, at least 18 years old, generally must serve the other spouse, who then has 30 days to file a Response. A joint petition needs no service or Response.
Exchange financial disclosures
Each participating spouse must share a preliminary declaration of disclosure listing their income, property, and debts, even when the spouses agree on everything.
Address the terms of your divorce
You'll need to work through issues such as dividing community property and debts, and potentially child custody, visitation, child support, or spousal support.
Finalize your divorce
California is a no-fault state. A judgment can be entered once the terms are settled or decided, but the marriage can't end until at least 6 months after your spouse was served or first appeared in the case, or after a joint petition was filed.
DocDraft can help you prepare relevant documents and understand the process, while court filings and judicial approval remain separate steps.
More than just California divorce forms.
Generic forms leave you to figure out what information to include and how everything fits together.
DocDraft offers a more personalized approach.
Guided by your situation
Instead of starting with a blank form, answer simple questions about your marriage and your goals.
Documents tailored to your circumstances
Prepare divorce paperwork that reflects the information you provide and applicable California requirements.
Understand your next steps
Get help navigating the documents and decisions involved in moving your divorce forward.
Attorney assistance when it matters
Access professional legal support for matters that require additional guidance.
Do you need an attorney for a California divorce?
Not every divorce requires full-service legal representation.
If you and your spouse agree on the major issues, you may be able to handle much of the paperwork and process yourselves.
Some situations benefit significantly from an attorney, including:
- Disagreements about community property, debts, or spousal support.
- Contested child custody or visitation.
- Complex assets, businesses, or retirement accounts.
- Concerns about domestic violence, coercion, or financial control.
- Uncertainty about your legal rights or obligations.
DocDraft helps you get started and make progress. When additional legal assistance is appropriate, attorney-support options can help you explore your next steps.
Bring your draft. Ask your questions.
Some questions call for more than paperwork. Explore document review and consultation options with a licensed attorney.
12. Security deposit. Landlord will refund the deposit, less deductions for damage beyond normal wear and tear1, or an itemized statement of deductions with any remaining balance, within 21 days after Tenant vacates.
Does carpet wear from two years of normal living count as damage?
18. Default. If rent is late, Landlord may serve Tenant a written notice to pay rent or quit within three days2, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or judicial holidays; if Tenant does not pay in full within that time, Landlord may file an unlawful detainer action.
If I get the notice on a Thursday, which day is my last day to pay?
Your questions, answered
Take the first step toward your next chapter.
You don’t have to figure out the entire divorce process today. Start by telling DocDraft about your situation. We’ll help you organize the details, prepare relevant documents, and understand what comes next.
- Personalized legal documents
- Clear next steps
- Attorney help when you need it
