Many people contemplating divorce in California may not be too sure that they want to divorce their spouses, nor do they understand what their legal options may be. California law actually allows for several options to dissolve a marriage or live separately from a spouse.
First, the parties may agree to separate. A legal separation means that the parties are still married - neither can marry or enter into a domestic partnership with another person. But the parties can live separately and ask a judge to order child support and spousal support, and decide other matters. Parties who do not meet California's residency requirement for divorce may still file for legal separation. If, at some point, the parties decide they would like to divorce, they can amend the legal separation petition to file for divorce. Some couples choose legal separation instead of divorce for religious or personal reasons.
Second, the parties can file for divorce. Under California law, you or your spouse must have lived in California for at least six months. One of you must have also lived in the county in which you file for divorce for at least three months before you can file for divorce. Even if you cannot meet the residency requirements for divorce, you can still file for legal separation in order to legally protect your assets.
In a marital dissolution in California, you will ask a court to dissolve the bonds of marriage and decide issues like child custody, spousal support, property division and other matters. Once a judge issues an order dissolving your marriage, you will be considered single and you can marry someone else or enter into a domestic partnership.
Finally, you may have grounds to seek an annulment of your marriage. If a judge annuls your marriage, it means that the marriage was never legally valid. Usually, a marriage is only annulled because of some condition that prevented one or both of the spouses from legally entering into the marriage, such as fraud or force. One spouse may have been too young to consent to the marriage, or one of the spouses may have been married to someone else at the time of the marriage. A few other circumstances exist in which a spouse could seek an annulment of the marriage, but annulments are not common.
Couples who have entered into a domestic partnership under California law must also file for legal separation, divorce or annulment.
