Legal Question in Family Law in California

i would like to file for divorce. I now live in California, but am not a legal resident, as I am still a legal resident of Florida, where I have lived for the past 4 yrs.My husband is homeless and also now lives/roams in california...where do i legally need to file for divorce? CA or FL? and how hard will this be considering my husband has no residence


Asked on 1/10/10, 5:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

I'm not sure how you have determined that you are a legal resident of Florida. If you have lived in California for six months or more and are not a full time student, California considers you a legal resident of California, and it is likely Florida does too. And even if you are a full time student, California will exercise jurisdiction over your divorce if you have lived here six months or more. As for the issue of your husband's residence, it doesn't matter. The only problem his lack of a residence will have is finding him to serve him with the summons and petition for dissolution of marriage. If he is "couch surfing" or otherwise occupying a known location, that's one thing. If he's just on the road, though, you will have to jump through a number of hoops ending with serving him by publication.

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Answered on 1/15/10, 5:45 pm


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