Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: When is it final?

Your divorce will not be final until there is a court order dissolving the marriage. To obtain an order disolving the marriage: First at least 6 months must elapse after the court obtains jurisdiction over the respondent, by service of the summons and petition or the first appearance; Second when an answer is filed the parties must either agree upon the terms of the order for custody, support, visitation, property division etc; or there must be a trial and a court order.

You should hire an attorney to get your case moving.

Re: When is it final?

If custody was the only issue to be decided between the spouses, the custody agreement would be the eventual judgment. All that remains is to go through the court's red tape. Once the court's judgment is entered, the divorce is final and all orders are effective immediately (unless a spouse finds evidence of fraud, perjury or mistake of law that would have affected the outcome of custody or property distribution). However, the marriage isn't dissolved until six months after notice was served on the non-petitioning spouse (in a summary dissolution) or six months after the petition was filed. All in all this process can take up to a year or more. Petitioners can take up to five years to complete the process if there is no hurry.

Re: When is it final?

Dear Inquirer:

Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client

relationship, unless a written retainer agreement

is executed by the attorney and client. This

communication contains general information only.

Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client

communication nor legal advice. There likely are

deadlines and time-limits associated with your

case; you should contact an attorney of your

choice for legal advice specific to your personal

situation, at once.

If you haven't already done so, please visit my

web site at --

http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR

http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com

The site contains quite a bit of general

information about California Family Law, Tenants'

Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, and EDD

hearings and appeals, as well as information

about me (education, experience, et cetera)

and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY

Set the matter for trial and negotiate against that

deadline. If you can't settle you will have to litigate.

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with

us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.

Re: When is it final?

You could separate the issue of dissolving the marriage, to make that issue final and you would be single in about a month. But, if only child custody was resolved, what happened to child support? You could be losing $100's of dollars a month. Get a consultation with a family law attorney, know what should happen with child support. The attorney may get a contribution from your husband toward your attorney's fees, by court order. Child support does not start until you file a motion to request the support. Every day could be costing you money. Visit a web site about child support, to you have some background information.