Legal Question in Family Law in California

If you have a judgment of separation and the time has run, you will have to file a new case. If you have applied for legal separation, but no judgment is entered, you can file a motion to convert the case to a dissolution of marriage. If you have no papers filed at all, you will be filing a petition for dissolution.

You want to file a motion to change the legal separation into a dissolution of marriage. It really depends on how long ago the legal separation took place. If too much time has gone by, you simply file for what is called a petition for dissolution in California.

If too much time has not passed since the separation, the motion to convert your existing separation into a dissolution of marriage is the easiest route.

Good luck!