Legal Question in Family Law in California
In order to register my California divorce in France (I was married in France), the French Consulate has asked me to provide:
1) Certified copy of final judgment of dissolution of marriage
2) Certificate of divorce absolute or certificate of non-appeal
I went to the court today and they said the first document could be provided but they did not know what the second document was and suggested instead that I get "an exemplified copy of the divorce decree".
Please let me know if document #2 can be obtained or not based on California Family Law?
Thanks,
Clare
2 Answers from Attorneys
It would appear that document number 2 concerns the finality of the judgment. In California, a judgment is not final until an appeal has been exhausted or the time to appeal has run. I'm not aware of any document issued by California courts regarding a certificate of finality, but you may want to talk to a knowledgeable court clerk (like the supervising clerk) to determine if they can annotate your certified judgment or issue some sort of statement of finality.
I agree with Mr. Roach that there is no document establishing the finality of a divorce judgement in California other than the judgment itself and the law governing deadlines for appeal. You could ask the clerk of the court of appeals to certify that as of the deadline for appeal no appeal had been filed, but I've never heard of such a thing. The only other thing I could suggest is if they would accept a formal attorney's opinion that the judgment is final and no longer appealable.