Legal Question in Family Law in California

I am a resident of California. In 2001 I filed for divorce. I successfully and without incident served the Respondent. Neither the Respondent nor myself appeared at the scheduled court date. Is my understanding that I will have to start this process again in order to be divorced? There are no assests to be settled of any kind. We do have a 16 year old daughter together that has always resided with me. If in fact I do have to do the process again is there any way in which I can expedite ?

Thanking you in advance for your time

Mrs. Jennifer Odell


Asked on 10/30/12, 1:15 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

You may not need to start over. Did you file proof of the service on the Respondent? If not, it has probably been dismissed, but if you did there is a good chance the case is still open, lying dormant all these years. You should go down to the Family Law Facilitator, or Family Law Self Help Office, or whatever they call it in your county (those are the two most common names) and ask them how to look up whether the case is still open, and if so how to proceed.

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Answered on 10/30/12, 1:19 pm
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

You need to find out if your case is still pending, or if it has been dismissed. If it has been dismissed, you will have to start over. Another issue that I see is your service. If you are a party to the dissolution proceeding, you cannot serve documents. That must be done by someone else who is over the age of 18 and not a party to the proceeding,

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Answered on 10/30/12, 6:35 pm


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