Legal Question in Family Law in California
In the state of California, when a petitioner has filed a petition and summons for marital dissolution, how long does the petitioner have to physically serve the respondent before the petitioner has to refile and repay filing fees? Or is there no time limit?
I know after being serve the respondent has 30 days to file a response with the the courts and the petitioner.
1 Answer from Attorneys
California civil cases are generally subject to what are called "fast track" rules. The fast track rules have general guidelines in the California rules of court, and in local rules that are county specific. By rule of court, fast track rules regarding the time limits of service (60 days in a regular civil case) do not apply to family law cases.
I'm not sure which county or courthouse your matter is filed in and each county has rules that differ somewhat. California has 58 counties and I am not going to differentiate them.
You should look carefully through any paperwork that you were given and then look to see if your county court has a website. You can read local rules on most county websites for that court, which will give you all the rules you need to know for your case, including time limits to serve papers.
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