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What happens
when a divorce case is
filed in San Diego County?
First, you and/or your attorney complete, sign, copy and hand your
initial paperwork and the $320 filing fee to the clerk of the San
Diego County family court. Your case is then filed, and a Summons is
issued. Copies of this initial paperwork, and a few additional
documents, must then be
served on the other spouse. From the day the other spouse is served,
two time clocks began to run: First, the other spouse has 30 days to
respond by filing a response; and second, the six month waiting
period marking the earliest date the marriage can legally end starts
to run. (Note that the six month period starts running not on the
filing of the case, but on the service or process on the other
spouse.)
Several more documents will need to be filed with the court and
served on the other party. In uncontested cases, these documents can
all be served by mail. Which documents must be filed and served
varies somewhat from case to
case. Many people find the number and complexity of the documents
required, frankly, dizzying and confusing. They often hire an
attorney simply to get them through the paperwork part of the
process, whether they feel a need
to have an attorney speak for them at court or not.
Remember, however, that no further orders are made and no judgment
is entered in the case without someone asking the court to move the
case along.
In fact, the case can be dismissed if neither spouse takes action to
finish the case. In other words, a petitioner is not automatically
divorced six months after his or her spouse is served. No court
orders are automatically made at this point (where the initial
papers have been filed and served),
other than the standard mutual restraining orders that appear on the
back of the Summons.
If special orders are needed for child custody in San Diego County,
visitation, child support in San Diego County, domestic violence
restraining orders, or any other kind of a special order, someone
must properly present a request to the judge on that particular
issue.
Representing one's self in these court proceedings can be tedious,
stressful, fraught with risk, and in all cases, require the
self-represented party to deal directly with his or her spouse or
the opposing attorney.
Please call me toll free at 1-877-261-2217 for a free
consultation. I'll talk to you about your San
Diego divorce or other San Diego family law matter.
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