Does anyone know how long will it take to finalize divorce in CA? The divorce will be joint petition for summary dissolution of marriage. After submit the application, you will go back to the court exactly 6 moths later. Then, how long will it take to get divorce decree from there? Thank you.

Are there children involved? Do you have an agreement as to how things will be split? When I got divorced we have an agreement about everything but what should have taken six months from filing to final took a year due to a court glitch.

Thank you for the reply. There is no children involoved. 1 year?! Your case doesn't even look complicated... 1 year is soo long. I thought it will take only 1 month or so after 6 months waiting.

You can get your divorce degree 6 months to the day it was filed at the clerks office. Example: If you filed for divorce on January 15th then you can get your divorce degree on the 15th of July. No earlier then that. As long as there is no dispute and both parties agree. If you have a case like mine where your soon to be ex wants to argue over money then you can do what I did and bifurcate the divorce. Meaning that they handle the dissolution of marriage seperate from the financial part. I filed for divorce in CA in March and she was still arguing about money in November. Since I wanted the divorce to start the K-1 process my attorney called hers and they agreed to bifurcate. My dissolution was completed two weeks later so I was legally a free man to marry again. Unfortunately we are still arguing over the finances. So, in a nutshell, you will be legally a single person 6 months from the date it was filed and as long as the attorney file on the 6 month date. You can get copies the same day it is ordered. Hope that helps and good luck. Ken

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation! We don't have any complication. Both of us have agreed how things are going to be divided. Just wonder why some poeple say their divorce took 1 year even if there was no complication? My friend also said to me that her divorce took 11 months even if she and her exhusband did not have any disagreement. Was it because she didn't use a attorney? Using attorney makes a difference for the waiting period? I asked a family attorney, but he told me I should do it by myself since my case is so easy and he just told me he would fill out the paper.

My California divorce took over a year. Partially because my wife was slow at filing all the necessary paperwork. But also because the California divorce laws are set up so that it is to the courts advantage to drag the process on as long as possible. They kept returning our papers, asking for a new signature (saying the one we submitted was a photocopy, it wasn't), then with the judge saying he wouldn't render final decision until we file with child services. We could have done that earlier if they'd just told us earlier they needed it. In the end we also filed to bifurcate, and we had our dissolution within a month. So what I'm saying is keep on top of the paperwork and the court, and yes an attorney will be able to make things move faster.

If you are looking to file a K-1 be absolutely certain that you are legally free to marry "At the time the petition was filed"! I can quote the Foreign Services Manual which is the "bible" of the Foreign Services Officer/Consular Officer if need be on this. It specifically states that if they find out you or your fiance(ee) were not (like not adhering to your laws in your state of residence) able to marry, they SHALL (meaning they have no choice) deny the Visa and return the petition back to the states. Guess what? you get to start all over and add the image of a denied K-1 to your new process.

I would imagine there have been a few that have slipped through this way, but from my perspective it was not worth it. It has been a long 5 months of waiting so far, I'll get to file next month.

Did you file for joint petition for summary dissolution of marriage? I heard that you will need to go back to the court after 6 month to submit FL-820. Then you will need to wait for them to return the form with their signature. I don`t know if this FL-820 will be the divorce decree? ?

A summary dissolution can only be filed if you are married less than 5 years and have no disagreements on the division of property. The 6 months is a waiting period for either party to contest any part of the agreement. If no such contest is made, the judge signs the divorce and you are mailed a copy. You don't have to file anything extra. Normally you will have your copy within 2 weeks of the 6 month mark, depending on how organized your county is.

Thank you very much for all the reply! I received many replies and also checked court's website. In my divorce case, I will have to go back to the court after 6 months. Then submit -820 document if out mind is not changed. After that they will send me the 820 with judge signature which will be my divorce decree. This process will take another 4 weeks or so.