The California Divorce Process: A Step-By-Step Legal Road Map

The legal process is often confusing. You are most likely wondering, “What happens now that I have hired my attorney?” Feel free to call our Livermore or Redondo Beach offices at 925-344-3524 or 310-868-6906 to arrange a consultation and discuss the process in person, or review the information below.

Whether your case involves complex asset division resolved through private mediation or a dispute you need to assert your rights in court, understanding the timeline ahead can help you stay in control of your financial and personal future.

1. Petition Filing And Immediate Financial Disclosures

This stage establishes the legal timeline for your case and puts a freeze on marital assets while the process moves forward.

• Initiating the case: Our team prepares and files your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, or your response if your spouse filed first, along with the standard automatic temporary restraining orders (ATROs) that prevent either party from liquidating assets or changing insurance policies without agreement.
• Preliminary financial disclosures (PFDs): Both parties complete mandatory disclosures detailing assets, income, liabilities and any separate property claims.

These early filings set the ground rules for everything that follows in your case.

2. Immediate Concerns And Temporary Orders

This stage focuses on securing short-term stability around custody and financial support while the larger case is still pending.

• Immediate priority issues: Your attorney addresses temporary spousal or child support, exclusive use of the family residence, and temporary parenting schedules.
• Private dispute resolution options: For clients seeking full privacy, including high net worth individuals and business owners, we can explore appointing a private judge or entering confidential mediation to keep your case off the public court docket.

These arrangements are temporary by design, and they can be revisited later if your circumstances change.

3. Valuation, Forensic Tracing And Four-Way Negotiations

This stage focuses on uncovering the true value of marital property, which becomes especially important in complex estates.

• High-asset discovery: In complex cases, our team coordinates with forensic accountants to value businesses using the Pereira and Van Camp standards, trace separate property contributions under Family Code 2640, and calculate stock option and restricted stock unit vesting under the Hug and Nelson rules.
• Four-way settlement conferences: Informal sessions where both parties and their attorneys meet to work through financial and custody disputes outside the courtroom.

The goal at this stage is to get an accurate picture of what’s actually being divided before anyone negotiates over it.

4. Hearings, Trials And Final Resolution

This stage brings the case to a close and finalizes your marital settlement agreement (MSA).

• Hearings: 20-minute court appearances used to resolve narrow, specific disputes before a final judgment.
• Trials (long-cause litigation): If settlement negotiations fail, the remaining disputes go to trial, where a judge or private referee issues a final, binding decision.
• MSA: All resolved terms, including permanent support, custody arrangements and property division, are drafted into a binding MSA that becomes part of your final judgment.

However your case gets there, this is the stage where the outstanding issues finally get resolved.

Choosing Your Resolution Path

Depending on your situation, one of these three paths will usually fit your case better than the others:

Every case is different, and the right path often depends on how much conflict exists, how complex the estate is and how important privacy is to your family.

Three Things To Remember On The Day Of Court

A few practical reminders can help your day in court go smoothly:

• ALWAYS plan on getting to court early.
• ALWAYS dress appropriately for court.
• NEVER bring people who will act inappropriately or whose mere presence may cause problems for the opposing party.

Keeping these in mind can help you walk into court feeling prepared rather than rushed.

Understanding Hearings Versus Trials

Hearings are held whenever there are specific issues that need to be resolved. A hearing is limited to 20 minutes in duration. Therefore, the issues raised must be narrowed down and specific in nature. Hearings are the most common method for resolving family law disputes pending the final dissolution.

Long cause hearings are scheduled when an issue is too complicated for the court to resolve in 20 minutes or less. Your attorney will discuss with you whether a long cause hearing will be necessary on a given issue in your case.

Trials generally occur only at the very end of your case to resolve all of the remaining issues upon which you and your spouse were unable to agree, such as the final division of your property and permanent support. It is important to note that, traditionally, less than 5% of all family law matters actually proceed to trial.

The Last Step: Marital Settlement Agreement Or Final Judgment

Your case reaches its conclusion once every outstanding issue has been resolved. If you and your spouse agree on custody arrangements (where applicable), financial support and how to divide your property, that agreement gets written up as an MSA or stipulated judgment, prepared by either attorney for both parties to sign, and then folded into your final judgment.

If some issues remain unresolved between you and your spouse, the court decides them at trial instead, and that ruling becomes your final judgment.

Either way, once your divorce is final, going back to change a permanent agreement generally requires showing a significant change in circumstances, most commonly around custody, visitation or child support, serious enough for the court to take another look. Temporary orders work differently and can be revisited any time circumstances shift.

You and your spouse can reach a final judgment as early as you’re both ready, but California requires a six-month waiting period before your marital status can actually be terminated. That period starts running from the date the responding party was formally served with the divorce petition, so you remain legally married until at least six months and one day after that. If you settle everything before that window closes, the court can still finalize your judgment, but your marital status won’t officially end until the first day the law allows it.

What If Your Case Must Go To Trial?

If you are unable to reach an agreement on all issues, your case will proceed to trial. Your attorney will appear at a status conference on your behalf. Your attorney may then schedule a settlement conference and trial if it does not appear that a settlement will be possible in your case without the assistance of the court.

• Status conference: Your attorney will appear at court without you to advise the court on the status of settlement discussions and/or schedule the settlement conference and trial dates.
• Settlement conference: You and your attorney appear at court with the other party and his or her attorney. The judge will discuss the remaining issues in dispute with the attorneys and assist them in reaching a final settlement on all matters. The judge generally does not hear directly from the parties at a settlement conference. Generally, the parties and counsel meet together in the hallway outside the courtroom or in a conference room at the court and attempt to resolve all issues at the settlement conference.
• Trial: You and your attorney appear at court, where the judge may once again encourage the parties to participate in settlement discussions. If you and your spouse are still unable to reach an agreement on all issues, the court will commence the trial. A trial can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Lay and/or expert witnesses may be called to testify. You and your spouse are both likely to testify and be subject to cross-examination.

At the conclusion of the trial, the court will decide each issue and render a final judgment.

Reaching A Settlement

The goal of the family law system is for both parties to reach an agreement, rather than leaving the decisions to a judge. No one knows the details of your life, your finances or your family better than you and your spouse do, and the law encourages you to work toward a resolution before asking the court to decide for you.

Settlement discussions can happen in several ways:

• By phone: Your attorney negotiates directly with your spouse’s attorney to try to reach an agreement without going to court.
• On the day of a hearing: If a hearing is scheduled, attorneys often continue negotiating in the hallway beforehand. If no agreement is reached, the 20-minute hearing proceeds and the judge decides the issue.
• Through child custody recommending counseling: Before a custody or visitation hearing, both parents meet with a counselor who helps them reach an agreement or, if that fails, makes a recommendation to the court.
• At a four-way meeting: Both parties and both attorneys meet informally at one of the law offices to work through the issues together.
• Through mediation: A neutral third party helps both sides resolve their disputes and avoid litigation altogether.

However you reach an agreement, it’s worth reviewing it with your attorney first, since a mediator cannot advocate for either side, and your attorney can help confirm the settlement is fair.

Ready To Talk Through Your Case?

Every divorce looks different, and the right path forward depends on your specific situation. If you have questions about where your case stands or what comes next, Family Law Group, Inc., is here to help.

Call our team of lawyers at 925-344-3524 (Livermore) or 310-868-6906 (Redondo Beach), or contact us online to arrange a consultation.