What Papers Does The Court Require in a Divorce or Family Law Case?
Every divorce starts with a Petition. The Petition ‘package’ is a set of papers that lists your address, the date of your marriage, the names and dates of birth of your children, an extremely basic outline of your property and whether or not you’d like spousal support, among other things. The Petition can be amended later if you change your mind about any of these items. Do We Need to Agree Before Filing the Divorce Petition? It isn’t necessary to reach an agreement before the Petition is filed. Many people file the Petition before even starting mediation because California has a mandatory 6 month waiting period to finalize a divorce–which leaves plenty of time to negotiate an agreement. Because the Petition contains just basic information, which can be amended later, in mediation the Petition’s purpose is to simply open your file with the Court and to get the waiting period started. Does it Make a Difference Who Files the Divorce Petition? It doesn’t make much difference who files th
