The six-month waiting period in a California divorce
The honest answer to "how long does a California divorce take" is: at least six months, by law. Here is what the law says, what starts the clock, and what you can do while it runs.
What the law says
Family Code section 2339 provides that no judgment of dissolution is final for the purpose of ending a marriage until six months have passed from the date the other spouse is served with the summons and petition or appears in the case, whichever comes first. On a joint petition, including a summary dissolution, both spouses appear when it is filed, so the period runs from the filing date.
What starts it
Filing the petition does not start the clock on the regular track. Service does, or your spouse's appearance if that comes first. That is why the office prepares the proof of service early and why the portal asks you to confirm the date of service: the clock appears on your portal from that day, six cells for six months, with the earliest date the marriage can end printed above it.
What happens during the six months
Everything else. Disclosures are exchanged, the settlement agreement is drafted, signed and notarized, and the judgment packet is submitted; the court can enter the judgment before the six months are up, with the marriage ending on the six-month date stated in the judgment. When the packet is accepted the first time, the day the period ends is the day you are done.
What no one can shorten
No service, no software, no attorney and no court shortens the six months. A site that promises a faster divorce is promising something the law does not allow. What can be shortened is everything around it: how quickly the papers are right, and how often they come back.
Rozsa Gyene, State Bar of California No. 208356, 3500 W. Olive Ave., Suite 300, Burbank, CA 91505.