Filing an uncontested divorce in Kern County

Six family law locations in one court

Kern County has one superior court. Its Family Law division page, read on October 18, 2026, lists divorce, legal separation and nullity among the matters the division hears, and names six places where family law cases are filed and heard. Each has its own phone number, and the court's Locations page gives the public hours at the Metropolitan Division buildings in Bakersfield and at the Delano, Lamont, Mojave, Ridgecrest and Shafter branches as Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

• Metropolitan Division, Metro Justice Building: 1215 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301, (661) 610-6400.
• Delano (the venue form calls it the Delano/McFarland Branch): 1122 Jefferson Street, Delano, CA 93215, (661) 610-7300.
• Lamont (the Lamont/Arvin Branch): 12022 Main Street, Lamont, CA 93241, (661) 610-7100.
• Mojave (the Mojave Branch): 1773 State Highway 58 Business, Mojave, CA 93501, (661) 610-7400.
• Ridgecrest (the Ridgecrest Branch): 132 E. Coso Avenue, Ridgecrest, CA 93555, (661) 610-7450.
• Shafter (the Shafter/Wasco Branch): 325 Central Valley Highway, Shafter, CA 93263, (661) 610-7200.

Which location is yours: the zip code table

In Kern County the choice is made by a table, not by the person filing. Local Rule 1.7.4 of the court's Local Rules of Court, effective July 1, 2026, says venue for all cases is determined by zip code according to Appendix A, and Local Rule 1.7.5(g)(1) applies that to family law: the initial petition is filed in the division the Venue by Zip Code table assigns to the zip code of the spouse who files. Appendix A, titled Venue Information, carries two tables, one by city and one by zip code. Reading from the zip code table on October 18, 2026: Bakersfield 93301, 93304, 93305, 93306, 93307, 93309, 93311, 93312 and 93314 go to the Metropolitan Division; Arvin 93203 and Taft 93268 go to Lamont; Delano 93215 goes to Delano; Wasco 93280 goes to Shafter; Lake Isabella 93240 goes to Ridgecrest; Boron 93516 goes to Mojave. The table is longer than that, and the office reads your own zip code against it.

The court takes the table seriously. Its venue form, local form KRN SUP CRT FL-2427, states that the declaration is required when an individual files a new family law case other than a domestic violence case, lists the six locations as checkboxes, and warns that knowingly or purposefully filing a case in the improper venue is good cause for monetary sanctions. Standing Order STO-23-0010, filed November 2, 2023, confirms the arrangement for the Lamont court: from January 2, 2024, dissolution of marriage matters, defaults and the other family law matters the order lists are filed and heard at the Lamont Multi-Divisional court when the Venue by Zip Code table sends them there.

Once filed, a new family law case is assigned to one judicial officer for all purposes, and Local Rule 6.1(a) says the person filing receives a Notice of Case Assignment at filing, which must be served on the other spouse together with the documents that start the case. Because the county has more than one family law location, the office confirms the location with you before the petition is prepared, following the court's zip code table, and the petition and every later document name that location in the caption.

The court's fees, item by item

The court's Court Filing Fee and Fee Schedules page links to the Judicial Council of California's statewide fee schedules, and the figures below are from the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026, read on October 18, 2026. Its footnote says the fees marked with an asterisk vary only in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco because of a local surcharge; Kern County is not named in that footnote. The items that arise in an uncontested divorce:

• Item 97: a petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage, legal separation or nullity, $435 (Government Code sections 70670(b), 70602.5 and 70602.6). This is paid when the petition is filed.
• Item 98: a response or other first paper filed in response to the petition, $435 (Government Code section 70670(d)). Your spouse pays this only if they file a response or an appearance.
• Item 99: a joint petition for dissolution or legal separation, other than a summary dissolution, $870, which the schedule says covers both petitioners.
• Item 103: a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment signed by a spouse who has not responded and included in the dissolution judgment, no fee. The schedule's own note is that a defaulted respondent is not charged a first-paper fee under Government Code section 70670.

How many first-paper fees each path pays in Kern County

A summary dissolution pays one first-paper fee. An ordinary petition where your spouse signs the settlement agreement and files nothing pays one first-paper fee, item 97, and item 103 says the spouse who signs and files nothing pays none. An ordinary petition where your spouse files a response or an appearance pays items 97 and 98, one by each of you. A joint petition under Family Code section 2342.5, which took effect January 1, 2026, pays both first-paper fees: subdivision (h) of that section says a joint petition is filed with the fees under Government Code section 70670(b) and (d) unless both spouses have fee waivers, and the statewide schedule's item 99 prints the combined figure, $870 where each first-paper fee is $435. The joint petition changes who signs and how service works; it does not reduce what the court collects.

The office's fee is separate from the court's and is a flat fee paid to the office and earned in stages: $599 for a summary dissolution, $999 for a joint petition and $1,499 for an ordinary petition. The court's fee is paid by you to the court when you file. The court's fee schedule page says checks are made payable to Kern County Superior Court, and that papers presented for filing must comply with the California Rules of Court and the Local Rules, be legible and be two-hole punched.

If you cannot afford the fee

The court's Fee Waivers page, headed Can't Afford to Pay?, says to obtain the Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs from the clerk or from the California Courts website, fill it out, and submit it to Family Law or Probate. The court also publishes a Fee Waiver Packet, FEE-01, dated March 1, 2026, which contains the information sheet FW-001-INFO and the Request to Waive Court Fees (form FW-001). The request asks the court to waive its fees for a person who receives a listed public benefit, whose monthly household income is within the limit the Judicial Council publishes, or who cannot pay the fee and still meet the necessaries of life (Government Code section 68632), and under section 68634(c) the clerk files the petition without payment while the court decides the request.

Two Kern County details follow from a granted waiver. Local Rule 1.10(f) says a party who has received a fee waiver from the court is exempt from the fees and costs associated with electronic filing, so a waiver reaches the service provider's charge as well as the court's. And Family Code section 2342.5(h) makes the joint petition's double fee give way only when both spouses hold waivers; where one spouse qualifies and the other does not, both fees are due. The office prepares the request and the proposed order as part of the flat fee when you ask, and a waiver covers the court's fees and not the office's.

E-filing, paper, drop boxes and fax

The court's E-Filing page, read on October 18, 2026, says mandatory electronic filing applies to represented parties in all cases filed in limited and unlimited civil, including family law, probate, CEQA, civil writ and unlawful detainer cases, and that self-represented litigants are not required to e-file but are encouraged to participate. Local Rule 1.10, revised July 1, 2026, says the same thing in rule form: e-filing is mandatory for parties represented by counsel in family law and the other listed case types, self-represented litigants are not required to e-file but are encouraged to, and documents filed electronically go through an electronic filing service provider listed on the court's website. Standing Order STO-25-0008, filed September 25, 2025, adds that from October 6, 2025 the court no longer accepts paper filings from represented parties, whose documents go through the court's eCourt portal; the order speaks only of represented parties.

Because the office prepares your documents in a limited scope engagement under California Rules of Court, rule 5.425, and does not appear in your case, you file as a self-represented litigant, and e-filing is a choice rather than a requirement. The E-Filing page lists the family law filings not accepted electronically as appeals, abandonments, adoptions, terminations of parental rights and surrogacy actions; a dissolution is not on that list. Its specifications ask for PDF documents on 8.5 by 11 inch pages and set a limit of 50 megabytes per envelope. The same page says the only filings that may be submitted through the court's public portal are domestic violence and gun violence restraining orders, so a divorce is not filed that way.

The court's standing orders also describe two other routes. Standing Order STO-25-0007, written for the suspension of e-filing between August and October 2025, says a document placed in a court-authorized drop box by 4:00 p.m. on a court day is deemed filed that day and that this applies to all court-authorized drop boxes located at each Kern County Superior Court location. Local Rule 1.9 allows family law documents to be filed by fax only through a fax filing agency under rule 2.301 of the California Rules of Court. Your filing instructions from the office name the method for your location, and nothing on this page replaces them.

Whichever way you file, the clerk keeps the original and returns conformed copies stamped with the filing date and the case number. The court's fee schedule page says the clerk provides one conformed copy of any filed document and that copies are not returned by mail unless you supply a self-addressed stamped envelope; Local Rule 6.1.2(d) says the court endorses or conforms up to three copies of documents submitted for filing. Bring the copies your instructions list, and a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want copies returned by mail. On an ordinary petition the clerk also issues the summons. You enter the filing date and the case number in your portal, and the next set of documents is prepared from them.

The two local forms filed with the petition

Kern County's Local Court Forms page labels four family law forms mandatory, and two of them go in with the petition. The first is KRN SUP CRT FL-2427, Family Law Certificate of Assignment, Venue Declaration, adopted July 1, 2024. Local Rule 1.7.5(g)(1) requires it with the first pleading of the spouse who files, and Standing Order STO-24-0010, filed November 25, 2024, repeats the requirement in the court's own words: the first paper filed by the petitioning spouse in an action or proceeding must be accompanied by the Family Law Case Certificate of Assignment, Venue Declaration. It is the form on which you check the location the zip code table assigns.

The second is KRN SUP CRT FL-0122, Confidential-Party Identification and Notice of Related Case(s). Local Rule 6.11(d) says a completed copy must accompany every family law case-initiating pleading; it is filed with the court and is not served on the other spouse. The other two mandatory forms, FL-01 (Ex Parte Application for Telephonic Appearance) and FL-03 (Stipulation to Continue and Order Thereon), concern hearings and continuances and do not arise in an uncontested divorce on an agreement. The forms page lists no local dissolution, default or judgment form, and tells readers that a form not found there is probably a California state form, which is where the Judicial Council forms the office prepares come from. The office prepares both local forms with your petition set.

One more local rule is worth knowing because it is about who prepared your papers. Local Rule 6.1.1 says a self-represented party who retains a non-attorney third party, such as a typing service or a paralegal, to prepare pleadings must file a declaration giving the preparer's name, legal document assistant registration number, address, telephone number and the compensation paid. The rule is written for non-attorney preparers; your documents are prepared by an attorney in a limited scope engagement under rule 5.425, so rule 6.1.1 does not apply to them.

What you bring at each step

At the petition. The signed set the office released to you, with the copies your instruction sheet calls for: the Petition (form FL-100) and Summons (form FL-110), or form FL-700 with its summons, form FL-710, or form FL-800 for a summary dissolution with the property settlement agreement and form FL-825; the venue declaration (KRN SUP CRT FL-2427) and the confidential party identification form (KRN SUP CRT FL-0122); the fee waiver request if you are making one; and the court's fee. The clerk hands back your conformed copies and, under Local Rule 6.1(a), the Notice of Case Assignment.

At service, on an ordinary petition. The documents that start the case, the Notice of Case Assignment among them, are served on your spouse by a person other than you, and the office's instructions set out the methods the Code of Civil Procedure allows. Nothing is filed until the server signs the Proof of Service of Summons (form FL-115), or your spouse signs the Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt (form FL-117). Your preliminary declaration of disclosure under Family Code sections 2104 to 2107 is served, never filed; only the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-141) is filed with the court.

At the judgment. The packet the office's filing instructions list, following the court's own Dissolution Default Packet and the Judgment Checklist (form FL-182) that California Rules of Court, rule 5.405 fixes as the list a court may require, with the stamped envelopes rule 5.415 requires for the Notice of Entry of Judgment. The next section describes what the court's packet asks for.

The judgment packet in Kern County

The court publishes its Dissolution Default Packet, DISSO-01, dated July 1, 2026, on its Self-Help Court Form Packets page, and the packet's instruction sheet, revised July 15, 2024, describes the court's expectations. A default may be submitted once thirty days have passed since service, the proof of service is on file and no response has been filed. The filer completes, signs and dates the forms and submits originals and copies; the court reviews a default by declaration and may set a hearing, and the judgment is processed in the order received following judicial determination. A default hearing is required only in a nullity action.

The packet is firm about disclosures. Before a default, the spouse who filed must have exchanged the preliminary declaration of disclosure and filed form FL-141; where a marital settlement agreement is submitted, the packet says preliminary and final disclosures are required from both spouses, each filing FL-141, and that the final disclosure may be waived on the Stipulation and Waiver of Final Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-144). This matches Family Code section 2104; the judgment set on the agreement path includes each spouse's FL-141 and the FL-144.

The packet's copy of the Judgment Checklist (form FL-182) lists, for a default judgment: the Proof of Service of Summons (FL-115); the Request to Enter Default (FL-165) with a stamped envelope; the disclosure declaration (FL-141); the Declaration for Default or Uncontested Dissolution (FL-170); the Judgment (FL-180) with five copies; the Notice of Entry of Judgment (FL-190); and two stamped envelopes for the court to return the judgment. Rule 5.415 is where the envelopes come from: one addressed to each spouse, carrying the clerk's return address.

Three local rules touch the judgment. Local Rule 6.7(a)(2) says stipulated judgments, and judgments containing a marital settlement agreement, must carry the signatures of all parties and their attorneys, if any; the office's agreement and judgment are drafted for both spouses' signatures in the places the rule needs them, consistent with California Rules of Court, rule 5.411 on stipulated judgments. Local Rule 6.13 requires Judicial Council form FL-191, the Child Support Case Registry form, with any judgment containing an initial or modified child or family support order. Local Rule 6.7(b) applies when the court orders a party to prepare a judgment: it must be served on the other party for approval and filed within twenty days, and the court sets an order to show cause regarding entry of judgment. An uncontested judgment on declarations is submitted by you rather than ordered by the court, so that rule describes a situation the office's instructions are written to avoid.

The court's packet instructions say to submit originals and copies and say nothing about a drop box, a window or the mail by name. Your filing instructions state the method for your location, and the first correction of a judgment packet the court returns is included in the flat fee.

Appearing remotely, if a hearing is set

An uncontested divorce on an agreement is decided on paper, and Family Code section 2336 allows the judgment to be entered on your declaration without a hearing. If the court does set one, Kern County's remote appearance service is CourtCall. Local Rule 6.3.5(a) permits a party to appear through CourtCall, LLC in any family law proceeding other than an evidentiary hearing or trial without advance notice to the court or the other parties, adds that each judicial officer may require an in-person appearance, and states that the rule runs until January 1, 2027.

The court's Remote Hearings page lists its courtrooms by location, with the Metro Justice divisions A through L, the Metro departments 1 through 18, and the Delano, Lamont, Mojave, Ridgecrest and Shafter courtrooms, each with a CourtCall video link and an audio stream, and gives a phone line, (855) 268-7844, used with a courtroom passcode. The Remote Hearing Information page asks participants to join thirty minutes early, says family law exhibits are emailed to FamilyLawExhibits@kern.courts.ca.gov five court days before the hearing, and prohibits recording. Local Rule 1.1.1(f) gives self-represented parties with questions about in-person or remote proceedings an address to write to, WMAdmin@kern.courts.ca.gov. Where the court sets a hearing, your portal and the filing instructions say what it has asked for; the office does not appear.

The Self-Help Center and the Family Law Facilitator

The court's Self-Help Center is at 1215 Truxtun Avenue, first floor, Bakersfield, CA 93301, telephone (661) 610-6518. The court's Self Help page says the center helps with starting a divorce, legal separation or nullity, with custody, visitation and support orders, with finishing a case by default judgment or stipulated agreement, and with guardianship; the center's own page lists petitions for dissolution and default dissolution, legal separation and nullity among the matters it assists with, and says it is not a substitute for a lawyer. The court's pages differ from one another on the center's hours and on whether an appointment is needed.

The Family Law Facilitator's Office is at the same address, 1215 Truxtun Avenue, first floor. Its own page says help is given on a walk-in, first come, first served basis, publishes the email address WMFacil@kern.courts.ca.gov and no telephone number, and describes its work as serving self-represented parties in child and spousal support cases. It states plainly that facilitator staff will not review default documents and refers people preparing default documents to the Self-Help Center. The court's Book an Appointment page says the Facilitator's Office does not offer online appointments. Local Rule 6.12 says the Facilitator's services are available to all unrepresented parents and parties at the times the Facilitator sets, and that neither the Facilitator nor the staff may be called as a witness. Printed copies of the court's form packets are available at the Family Law Facilitator Information Window at 1215 Truxtun Avenue.

Those packets are a useful map of the court's expectations even for a person whose documents an attorney prepares. The Self-Help Court Form Packets page lists dissolution packets DISSO-01 through DISSO-12, among them DISSO-06 Summary Dissolution, DISSO-08 Dissolution of Marriage without Minors, DISSO-09 Response to Dissolution and DISSO-12 Joint Petition for Dissolution or Legal Separation. The documents the office prepares are written to be filed without the court's help; questions about them go to the office through your portal, and the court's staff answer what only the court can, such as what the clerk requires on the day.

Outside the flat fee, in Kern County as everywhere: a case with minor children, a contested case, a business, a pension that needs its own order, real property outside California, a legal separation or an annulment, and a spouse who cannot be found. The State Bar of California's Lawyer Referral Service directory, at calbar.ca.gov/Public/Need-Legal-Help/Lawyer-Referral-Service, lists the certified lawyer referral services for every county.

What the office does in a Kern County case, and what it leaves to you

Law Offices of Rozsa Gyene prepares and reviews every document in your divorce for a flat fee in a limited scope engagement under California Rules of Court, rule 5.425: the petition set with Kern County's two local forms, the disclosure forms, the settlement agreement, and the judgment packet. You file the documents yourself with written filing instructions for your Kern County location, reviewed by the attorney before release. The office does not file, does not serve, does not appear in court, does not provide a notary, and does not prepare or record deeds.

The office represents one spouse only. The other spouse is not a client of this office in the divorce, is not advised by it, and may consult an attorney of their own choosing. The flat fee includes one revision round of the settlement agreement and the first correction of a judgment packet the court returns; a further revision round is quoted before any work is done. The fee is earned in stages, and the unearned part is refunded if the representation ends early.

After the judgment, in this county

The entered Judgment and the Notice of Entry of Judgment (form FL-190) come back to each spouse by mail, in the envelopes supplied with the packet. The notice states the date your marriage ends. Under Family Code section 2339 that date is never earlier than six months after the day your spouse was served or appeared, and the Judicial Council's form FL-107-INFO puts the earliest possible date at six months and one day from that day; section 2340 requires the judgment to state the date. Filing in Kern County rather than elsewhere does not change the six months, and neither does the path you choose, and Family Code section 2403 sets the same six months for a summary dissolution, counted from the day the joint petition is filed.

The court's own Divorce and Separation page, read on October 18, 2026, states the residence rule in the same terms as Family Code section 2320: six months in California and three months in the county before the petition is filed. If you have lived in Kern County for three months and in California for six, the Kern court is the one with jurisdiction over your petition, and the zip code table above decides where in the county it is filed.

Kern County's court facts on this page were read from the court's own pages, local rules, standing orders and packets on October 18, 2026, and each source is listed below with that date. Where a court page could not be read, nothing from it appears here.

Rozsa Gyene, State Bar of California No. 208356, 3500 W. Olive Ave., Suite 300, Burbank, CA 91505.