Filing an uncontested divorce in Kings County

The Kings County courthouse in Hanford

The court's Location and Contact Information page lists a single address, Kings Superior Court, 1640 Kings County Drive, Hanford, CA 93230, with Departments 1 to 10 in the building, the main number (559) 582-1010 and the email address information@kings.courts.ca.gov. The court's Civil Division page lists the family law contact at the same Hanford address, and its Forms and Filings page gives (559) 582-1010, extension 6143, as the family law number for e-filing questions.

The location page posts the regular hours listed below and notes that the hours listed exclude holidays and court closures.

Local rule 111 sets the cutoff for the day's filing date: documents received, or deposited in the court's drop box, before 4:00 p.m. are filed with that day's date. The court's Court Holidays page lists the holidays on which it will be closed.

• Lobby: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Main telephone: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Traffic, Criminal and Civil division telephones: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Family law contact, as the Civil Division page lists it: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at 1640 Kings County Drive.

Who hears a Kings County divorce

Kings has a single courthouse, so every petition goes to the same Hanford address. Local rule 724 answers a different question, who decides the case: family law cases are routinely assigned to the family law commissioner for all purposes, including the power to make all rulings and decisions and to enter judgment in the case. The same rule requires the parties' stipulation to the commissioner hearing a matter assigned that way, and provides that the stipulation may be in writing, implied by conduct or entered on the record.

Chapter 7 of the local rules holds the other family law rules that touch an uncontested case. Rule 725, on parties without a lawyer, and rule 726, on entering judgment, are described further down.

Filing fees at the Kings County court

The court's Forms and Filings page links the Judicial Council's Statewide Fee Schedule page. The Civil Division page links a copy labeled State Fee Schedule, which is the Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2025. The court's linked January 1, 2025 schedule copy numbers the petition 96 and the response 97, at $435 apiece. The court's own Dissolution of Marriage, Step 1 of 3 sheet, revised August 7, 2026, states the petition fee at the same $435.

The Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026 is newer than the copy the Civil Division page links; it numbers the family law items differently and gives the Family Code section 2342.5 joint petition an item of its own. The court's linked copy and the current statewide schedule therefore differ. The figures below come from the Judicial Council's January 1, 2026 schedule, read on October 19, 2026. Its asterisk marks fees that, in the schedule's words, will vary in the counties of Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco; Kings is not one of them.

The items a Kings County divorce can meet, by their numbers in the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026:

• Item 97, the petition starting a case for dissolution, legal separation or nullity, or another first paper doing the same: $435, set by Government Code sections 70602.5, 70602.6 and 70670(b).
• Item 98, your spouse's response or other first appearance paper, form FL-130 among them: $435 (Government Code section 70670(d)).
• Item 99, a joint petition for dissolution or legal separation, summary dissolution excepted: $870, which the schedule says covers the appearance of both petitioners.
• Item 100, the joint petition for a summary dissolution: $435. This is the amount the court's own Summary Dissolution sheet, revised August 7, 2026, states for that joint petition.
• Item 103, an agreement or stipulation that a spouse in default signs and that goes into the judgment: no fee (Government Code section 70677(c)).
• Item 104, the appearance, stipulation and waiver on form FL-130 of a spouse serving in the armed forces: no fee (Government Code section 70673).

Counting the first-paper fees on each path

The court's bill depends on how many first papers are filed. An ordinary petition pays item 97 alone, $435, if your spouse never files a paper, a default is entered against your spouse, and your spouse then signs the agreement, which item 103 lets a defaulted spouse sign at no charge. A response from your spouse, or the FL-130 Appearance, Stipulations and Waivers, is a first paper too: item 98 adds $435, for $870 in all, and item 104 lets only a spouse in the armed forces file FL-130 free. Under Family Code sections 2400 to 2403, a summary dissolution is one joint petition signed by both of you, and it pays a single first-paper fee, $435, under item 100.

A joint petition for an ordinary divorce under Family Code section 2342.5 pays item 99, $870. Subdivision (h) of that section attaches both of the fees Government Code section 70670(b) and (d) set, and only a fee waiver held by each spouse lifts them. The joint petition does not save a court fee in Kings County; it pays both first-paper fees.

The office's own fee is separate from the court's and is paid to the office: an ordinary petition is $1,499, a joint petition $999, and a summary dissolution $599. That flat fee covers the drafting and review of every document by Law Offices of Rozsa Gyene, in a limited scope engagement under California Rules of Court, rule 5.425, together with written filing instructions for the Kings court, one revision round of the settlement agreement, and a first correction if the court sends a judgment packet back. Revisions beyond that round are quoted separately, and the quote comes before the work. The fee is earned in stages, with the unearned part refunded if the representation ends early.

The office's role stops at the documents and the instructions. It does not file them, serve your spouse, appear in court, provide a notary, or prepare or record deeds. It represents one spouse only. In the divorce your spouse is neither a client of the office nor advised by it, and is free to consult an attorney of their own choosing.

The fee waiver in Kings County

The court's Fee Waiver information sheet, revised August 13, 2026, lists the Judicial Council forms that make up a request: FW-001-INFO, which explains the waiver; FW-001, the Request to Waive Court Fees; and FW-003, the Order on Court Fee Waiver. The sheet states that the request itself carries no filing fee, and the Civil Division page links the state's fee waiver page.

Government Code sections 68630 to 68634 set the grounds, the same in every county: a public benefit the statute names, a household income no higher than the published limit, or fees that could be paid only by giving up the household's basic needs. FW-001-INFO walks through each. For a joint petition, section 2342.5(h) waives the second first-paper fee only where both spouses hold fee waivers.

If the petition goes in electronically, local rule 125.A.6 allows a fee waiver application to be submitted with the e-filing. The waiver touches only the court's fees, and the office's flat fee does not change because of it.

E-filing: required of lawyers, optional for you

Kings County made e-filing mandatory in family law on July 1, 2021, and its Online Case Filing page states the exception that matters here: self-represented parties are exempt from the mandatory electronic filing requirement under California Rules of Court, rule 2.253(b)(2), and the court encourages them to e-file voluntarily. Local rule 125 says the same twice, in subsection A.8 (unrepresented persons are exempt from mandatory electronic filing and service) and in subsection C.2. Paper or e-filing is your choice.

To e-file, you choose a provider from the court's list of approved electronic filing service providers on the Online Case Filing page, which includes 1 eFile, One Legal, InfoTrack and Journal Technologies; the court's dissolution sheets call the service E-file California. A Journal Technologies notice of June 20, 2024, linked by the court, sets a charge of $3.50 per filing for both mandatory and optional e-filings, and the provider's own fees are added. A spouse who responds electronically pays the first appearance fee with the court's Notice of First Appearance Fee form. Your filing instructions name the method for each paper.

The same page lists the family law filings the court does not accept electronically, and three of them are the papers that finish an uncontested divorce:

• Defaults
• Judgment
• Notice of Judgment
• Also listed: surrogacy filings and termination of parental rights, which have no part in an uncontested divorce.

The court's step sheets for a divorce

The court's Forms and Filings page links information sheets that name the Judicial Council forms for each stage, all revised August 7, 2026. The Civil Division page adds a short dissolution section, which states the waiting rule in its own words, "You must wait 6 months from the date the respondent was served with the divorce documents," then has the judgment paperwork submitted for a judge's signature, and sets out who qualifies for a summary dissolution.

Step 1 of 3 states the $435 fee for the petition. Step 2 of 3 carries no filing fee and singles out the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure, form FL-141, with the warning "The divorce will NOT be finalized until this form has been filed with the Court." That follows from Family Code section 2104, which requires each spouse to serve a preliminary declaration of disclosure. Step 3 of 3 lists the forms for the judgment, again with no filing fee.

The Summary Dissolution sheet covers the summary procedure for a couple who meets the limits of Family Code section 2400, and states the $435 fee for the joint petition for summary dissolution. The court's Self-Help Center page also points to LawHelp Interactive, whose guided questionnaires complete forms for several case types.

Chapter 7 of the Kings County local rules

The court's Local Rules page posts the rules effective July 1, 2026, and Chapter 7, Family Court Rules, runs from rule 700 to rule 744. Rule 706 sets a case management conference not more than one year after the initial petition is filed. The rules an uncontested divorce meets directly are listed below.

The appendix to the rules indexes the court's family law local forms, FL 1 to FL 6 and FL 303, and marks each of them Optional; FL 1, for example, is the At Issue Memorandum (Family Law), dated November 2016. Rule 122 governs mandatory local forms in general.

• Rule 723, Entry of Default: envelopes given to the clerk for mailing the default to the parties must carry the clerk's return address, not the filing party's.
• Rule 725, Parties Not Represented: a marital settlement agreement in which only one party has counsel should contain an acknowledgment of the right to independent counsel, and if an unrepresented party pays a fee for preparation of a document, the document must include the name of the preparer.
• Rule 726, Procedures for Entry of Judgment: proposed judgments that order child support must allocate health care and childcare costs, with set language for guideline waivers and child support agency cases. Minor children take a case outside the flat fee.
• Rule 728, Court Policies for Family Law, and rule 730, Duties of the Family Law Facilitator.

The judgment packet in Kings County

California Rules of Court, rule 5.405 makes the Judgment Checklist, form FL-182, the list of what a court may require with a proposed judgment, rule 5.411 covers a judgment on the spouses' stipulation, and under rule 5.415 the clerk's notice of entry of judgment goes out in envelopes that the spouses furnish. Family Code section 2336 and rule 5.409 let the court enter an uncontested judgment on declarations, without a hearing.

The court's Step 3 of 3 sheet lists the Kings County judgment papers: the Judgment Checklist (FL-182), the Request to Enter Default (FL-165), the default or uncontested declaration on form FL-170, the Appearance, Stipulations and Waivers (FL-130), the Stipulation and Waiver of Final Declaration of Disclosure (FL-144), the Judgment (FL-180), forms FL-343 and FL-345, and the Notice of Entry of Judgment (FL-190). Step 2 adds that FL-141 must already be on file.

The Online Case Filing page lists defaults, judgments and notices of judgment among the filings it does not accept, so the judgment packet does not go through e-filing. Local rule 126 provides that documents are submitted via the clerk's office or the court's electronic filing system, which leaves the clerk's office in Hanford for the packet. If the packet includes a request to enter default, rule 723 requires the envelopes for the clerk's mailing to carry the clerk's return address.

Telephone appearances through CourtCall

If a hearing is set, the court's Court Calls page offers telephonic appearance through CourtCall, at (888) 882-6878, with prior approval, and lists certain family law matters as available with judicial approval only. CourtCall charges its own fee. Local rule 305, Telephonic Appearances, puts the same condition in rule form: for a fee, any party may appear telephonically with prior approval of the assigned court, and rule 104(D) sets standards of conduct for a remote video appearance.

The office does not appear at a hearing in Kings County or elsewhere. Under Family Code section 2336 and rule 5.409, a judgment on your signed agreement may be entered on declarations, with no hearing.

The Self-Help Center, which is also the facilitator

The Self-Help Center is in the courthouse at 1640 Kings County Drive, Hanford. Its page gives the telephone as (559) 582-1010, option 8, and the email as kingsselfhelpcenter@kings.courts.ca.gov, and lists its hours as Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Staff help in person, walk-in or by appointment, by email, or by telephone. The court's Family Court Services page refers to "our Self-Help center also known as the Family Law Facilitator," and local rule 730 sets out the facilitator's duties, which include drafting stipulations.

The center's subjects include divorce, legal separation and annulment. Its page says the staff can assist with completion of legal forms but cannot offer legal advice, and it states that children are not permitted inside the Self-Help Center. For a divorce visit, the page asks you to bring a list of assets, with the current value of each and any amount still owed, a list of debts, and two months of pay stubs.

These matters put a case outside the flat fee: minor children or a pregnancy, a divorce not yet agreed between the two of you, a restraining order or a safety concern, a business or professional practice, a pension that needs a qualified domestic relations order, real property outside California, a legal separation or an annulment, a spouse who cannot be located, and spouses who are not both proficient in English. 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.

After the judgment in Kings County

The court's own wording of the wait, six months from the date the other spouse was served, is Family Code section 2339: marital status ends no earlier than six months after service of the petition or the other spouse's appearance, and form FL-107-INFO reckons the earliest end date as six months and one day. The judgment names the date the marriage ends under section 2340. No filing in Kings County shortens that period.

The judgment is the dissolution record under Government Code section 70674; a certified copy costs $15 under item 195 of the statewide schedule, and a public agency pays $10 under item 194. The court agrees in three places: local rule 129(E) sets $15.00 for a certified copy of a final judgment for dissolution of marriage, the Records page lists the section 70674 copy at $15.00 and the public agency copy at $10.00, and the court's Request for Record Search and Copies form lists a certified dissolution at $15.00. The Records page takes requests by mail or in person, with a self-addressed stamped envelope for a mailed request, and not electronically.

A deed that carries out the agreement's division of California real property comes after the judgment and is not part of it. The office does not prepare or record deeds, so a title company or another attorney handles the deed.

Each source below was read on October 19, 2026, and every Kings County fact on this page is drawn from one of them. Anything the court's pages did not confirm is not here.

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