Filing an uncontested divorce in Lake County

Lakeport and Clearlake: where family law is heard

The court's Locations and Contact Info page lists two locations, and each has a location page of its own. The Lakeport Courthouse page lists, under the case types handled at that location, probate, guardianship, family law, eminent domain, equity, real property and domestic violence, among others, and gives the telephone number (707) 263-2374 and the fax number (707) 262-1327. The Clearlake Branch page gives 7000-A South Center Drive, Clearlake, CA 95422, with the telephone number (707) 994-6598 and the fax number (707) 994-1625, and lists infraction traffic and non-traffic matters, small claims, limited civil unlawful detainers and Department of Child Support matters.

Read side by side, the two pages put a dissolution of marriage in Lakeport: family law appears in the Lakeport list, and the Clearlake list names only the child support matters brought by the Department of Child Support Services. No rule or page read on October 19, 2026 describes any other way the court divides family law cases between its two locations, so this page goes no further than the two lists. The Clearlake address matters to you for a different reason, which the self-help section below explains.

Both location pages give counter and telephone hours, and Local Rule 3.1 sets the clerk's office hours while saying that hours of operation are subject to change with prior notification to the public. Because the rule says so, this page does not print the hours; the Lakeport Courthouse location page is where to read them on the day you plan to go. The Courtrooms and Holidays page lists the days in 2026 on which the court is closed.

Two Lakeport addresses on the court's pages

The court's pages do not agree on where the clerk is in Lakeport. The Lakeport Courthouse location page and the Locations and Contact Info page give 675 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport, CA 95453. Several other pages give 255 N. Forbes Street, 4th Floor, Lakeport, CA 95453: the Remote Appearance Information page, the Zoom Meeting Information page, the COVID-19 Information page and the Public Records, Media and Research Requests page, which tells readers they may go to the clerk's office at that address. The Research and Copy Request form gives the same Forbes Street address for mailed requests and for picking up copies.

No court page read on October 19, 2026 says which of the two addresses is current. This page follows the location pages, which give 675 Lakeport Blvd., and it guesses at nothing beyond them. Before you carry papers to Lakeport or put anything in the mail, open the court's Lakeport Courthouse location page and read the address it shows that day. The written filing instructions name the courthouse and the method of filing, and the attorney reviews them before they are released to you.

Court fees: the schedule Lake posts and the one in force

The court's Forms and Filings page leads to the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2024. The court does not post the January 1, 2026 edition, which is the one in force, and the two editions number the family law fees differently: on the 2024 edition Lake posts, the petition is item 96 and the response item 97, where the 2026 schedule uses items 97 and 98. The Forms and Filings page also still lists an older statewide schedule dated January 1, 2022. This page reads its numbers from the 2026 schedule, read on October 19, 2026, and names that schedule each time.

In the 2026 schedule an asterisk flags the fees that differ by county, and its footnote attributes the variation in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco to a local surcharge. Lake is not one of the three, so the statewide amounts are the Lake amounts. The items an uncontested divorce in Lake County can meet:

• Item 97 of the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026, read on October 19, 2026: the petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation or nullity, $435, under Government Code sections 70670(b), 70602.5 and 70602.6. The spouse who opens an ordinary case pays it at filing.
• Item 98 of the same schedule: the response or other first paper filed in response to that petition, $435, under Government Code section 70670(d). It is owed only by a spouse who files a response or another first paper.
• Item 99 of the same schedule: a joint petition for dissolution or legal separation, other than a summary dissolution, $870, a fee the schedule says covers the appearance of both petitioners.
• Item 100 of the same schedule: $435 for the joint petition that opens a summary dissolution.
• Item 103 of the same schedule: a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment signed by a defaulted respondent, no fee, under Government Code section 70677(c).
• Item 104 of the same schedule: the appearance, stipulation and waiver of rights of a respondent who is a member of the armed forces (form FL-130), no fee, under Government Code section 70673.
• Items 194 and 195 of the same schedule: a certified copy of a marriage dissolution record, $10 when a public agency asks for it and $15 for any other applicant, under Government Code section 70674.

The joint petition pays both first-paper fees

Family Code section 2342.5, operative January 1, 2026, lets spouses who agree file a single Joint Petition (form FL-700). Subdivision (h) of that section says the joint petition is filed with both first-paper fees under Government Code section 70670(b) and (d), unless both spouses have fee waivers, and item 99 of the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026, read on October 19, 2026, prints the total as $870. The joint petition does not save a court fee in Lake County; it pays both first-paper fees.

This page takes the joint petition's fee from the statute and the 2026 edition of the schedule, and from nothing else. Item 99 adds that if either spouse later revokes the joint petition, no additional first appearance fees are required from either of you.

First-paper fees on each path in Lake County

Counted path by path under the 2026 schedule: a summary dissolution under Family Code sections 2400 to 2403 pays one first-paper fee, $435. An ordinary petition in which your spouse files no response, a default is entered, and your spouse signs the settlement agreement pays item 97 once, $435, because item 103 charges no fee for an agreement signed by a defaulted respondent. An ordinary petition that your spouse answers with a response or with form FL-130 pays items 97 and 98, $870 between you, unless the spouse filing the FL-130 is serving in the armed forces, the one case item 104 relieves of the fee. A joint petition pays item 99, $870. If you e-file, the provider you choose may add a fee of its own, described in the e-filing section.

The office's fee is a separate payment, made to Law Offices of Rozsa Gyene and not to the court, and it depends on the path, with $1,499 on an ordinary petition, $999 on a joint petition, $599 on a summary dissolution. For that flat fee the attorney prepares and reviews every document in a limited scope engagement under California Rules of Court, rule 5.425, and you receive written filing instructions for Lake County that the attorney reviews before they are released. The fee includes one revision round of the settlement agreement and the first correction of a judgment packet that the court returns; any further revision round is quoted before work on it begins. The fee is earned in stages, and whatever part is unearned is refunded if the representation ends early.

What the engagement leaves to you is written into it as well. The office does not file your papers, does not serve your spouse, does not appear in court, does not provide a notary and does not prepare or record deeds; you file the documents yourself, following the attorney's written instructions. The office represents one spouse only. The other spouse is not a client of this office in the divorce, receives no advice from it, and may consult an attorney of their own choosing.

Fee waivers in a Lake County divorce

The Lake court keeps no fee waiver page of its own for family law. Its Self-Help page links the Judicial Council's fee waiver guide instead. The waiver itself comes from Government Code sections 68630 to 68634 and is requested on the Request to Waive Court Fees (form FW-001), with the proposed order on form FW-003.

The court's eFiling page answers the question of how a waiver travels with an electronic filing: a petition may be e-filed with a fee waiver request, and form FW-001 and the proposed order, form FW-003, must be included in the same submission as separate documents. The same page says the providers' fees are waived for parties with a fee waiver or a government exemption.

On a joint petition, section 2342.5(h) leaves the first-paper fees in place unless both spouses have fee waivers, so a spouse who needs one files a request of their own. The FW-001 is prepared within the flat fee when you ask for it. A granted waiver reaches the court's fees only; the office's fee is unaffected by it.

Electronic filing under Local Rule Chapter 20

In Lake County e-filing is a choice for family law, not a requirement. Chapter 20 of the Local Rules covers electronic filing, and Rule 20.2, Permissive Electronic Filing, says all papers except those the rule specifically excludes may be filed electronically, listing all family law proceedings among the case types it covers. The court's eFiling page says the court accepts e-filed documents in adoption, civil, family law, probate and small claims matters, through an approved electronic filing service provider, at any hour of any day, and that you will still be able to file your documents in person.

The eFiling page lists the approved providers, among them Journal Technologies, whose public portal for the Lake court is at efsp-lakecourt-prod.ecourt.com. It says each provider may charge a convenience or transaction fee, and that those fees are waived for parties with a fee waiver or a government exemption.

Rule 20.8 lists the papers that may not be e-filed, and two of them belong to an uncontested divorce: the Family Law Request for Entry of Default and the Family Law Notice of Entry of Judgment. Those go to the clerk on paper even if every other paper in your case is filed electronically. Rule 20.7 adds a paper courtesy copy, delivered within 7 court days, for an e-filed petition, motion or special proceeding over 50 pages.

What you bring at each stage in Lake County

Opening the case. An ordinary case begins with the Petition (form FL-100) and the Summons (form FL-110), together with the fee or a fee waiver request. Spouses filing together use the Joint Petition (form FL-700); a summary dissolution is opened on form FL-800, the Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution, together with the couple's property settlement agreement. On paper, the papers go to the clerk at the Lakeport address the location page shows that day; electronically, they go through one of the providers the eFiling page lists.

Service and the first case review. On an ordinary petition your spouse is served, and the Proof of Service of Summons (form FL-115) is filed. Under Local Rule 5.8 that filing, with items 1 and 2 of local form LK-100, the Family Law Case Status Report, is what spares you an appearance at the first case review conference, as the section on Local Rule 5.8 explains. Family Code section 2104 requires each spouse to serve a preliminary declaration of disclosure: the Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-140) with the Income and Expense Declaration (form FL-150) and the Schedule of Assets and Debts (form FL-142) are served, not filed, and the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-141) is what the clerk receives.

The judgment. The packet described below includes the original and the copy of the proposed judgment that Local Rule 3.3 asks for, the Judgment Checklist (form FL-182) that California Rules of Court, rule 5.405 sets out, and the envelopes for the Notice of Entry of Judgment that rule 5.415 requires. The Request to Enter Default, where your case uses one, and the Notice of Entry of Judgment are filed on paper under Rule 20.8.

The Local Rules and the LK forms

The court's Local Rules carry the effective date January 1, 2026 on their cover. Family law is Chapter 5: Rule 5.1 on compliance with the civil law and motion rules, 5.2 on child, spousal and partner support, 5.3 on the Family Law Facilitator, 5.4 on mediation, 5.5 on evaluations under Family Code section 3110, 5.6 on mediator selection and complaints, 5.7 on mediation outside child custody matters, 5.8 on the Family Centered Case Review Program, 5.9 on requests for emergency family law orders, and 5.10 on appointing counsel for a child. Outside Chapter 5, the rules an uncontested divorce meets are Rule 3.1 on clerk's office hours, Rule 3.3 on proposed judgments in uncontested matters, Chapter 16 on teleconferenced hearings and Chapter 20 on electronic filing.

The rules list the court's local forms and mark each one; the family law forms among them include these. LK-100, Family Law Case Status Report, is marked Optional. LK-101, Mandatory Settlement Conference Statement (Family Law), is marked Mandatory and belongs to contested cases that reach a mandatory settlement conference. LK-102, Witness List; LK-104, Declaration of Diligent Search and Request to Serve By Publication; LK-106, Order Dismissing Family Law Action; and LK-300, Order After Hearing (Family Law), are each marked Optional. The Forms and Filings page posts LK-100 under Family Law with the revision date January 1, 2012.

One point about LK-100 needs care. The forms list calls it Optional, yet Rule 5.8 names it, items 1 and 2 only, as one of the two papers whose filing makes an appearance at the first case review conference unnecessary. Both statements are the court's, and this page reports each as the court states it.

Case review conferences under Local Rule 5.8

Local Rule 5.8 creates the court's Family Centered Case Review Program, and in a dissolution it sets a case review conference at about 60 days. The rule says no appearance is necessary at that conference if a valid proof of service of the summons and local form LK-100, items 1 and 2 only, have been filed. The proof of service and the LK-100 are therefore papers to have on file before that first conference date.

The rule sets another case review conference at about 180 days. No appearance is needed at that one if either of two sets of papers has been filed: a Request to Enter Default (form FL-165) with the judgment forms, or a response (form FL-120, or FL-220) together with the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-141) and LK-100. The rule also describes a further case review conference about the judgment at about 260 to 360 days.

Rule 5.8 also says attendance at a calendared case review conference is required in person or by telephone unless the court specifies otherwise, and its chart excuses appearance only at the 60-day and 180-day conferences when the papers it names are on file. The office does not appear in court.

The judgment packet and Local Rule 3.3

Local Rule 3.3 covers proposed judgments in uncontested matters, and it names uncontested dissolutions and default judgments among them. It says an original and one copy of the proposed judgment, decree or order shall be presented to the clerk's office at least four court days before the calendared hearing, and that this copy is in addition to any copies you want returned to you endorsed. The rule adds that the clerk will not place the matter on calendar unless the original and the copy of the proposed judgment have been presented. Count your copies with that in mind: the original, the one copy the rule requires, and any endorsed copies you want back.

Statewide, California Rules of Court, rule 5.405 sets the contents of the packet on the Judgment Checklist (form FL-182); rule 5.411 governs a judgment entered on the spouses' written agreement; and rule 5.415 requires the stamped, addressed envelopes the clerk uses to mail the Notice of Entry of Judgment (form FL-190).

How the packet reaches the clerk follows from the rules already described. It may be handed in at the clerk's window in Lakeport, and the parts of it that Rule 20.8 does not exclude may be e-filed; the Request to Enter Default and the Notice of Entry of Judgment go on paper. Your filing instructions name the method when the packet is ready. If the court sends the packet back for a correction, the first correction is part of the flat fee.

Hearings by Zoom in Department 1

Section 2336 and rule 5.409 allow a judgment on a written agreement to be entered on declarations, and Local Rule 3.3 refers to a calendared hearing date for an uncontested dissolution; read any notice the court sends. The Courtrooms and Holidays page places the family law calendars in Department 1 of the Lakeport Division on Tuesdays: domestic violence at 8:15 a.m., family law and motion at 10:00 a.m., family law case management conferences at 1:15 p.m., and family law settlement conferences, in person, at 2:00 p.m.

The Remote Appearance Information page says calendars not marked in person are conducted by Zoom, that parties may appear in person or by Zoom, that video is not required, and that Local Rule 16 should be reviewed. For Department 1 that puts the family law and motion calendar and the case management conferences on Zoom, and the settlement conferences in the courtroom. The Zoom Meeting Information page gives Department 1's link, a dial-in number and a meeting ID. Local Rule 16.3 says notice of the intent to appear remotely may be given solely by oral notice at the time of the appearance at the hearing, and the pages read name no remote appearance form.

If a hearing notice ever arrives in your case, it and the Remote Appearance Information page are the two things to read. The office does not appear at hearings.

The Self-Help Center and Family Law Facilitator in Clearlake

The court's Self-Help Center and Family Law Facilitator's Office share the Clearlake Branch address, 7000-A South Center Drive, Clearlake, CA 95422, with the telephone number (707) 994-4612, the fax number (707) 995-2507 and the email address self.help@lake.courts.ca.gov. The Self-Help page and the Self-Help Center location page give the same weekly pattern: Monday and Wednesday are walk-in days, Tuesday and Thursday are by appointment only, and the office is closed on Friday.

The Self-Help page says the center's services are always free, that it serves anyone without a lawyer, and that it provides legal information and help filling out court forms rather than legal advice. Divorce, legal separation and annulment are among its subjects. It offers one-on-one appointments, computer appointments with LawHelp Interactive, packet appointments, standby review, and Zoom workshops, one of them on the declarations of disclosure in a divorce. The page links a LawHelp Interactive interview called Starting a Divorce and strongly recommends making an account and having the paperwork reviewed by the Self-Help Center before filing. Local Rule 5.3 authorizes the Family Law Facilitator to perform all the duties set out in Family Code section 10005.

The flat fee covers an uncontested divorce, and some matters are outside the flat fee: minor children or a pregnancy, a divorce that is not yet agreed, 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.

Summary dissolution in Lake County

Family Code sections 2400 to 2403 set out the summary dissolution, a separate statutory procedure open only to couples who meet every condition those sections list. Both spouses sign the Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution (form FL-800) together with their property settlement agreement, and when the waiting period has passed the judgment is requested on the Judicial Council's summary dissolution judgment form. Either spouse may revoke the petition before the judgment is entered, as section 2402 provides.

In Lake County the summary dissolution pays one first-paper fee, $435, item 100 of the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026, read on October 19, 2026. The figure comes from the 2026 schedule. The petition may be e-filed under Rule 20.2 or filed at the clerk's window. For the summary dissolution path the office charges its flat fee of $599.

After the judgment: the end date and the certified copy

Once the judgment is entered, the clerk mails the Notice of Entry of Judgment to each spouse in the envelopes from the packet. The judgment states the date the marriage ends (Family Code section 2340), and that date can be no earlier than six months after your spouse was served with the summons or first appeared in the case (section 2339). Form FL-107-INFO counts the earliest possible date as six months and one day. Nothing filed in the Lake court, and nothing in its Local Rules, shortens that period.

Government Code section 70674 defines the dissolution record as the judgment, and item 195 of the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026, read on October 19, 2026, sets a certified copy of it at $15 for any applicant other than a public agency, which pays $10 under item 194. The Lake court's Research and Copy Request form says certified copies cannot be faxed. The form gives 255 N. Forbes Street for mailed requests and pick up, which is one of the two Lakeport addresses discussed above; read the Lakeport Courthouse location page before you mail one.

If your agreement moves California real property from one spouse to the other, the change of title is recorded after the judgment. The office does not prepare or record deeds; that work belongs to a title company or another attorney.

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