Filing an uncontested divorce in Mendocino County

Ukiah or Fort Bragg: what Local Rule 1.6 decides

Local Rule 1.6, Case Initiation and Assignment, lets a family law proceeding be filed either in Ukiah or at the Ten Mile Branch, but it does not leave the choice to the filer's preference. In the rule's words, the physical address of the party filing the first paper in civil, family law, and probate matters determines whether a case is filed in the Ukiah courthouse or the Ten Mile branch. The filer's physical address must be included on the first paper, and the rule warns that a new case without it is rejected. Where the filer's address is outside Mendocino County, the rule turns to the responding spouse's address instead.

Where a case is filed and who hears it are two separate answers under the same rule. Local Rule 1.6 goes on to provide that all probate, civil, family law case filings, including domestic violence matters not described in (2)(a) above will be assigned to and heard by judges in the Ukiah courthouse, and the matters it excepts are coastal limited civil, domestic violence and civil harassment cases. A dissolution petition handed in at the Fort Bragg counter is therefore assigned to a judge sitting in Ukiah. Because Mendocino County has two family law clerk's offices, the office confirms the courthouse with you before the petition is prepared, following Local Rule 1.6.

The court's current location pages publish the clerk's hours. In Ukiah the public counter and the telephone line both run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the Family Law division page places the Family Court clerk in Room 107, open Monday through Friday except judicial holidays. At the Ten Mile Branch the counter and the telephone run from 8:30 a.m. to noon and again from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The cover sheets of the court's Packets F4 and F5, revised July 1, 2012, print different details: clerk's office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and (707) 964-3192 as the Fort Bragg number, which the current Ten Mile page lists for the ADA Access Coordinator while giving (707) 468-2003 for the civil, juvenile and family law clerk. The location pages and the 2012 cover sheets differ, and this page follows the location pages:

• Ukiah, Mendocino County Courthouse: 100 North State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482. Family Court clerk in Room 107. Counter and telephone 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Family Law Division (707) 468-2001; Self Help Center and Family Law Facilitator (707) 468-2020; Administration (707) 463-4664.
• Fort Bragg, Ten Mile Branch: 700 South Franklin Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437. Counter and telephone 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Civil, juvenile and family law clerk's office (707) 468-2003.

The court fee: a 2024 copy on the court site, the 2026 schedule in force

The Fee Schedule page of the Mendocino court posts the Statewide Civil Filing Fee Schedule and states that it became effective on January 1, 2024; the 2026 edition is not the one posted there. In that posted 2024 schedule, a petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation or nullity is item 96 at $435, and a response is item 97 at $435. The court's Forms Packets page states the same filing fee, $435, beside Packet F1 (the petition packet), Packet F2 (the response packet), Packet F5 where it is a first appearance, and Packet L1 (the summary dissolution packet).

This page cites the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026, read on October 19, 2026, which is the current statewide edition. It lists the petition at item 97, $435, under Government Code sections 70670(b), 70602.5 and 70602.6, and the response at item 98, $435. Item 99 is a joint petition for dissolution or legal separation, except a summary dissolution, at $870, and the schedule adds that this fee covers the appearance of both petitioners. Item 100 is a joint petition for summary dissolution at $435. Item 103 charges nothing for a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment signed by a defaulted respondent and included in a judgment of dissolution, and item 104 charges nothing for the appearance, stipulation and waiver of rights of a respondent who is a member of the armed forces, form FL-130.

An asterisk on the dissolution fees leads to a footnote naming the three counties whose fees vary because of a local surcharge: Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco. Mendocino is not one of those three, so the 2026 amounts are the Mendocino amounts. The 2026 items an uncontested divorce in this county can meet:

• Item 97, $435: the petition or other first paper for dissolution, legal separation or nullity, paid when an ordinary petition is filed in Ukiah or Fort Bragg.
• Item 98, $435: the response or other first paper filed in response, paid only if your spouse files one.
• Item 99, $870: a joint petition for dissolution or legal separation other than a summary dissolution, both first-paper fees together.
• Item 100, $435: the joint petition two spouses file together for a summary dissolution, a single first-paper fee.
• Item 103, no fee: a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment signed by a defaulted respondent and included in the judgment.
• Item 104, no fee: form FL-130, the appearance, stipulation and waiver of rights, when it is filed by a respondent serving in the armed forces.

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

Which path you take sets the court's bill. Under item 100, the summary dissolution procedure of Family Code sections 2400 to 2403 is charged a single first-paper fee, $435. An ordinary petition pays $435 when it is filed, and if your spouse signs the settlement agreement, files no response and has a default entered, that agreement goes into the judgment at no charge under item 103. If your spouse appears instead, by a response or by form FL-130, a second fee of $435 is paid with that first paper under item 98, $870 for the two of you; item 104 lifts that fee only for an FL-130 from a respondent in the armed forces. A joint petition under Family Code section 2342.5, available since January 1, 2026, is filed with both first-paper fees under Government Code section 70670(b) and (d), as subdivision (h) of that section requires unless both spouses have fee waivers, which is $870 at item 99. The joint petition does not save a court fee in Mendocino County; it pays both first-paper fees.

The office's own flat fee is paid to Law Offices of Rozsa Gyene and never to the clerk in Ukiah or Fort Bragg, and it depends on the path: $599 when the two of you qualify for a summary dissolution, $999 when you file a joint petition together, $1,499 when one of you files an ordinary petition. For it the attorney prepares and reviews every document in the case under a limited scope engagement, as California Rules of Court, rule 5.425 allows, and writes your filing instructions for Mendocino County, which the attorney reviews before they are released to you. The flat fee covers one revision round of the settlement agreement and the first correction of a judgment packet the clerk sends back; any further revision round is quoted before the work starts. The office earns its fee in stages; if the representation ends before every stage is reached, the unearned portion comes back to you.

The filing is yours to make, in Ukiah or Fort Bragg. The office files nothing with the court, does not serve your spouse, does not appear at any hearing, does not provide a notary, and does not prepare or record deeds. Only one spouse is represented by the office: your spouse is not its client in the divorce, receives no advice from it, and may consult an attorney of their own choosing.

Asking the Mendocino court to waive its fees

Mendocino has a local rule on fee waivers. Local Rule 1.9, Application for Waiver of Court Fees, states that applicants for a waiver of court fees must file a completed Judicial Council of California form FW-001 Request to Waive Court Fees along with a prepared FW-003, the order form, and it allows the clerks to grant an initial application that meets the standards. The court's Forms Packets page collects the papers as Packet M1, with the information sheet FW-001-INFO, the request FW-001 and the order FW-003, under the note that some litigants may qualify for a fee waiver. The Divorce and Legal Separation page makes the same point in plain terms: if you are low income or cannot afford the court filing fees, you can ask the court to waive your fees by asking for a fee waiver.

The statute behind the form is Government Code sections 68630 to 68634. Section 68632 grants a waiver to a person who receives one of the public benefits it lists, to a person whose household income is at or below the level printed on form FW-001, and to a person who cannot pay the fee without going short on the household's basic needs; one ground is enough. The waiver reaches the court's fees only, so it does not touch the office's flat fee, which is not a court fee.

On a joint petition the two spouses are both filers, and Family Code section 2342.5(h) keeps both first-paper fees in place unless each spouse holds a waiver. A spouse who needs one files a request in their own name.

E-filing, the drop boxes and the clerk counter

Electronic filing is a choice for you, not a requirement. The court's E-Filing page says that self-represented litigants are not required to e-file their documents, although e-filing is strongly encouraged, and Local Rule 1.8(a) lists all family law actions among the case types where e-filing is mandatory while stating that self-represented litigants are exempt from mandatory electronic filing requirements but are permitted and encouraged to electronically file documents if they choose. An e-filed document goes through an electronic filing service provider, and the E-Filing page points to the provider list at odysseyefileca.com. Providers may charge their own convenience or transaction fees, and Local Rule 1.8(a)(1) allows the court to add a technology fee for each e-filing transaction. The court's divorce page also describes Guide and File, a tool for preparing divorce forms, and lists among its features that it can allow you to file your forms online (e-file).

The E-Filing page and the Local Rules part ways on one point that matters at the end of a divorce. Under the heading of documents not accepted through e-filing in all actions, the E-Filing page lists requests for judgment and proposed judgments. The exclusion list in Local Rule 1.8, in the edition effective July 1, 2026, does not list them. The two differ, and this page follows the E-Filing page, so the judgment packet described below is delivered on paper.

Paper filing has two conveniences in this county. Local Rule 1.8(e) lets a self-represented family law filer in Ukiah place documents in a drop box on the main floor in lieu of standing in line: you time-stamp the back of the last page, attach any fee by check or money order, and receive conformed copies by mail only if you include a self-addressed envelope with enough postage. Local Rule 1.8(f) provides a drop box at the Ten Mile Branch for the lunch hour, when its counter closes from noon to 1:00 p.m. Under Local Rule 1.8(d) the clerk conforms three copies of any document at the time of filing.

Opening the case: Packet F1 and local form MFL-250

The court's Forms Packets page arranges the divorce forms in lettered packets: F1 for the petition, summons and proof of service where no children are involved, F2 for a response, F3 for the attachments a case with children needs, F4 for a default judgment with the disclosures, F5 for a judgment after a response or on a written agreement or stipulation, F6 for further judgment attachments, and L1 for a summary dissolution. A joint petition is filed on the Judicial Council's Joint Petition, form FL-700, and a summary dissolution starts with the Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution, form FL-800. Each opening paper carries the filer's physical address that Local Rule 1.6 requires.

Mendocino adds a local notice at the start of the case. Local Rule 4.2(a) provides that all new filings submitted pursuant to local rule 1.8 must include local form MFL-250, the Notice of Family Law Case Management Conference and Order to Show Cause re: Failure to Comply with Service Deadlines; for a petition filed on paper, the clerk prepares that notice. Under Rule 4.2(c) the notice must be served on the responding party with the summons and petition, and service is due within 60 days of filing. Rule 4.2(b) sets an order to show cause regarding proof of service for 65 to 70 days after filing; the proof the court looks for is the Proof of Service of Summons, form FL-115.

The same rule sets a second deadline. Local Rule 4.2(d) states that each party must file and serve local form MFL-251, the Family Law Case Status Report, at least five business days before the family law case management conference. The MFL-250 notice itself, in its February 2025 version, tells the parties to file a completed MFL-251 at least 15 days before the conference. The rule and the form differ; this page follows the form's 15 days, which is the earlier of the two dates.

After service of an ordinary petition comes disclosure. Family Code section 2104 requires each spouse to serve a preliminary declaration of disclosure, the Declaration of Disclosure, form FL-140, with an Income and Expense Declaration, form FL-150, and a Schedule of Assets and Debts, form FL-142, or a Property Declaration, form FL-160, and the court file receives the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure, form FL-141.

Local rules and local forms in Mendocino County

The edition in force is the Local Rules effective July 1, 2026. Chapter 4, the Family Court Rules, runs from Rule 4.1, Scope, through Rule 4.15, the Family Law Mediator Complaint Procedure. The rules in it that an uncontested dissolution can meet are Rule 4.2, Family Law Case Management, and Rule 4.7, Default or Uncontested Judgments. The others concern requests for orders (4.3), emergency orders (4.4), supervised visitation and custody (4.5 and 4.6), bifurcation (4.8), trials and settlement conferences (4.9 and 4.10), child support (4.11), electronic service (4.12) and complaints about the facilitator and the mediator (4.13 to 4.15).

Chapter 1 holds the general rules this page has already relied on: Rule 1.6 on case initiation and assignment, Rule 1.8 on filing documents and electronic filing, Rule 1.9 on fee waivers, and the remote appearance rules, 1.10 for persons with mobility issues, 1.11 on remote proceedings, and 1.13 on remote proceedings in civil and family law matters.

The court's Local Forms page lists three family forms: MFL-250, the Notice of Family Law Case Management Conference, revised February 1, 2025; MFL-251, the Family Law Case Status Report; and MFL-143, Request for Trial, Family Law, dated January 1, 2012. MFL-250 and MFL-251 are the two forms Local Rule 4.2 calls for in an ordinary case. MFL-143 is a trial request and has no place in a case resolved on a written agreement.

The judgment packet in Mendocino County

The statewide rules set the outer limits. California Rules of Court, rule 5.405 holds the court to the Judgment Checklist, form FL-182, and the forms it names; rule 5.411 covers a judgment entered on the spouses' written agreement; rule 5.415 requires stamped envelopes, addressed to each spouse, in which the clerk mails the Notice of Entry of Judgment, form FL-190; and under Family Code section 2336 and rule 5.409 the judgment can be entered on declarations without a hearing. Family Code section 2105 lets the spouses waive the final declaration of disclosure in writing.

Local Rule 4.7(a) lists what Mendocino requires to obtain a Judgment of Dissolution or Legal Separation by Declaration (non-appearance): the Declaration for Default or Uncontested Dissolution, form FL-170; the Income and Expense Declaration, form FL-150, when support is ordered, when there are minor children and support is not reserved, or when the marriage has lasted ten years or more, unless the parties have otherwise agreed in a marital settlement agreement or stipulation; the Request to Enter Default, form FL-165, or the Appearance, Stipulations and Waivers, form FL-130; the Judgment, form FL-180; and the Notice of Entry of Judgment, form FL-190. Rule 4.7(b) states that no default will be entered without filing Judicial Council form FL-115 Proof of Service of Summons with the court, and that no default is entered on an acknowledgment of receipt, form FL-117, signed by anyone other than the party or counsel. Rule 4.7(d) allows no division of property in a default without a written agreement or a completed Property Declaration, form FL-160, attached to the FL-165 and served.

The court's packet cover sheets give the counter instructions. Packet F4, for a case where your spouse has been served and has filed no response, and Packet F5, for a case with a response or a written agreement or stipulation, each ask for one original and two copies of every form. The F4 sheet asks for a postage-paid envelope addressed to the other spouse with the Request to Enter Default, and two postage-paid envelopes with the Notice of Entry of Judgment, one addressed to you and one to the other spouse. The court's Divorce flowchart, revision Disso-EN Rev. 2/2022, words it as a count, 3 empty envelopes with stamps, 1 addressed to you, 2 to spouse, and tells a filer to wait at least 30 days after serving the spouse. The F4 sheet and the flowchart are worded differently; this page follows the F4 cover sheet's form-by-form instructions.

The flowchart also lists, among the papers for a default judgment, Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA), notarized. Local Rule 4.7 lists the forms for a judgment by declaration and does not mention notarizing the agreement. The two differ, and this page follows the flowchart: where your spouse signs the agreement and files no response, expect that signature to be notarized. Finding and paying a notary is left to you and your spouse, because no notary is provided by the office.

A summary dissolution uses Packet L1. The Forms Packets page asks for an original and two copies, two prepaid envelopes, one addressed to yourself and one to the other party, and says the judgment and notice of entry should be submitted six months and one day from the date the joint petition is filed; the judgment form in that case is the Judgment of Summary Dissolution, form FL-825. Following the E-Filing page's exclusion of requests for judgment, this page treats every packet, on either path, as a paper filing. If the clerk returns the packet for a correction, the first correction is part of the flat fee.

Remote appearances by Zoom under Local Rule 1.13

If the court sets a hearing, its Remote Court Appearances page explains that the court holds remote sessions on Zoom, and that parties in a civil, family law, probate, or other non-criminal matter that wish to appear remotely must complete and file Judicial Council form RA-010, the Notice of Remote Appearance; the page also lists form RA-020, the Order Regarding Remote Appearance. The page links a separate document with the connection details for each courtroom.

Local Rule 1.13, Remote Proceedings in Civil and Family Law Matters, states that remote appearances are authorized in all civil proceedings pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75 except court trials and jury trials, on notice given with RA-010. For anyone on the coast without a dependable connection, the Remote Court Appearances page notes that the Ten Mile Branch has a room dedicated to appearances in remote court sessions being held in Ukiah.

The Self Help Center and the Family Law Facilitator

The court's Self Help Center is in the Ukiah courthouse at 100 North State Street, Room 304, Ukiah, CA 95482. Its page offers walk-in assistance at the Ukiah courthouse Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and drop-in assistance for Fort Bragg from the Ten Mile courthouse by Zoom on Mondays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Its telephone, (707) 468-2020, carries recorded information only. The page says the staff can tell you about your case, help you with the forms you need, and explain your legal options, and it lists divorce and legal separation among the subjects; the help is legal information about forms and options, not legal advice or representation. The page also points to online divorce workshops through SHARP; read the page itself for what is offered now.

The Ukiah location page lists the Self Help Center and the Family Law Facilitator together on one line, (707) 468-2020. Local Rules 4.13 and 4.14 set the procedures for a complaint about the facilitator and for a request to disqualify the facilitator, and they state that the Family Law Facilitator performs all duties permitted by the Family Law Facilitator Act, Family Code section 10000 and following.

Some divorces are outside the flat fee in Mendocino County as everywhere in California: one with minor children or a pregnancy, one not yet agreed, one with a restraining order or a safety concern, one involving a business or a 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, or 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 this county

The judgment states the date the marriage ends, as Family Code section 2340 requires, and that date can be no sooner than six months after your spouse was served or first appeared, under section 2339; the Judicial Council's form FL-107-INFO counts the earliest date as six months and one day. The court's Divorce and Legal Separation page puts it the same way: the soonest your divorce can be final is 6 months and one day from the earliest of these dates, and the dates it lists begin with the day your spouse was served with the summons and petition and the day your spouse filed a response. On the summary dissolution track, Family Code section 2403 counts the six months from the filing of the joint petition. No filing method, in Ukiah or on the coast, shortens the six months.

Government Code section 70674(b) defines the marriage dissolution record as the judgment, and item 195 of the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026 sets $15 for a certified copy requested by anyone other than a public agency, with item 194 setting $10 for a public agency; the court's posted January 1, 2024 schedule lists the same two charges at items 190 and 189. The court's Court Records Requests page asks that requests be made on its Research Request form, MMC-900, sent by mail to 100 North State Street, Room 108, Ukiah.

Residence is the first question before any of this: one of you needs six months in California and three in Mendocino County when the petition is filed (Family Code section 2320), and the court's divorce page sets out the same residency requirements. Because the office does not prepare or record deeds, any real property your agreement transfers is handled after the judgment by a title company or another attorney.

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