Filing an uncontested divorce in San Bernardino County

One court, four family law courthouses

The Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, has one Family Law Division and Local Rule 1500 requires every dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership to be filed in it. The division sits at four courthouses, and the court's Where Can I File? page lists the cities and communities each accepts family law filings for. These are the four, with the communities the court names for each.

Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville and Big Bear have courthouses, but the court's filing page does not list family law among the case types they accept. Family law left Victorville in 2021: the court's High Desert Reorganization Project page records that Family Law moved from Victorville to the Barstow courthouse, with a reopening the court scheduled for July 12, 2021. A High Desert filer who last dealt with the Victorville courthouse now files in Barstow.

• San Bernardino District, Family Law Division, 351 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0245, in the Historic Courthouse. The court lists the valley, the mountain communities and the West End for it, among them San Bernardino, Colton, Fontana, Rialto, Bloomington, Grand Terrace, Highland, Loma Linda, Redlands, Yucaipa, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, Running Springs, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Alta Loma, Etiwanda and Upland.
• Barstow District, 235 East Mountain View Street, Barstow, CA 92311. The court lists the High Desert for it, among them Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, Hesperia, Victorville, Phelan, Wrightwood, Lucerne Valley, Big Bear City, Big Bear Lake, Baker, Boron, Daggett and Yermo.
• Joshua Tree District, 6527 White Feather Road, Joshua Tree, CA 92252. The court lists the Morongo Basin for it: Joshua Tree, Landers, Pioneertown, Twentynine Palms, and the unincorporated areas of Johnson Valley, Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley.
• Needles District, 1111 Bailey Avenue, Needles, CA 92363. The court lists the far east of the county for it: Needles, Earp, Essex, Parker Dam, Vidal Junction, Havasu Landing, Big River, Goffs, everything east of Kelbaker Road, and the unincorporated area of Nipton.

Which courthouse is yours

The court's Family Law Division page states the rule in one sentence: the correct courthouse depends on where either spouse lives. The court publishes no zip code table and no map for this; it publishes the city lists above, and a community that does not appear on them is a question for the clerk. Because either spouse's residence qualifies, a couple who live in different parts of the county, one in Ontario and one in Hesperia for example, may file at either spouse's courthouse under the court's rule.

Before any of this, Family Code section 2320 requires that one of you has lived in California for six months and in San Bernardino County for three months when the petition is filed, and the court's page repeats the same two periods. A joint petition under section 2342.5 and a summary dissolution under sections 2400 to 2403 carry the same residence requirement as an ordinary petition.

The office asks in the intake where each of you lives, applies the court's lists, and confirms the courthouse with you before the petition is prepared. Local Rule 1517(b) then does the rest: new cases are assigned to a judicial officer for all purposes.

Hours, phones, drop boxes and appointments at each courthouse

All four courthouses are open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The details below are from each courthouse's own page on the court's site. The San Bernardino Family Law Division's mailing address carries the division's own ZIP+4, 92415-0245; the court publishes a street address but no separate ZIP+4 for the other three.

The court's appointment service lets a person book a time to file family law documents at the clerk's office at Barstow, Joshua Tree and Needles, and the court limits appointments to two per day per person. At San Bernardino the appointment service covers copies and file viewing, and filing is at the window or through the drop box.

• San Bernardino: Family Law Division (909) 521-3136. A drop box at the main entrance on Arrowhead Avenue; any document deposited in it before 4:00 p.m. is received the same day. Mail goes to the Family Law clerk at 351 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0245.
• Barstow: family law (760) 245-6215. A drop box at the front entrance on Mountain View takes properly completed documents, program completions and, in the page's words, fine payments by check or money order only, no cash. Filing appointments are booked through the court's appointment page.
• Joshua Tree: (760) 974-3047, email JoshuaTree@sb-court.org. A drop box at the front entrance; filing appointments through the court's appointment page.
• Needles: (760) 269-4962, email Needles@sb-court.org. Filing appointments through the court's appointment page.

The court's fees, item by item

The fee schedule the San Bernardino court posts is the Judicial Council's Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026; the court's PDF and the Judicial Council's are the same document. The items that arise in an uncontested divorce, read on October 18, 2026, are listed below.

Several of these items carry an asterisk. The schedule's footnote explains that fees marked with an asterisk vary in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco because of a local surcharge for courthouse construction, and its appendix gives the San Bernardino figures: a $35 local courthouse construction surcharge under Government Code section 70624, applied to every first paper, with the distribution to the State Court Facilities Construction Fund reduced to zero in return, so that the total fee with the surcharge and the offset is $435. The surcharge changes where the money goes, not what you pay.

• Item 97: a petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation or nullity (Government Code sections 70670(b), 70602.5 and 70602.6), $435 as of October 18, 2026. You pay this when you file an ordinary petition.
• Item 98: a response or other first paper filed in response to a petition for dissolution (section 70670(d)), $435. Your spouse pays this only if they file a response.
• Item 99: a joint petition for dissolution or legal separation, except a summary dissolution, $870. The schedule says this fee covers the appearance of both petitioners.
• Item 100: a joint petition for summary dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, $435.
• Item 103: a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment signed by a defaulted respondent and included in a judgment of dissolution, no fee. A spouse who signs the agreement and files nothing is not charged.
• Item 64: a request for entry of default or default judgment (section 70617(b)(8)), no fee.

How many first-paper fees each path pays here

Three paths lead to a judgment of dissolution, and the court charges them differently. A summary dissolution pays item 100 once, $435. An ordinary petition where your spouse signs the settlement agreement and never files a response pays item 97 once, $435, and item 103 adds nothing for the agreement. An ordinary petition where your spouse files a response pays items 97 and 98, $870 between the two of you. A joint petition under Family Code section 2342.5 pays item 99, $870, because subdivision (h) of that section provides that the joint petition is filed with both first-paper fees under Government Code section 70670(b) and (d) unless both spouses hold fee waivers. The joint petition does not save a court fee in this county or any other; what it changes is that both of you sign the petition and neither serves the other.

Government Code section 70670 sets the base fee for each first paper in a dissolution and the schedule adds the amounts the other sections provide; the total the schedule prints is what the clerk collects. The office's own fee is separate from all of it: $599 for a summary dissolution, $999 for a joint petition, $1,499 for an ordinary petition, each a flat fee paid to the office in a limited scope engagement under California Rules of Court, rule 5.425. The court's fee is paid by you to the court when you file. The office's fee is earned in stages, and the part not yet earned is refunded if the representation ends early.

If you cannot afford the fee

The San Bernardino court has no page of its own about fee waivers. Its Family Law Division page says there is a fee to file paperwork, that you may qualify for a fee waiver if you meet certain requirements, and that the fee schedule has the details; the court also posts the Order on Court Fee Waiver (form FW-003) as a PDF. The substance is statewide. Under Government Code sections 68630 to 68634 a person who receives a listed public benefit, whose household income is at or below the Judicial Council's published limit, or who cannot pay the fee and still meet the household's basic needs asks on the Request to Waive Court Fees (form FW-001), and the Judicial Council's self-help guide lists the same three grounds and confirms that a waiver in a divorce case covers the fee for filing and for responding to divorce papers. The clerk files the petition without payment while the court decides.

If you e-file in this county, the court's e-filing FAQ says a fee waiver application can be e-filed, and that the FW-001 and the FW-003 must be submitted concurrently with the document that carries the fee. On paper, the two forms go in with the petition at the window or in the drop box. The office prepares both forms within the flat fee when you ask for them. A waiver reaches the court's fees only; the office's fee is not a court fee and no waiver applies to it. The page on the court fee waiver explains the grounds and the forms in full.

E-filing in family law is voluntary here

The court's Family Law eFiling page says the Family Law Division is implementing voluntary electronic filing for attorneys and self-represented litigants, with a schedule that reads voluntary from February 26, 2024 and mandatory "TBD". Its FAQ answers the question whether e-filing is mandatory for all family law cases with "No, not at this time", and Local Rule 1810(B) exempts self-represented parties from any mandatory electronic filing and service while encouraging them to take part. Because the office prepares your documents and does not appear in your case, you file as a self-represented party, and you may e-file, file at the window, use the drop box, or mail the papers to the Family Law clerk in San Bernardino.

If you e-file, you do not file with the court directly. The requirements page says every e-filer must establish an account with an approved electronic filing service provider first, and the FAQ confirms that documents are not e-filed directly with the court. The court links to the provider list and names no provider; the providers charge their own fees. The older FileSubmit upload portal is gone: the court's How Can I File? page says FileSubmit is no longer available for civil, child support, family law, small claims or landlord-tenant cases.

The format rules on the requirements page: PDF, text-searchable, and when a Judicial Council fillable form is used its fields must be inactivated and no longer fillable before submission; a self-represented party is exempt from the rule that exhibits carry electronic bookmarks; 25 MB per document and 50 MB per submission. The FAQ and Local Rule 1830 say an e-filing received by the court at or before 11:59:59 p.m. is deemed filed that court day if it is accepted. A self-represented party who wants to receive documents electronically must affirmatively consent to electronic service, on form EFS-005-CV.

One limit matters for an uncontested divorce. The court's list of documents ineligible for e-filing in family law, revised September 11, 2026, includes all judgments (forms FL-180 and FL-250), the Notice of Entry of Judgment (form FL-190) and the Declaration for Default or Uncontested Matter (forms FL-170 and FL-230). The list makes two exceptions: the Judgment of Dissolution (form FL-825) filed with a Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution (form FL-800), and the FL-180 and FL-190 submitted concurrently with a Joint Petition (form FL-700). Every other judgment packet in this county is filed on paper.

What you bring at each step

The court's Access Court Forms page states its copy rule plainly: when filing, three copies are required, for the court, for your personal records and for the other party. The office's filing instructions for San Bernardino County follow it, and they name your courthouse, the route you chose, and what to ask the clerk for.

At the petition. The Petition (form FL-100) and Summons (form FL-110) for an ordinary petition; the Joint Petition (form FL-700) and its summons (form FL-710) for a joint petition; or the Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution (form FL-800) with the property settlement agreement and the Judgment of Dissolution (form FL-825) for a summary dissolution. Signed in ink where the instruction sheet marks, with the fee, or the FW-001 and FW-003 if you are asking for a waiver. The Barstow page speaks of fine payments in its drop box, by check or money order only, and does not address the filing fee.

At service, on an ordinary petition. The office does not serve. Someone over eighteen who is not you hands your spouse the stamped copies, or your spouse signs the Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt (form FL-117), and the Proof of Service of Summons (form FL-115) or the signed acknowledgment is filed. Your preliminary declaration of disclosure under Family Code section 2104 is served and never filed; only the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-141) is filed, once service is done.

At the judgment. The packet your filing instructions list for your path, on paper, with the stamped envelopes rule 5.415 requires, as the next section explains.

Local rules and local forms

The court's Local Rules of Court took effect July 1, 2026. Chapter 15, Family Law Rules, applies to every family law case and takes precedence over any other local rule in conflict (Rule 1501). Its rules concern the division's subject matter (Rule 1500), child custody recommending counseling and evaluations (Rules 1510 to 1512), counsel for minors (Rules 1513 and 1514), the priority of protective orders (Rule 1516), case management (Rule 1517), setting contested trials (Rule 1518), status conferences and mandatory settlement conferences (Rule 1519) and continuances (Rule 1521). Rules 1800 to 1860 govern electronic filing, by reference to Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6 and California Rules of Court, rules 2.250 and following.

The only local form a family law rule requires is the At-Issue Memorandum, San Bernardino Local Form No. SB 12389, which Rule 1518 uses to set contested issues for trial; an uncontested divorce never reaches it. The rules' list of local forms effective January 1, 2026 marks three family law forms mandatory: SB-9003 (a citation in a freedom from parental custody case), SB-12039 (Stipulation and Order on Request for Order) and SB-13546 (a confidential referral for a records report). None is part of an uncontested dissolution.

Three optional local forms touch the end of a case: SB-12030, Agreement for Judgment (with children); SB-12035, Agreement for Judgment (no children); and SB-15148, Request to Set Uncontested Matter, which has a box for a dissolution, a box recording the date a default was entered, and a note that it is filed with the clerk at least ten days before the date wanted. All three are optional on the court's list. The office's judgment packet uses the Judicial Council's forms and the settlement agreement the attorney drafts, which rule 5.411 allows the court to enter as a stipulated judgment, and your filing instructions tell you whether any optional local form is included for your path.

The judgment packet in this county

No San Bernardino rule or form adds anything to the judgment packet. California Rules of Court, rule 5.405 fixes the contents by the Judgment Checklist (form FL-182) and forbids a court from requiring anything beyond it; rule 5.415 requires the Notice of Entry of Judgment (form FL-190) with stamped envelopes addressed to each spouse and carrying the clerk's return address. Family Code section 2336 and rule 5.409 allow the court to enter the judgment on your written declaration, without a hearing, when nothing is contested.

The court's e-filing limits decide the route. Because judgments, the notice of entry and the default or uncontested declaration are ineligible for e-filing, an ordinary petition's packet goes in on paper: at the window or the drop box in San Bernardino, by mail to the Family Law clerk at 351 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0245, or by filing appointment at Barstow, Joshua Tree or Needles. The court publishes no judgment checklist of its own, no drop-off page and no processing time, so the office's instructions say only what the court says.

The court states the timing on its Family Law Division page: the minimum time to finalize a divorce is six months and one day after serving the other person or filing a response, and filing for divorce does not mean you are automatically divorced in six months; you must complete the process and have a judge sign the final judgment. That matches Family Code section 2339 and form FL-107-INFO, and nothing on this page or in the office's work shortens it. If the clerk returns the packet with a correction notice, the first correction is included in the flat fee.

Appearing remotely, if a hearing is ever set

An uncontested divorce on a signed agreement is decided on the papers. If the court sets a hearing anyway, the court's Remote Appearances page describes appearing by audio or by video through Zoom, with check-in fifteen minutes before the scheduled time. The posted family law Zoom list names the departments that host remote appearances: at the San Bernardino Historic Courthouse departments S43, S44, S46, S47, S48, S50, S52, S53, S54 and S55 for family law and S49 and S51 for child support; at Barstow departments B2 to B5 for family law and B1 for child support; at Joshua Tree department M4. The court's umbrella Remote Access page names Zoom, Teams and CourtCall as its platforms, and CourtCall by telephone appears on the list for the child support courtrooms.

Two conditions apply. The courtroom must be hosting remote appearances and must have been notified of your intention to appear remotely; for a hearing that is not evidentiary, notice of the intent to appear remotely is given at least two court days before. The court says that in some instances a Notice of Remote Appearance (form RA-010) may be required, and its list warns that each courtroom determines its own expectations and requirements. The office does not appear at hearings. If one is set, your portal tells you, and the office's instructions tell you what that department has posted.

The Self-Help Resource Center and the facilitator

The court calls its self-help office the Self-Help Resource Center. Its staff answer questions about court processes and procedures and review forms after you fill them out; they do not provide legal advice, no attorney-client relationship is created, services are for self-represented people only, they are free, and help is first come, first served. The court lists Family Law Facilitator services by day at the centers. The court publishes no facilitator name, telephone or email; the facilitator appears as scheduled hours within the Resource Center's own list. The locations and hours below are from the court's Resource Center Locations and Hours sheet revised April 22, 2026.

Away from a counter, the court's DASH form takes a self-help question online and gives legal information only, with divorce among the case types it covers; the sheet also lists automated telephone assistance at (909) 269-8826. The court's Guided Interactive Help page offers interviews that fill court forms, including a divorce petition interview and a default judgment interview, with a review by self-help staff in person afterward.

The documents the office prepares are written to be filed without that help; a question about them goes to the office through your portal, and the court's centers answer what only the court can, such as what a clerk requires on the day. A case outside the flat fee (one 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, or a spouse who cannot be found) ends the engagement as the engagement letter provides. The Lawyer Referral Service of the San Bernardino County Bar Association, at 909-888-6791, can refer you to a family law attorney.

• San Bernardino Historic Courthouse, ground floor, 351 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415: Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Family Law Facilitator services Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Fontana Courthouse, second floor, Room F9, 17780 Arrow Boulevard, Fontana, CA 92335: Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Family Law Facilitator services Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This is a self-help location only; family law filings from Fontana go to San Bernardino.
• Victorville Courthouse, 14455 Civic Drive, Suite 100, Victorville, CA 92392: Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Family Law Facilitator services Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A self-help location only; family law filings from Victorville go to Barstow.
• Barstow Courthouse, second floor, 235 East Mountain View Street, Barstow, CA 92311: Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Family Law Facilitator services Monday and Tuesday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Joshua Tree Courthouse, jury assembly room, 6527 White Feather Road, Joshua Tree, CA 92252: the second and fourth Fridays of the month, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Needles Courthouse, 1111 Bailey Avenue, Needles, CA 92363: the first Friday of the month, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Rancho Cucamonga and Big Bear: remote services only.

What the office does here, and what it leaves to you

Law Offices of Rozsa Gyene represents one spouse. The attorney prepares and reviews every document for a flat fee in a limited scope engagement under rule 5.425: the petition set for your path, the disclosure forms, the settlement agreement, the proof of service forms and the judgment packet, with written filing instructions for your San Bernardino County courthouse that the attorney reviews before they are released to you. One revision round of the settlement agreement is included, and so is the first correction of a judgment packet the court returns; a further revision round is quoted before any work is done.

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. You carry the papers to the window or the drop box, or e-file them, or mail them, as your instructions describe. Your 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 before signing anything.

After the judgment, in this county

The clerk mails the entered judgment and the Notice of Entry of Judgment (form FL-190) to each of you in the envelopes you supplied with the packet. The notice states the date the marriage ends, which Family Code section 2340 requires the judgment to carry and section 2339 fixes at no earlier than six months from the day your spouse was served or appeared. Agencies ask for that certified copy to change a former name restored in the judgment, as the Judicial Council's guide on what follows a divorce explains.

The office writes filing instructions only for a county whose court it has read from the court's own materials. San Bernardino County's were read on October 18, 2026, and each page relied on is listed below with that date; the court's older brochure on family law options, which still names Victorville as a family law location, was set aside in favor of the court's current pages.

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