Filing an uncontested divorce in San Luis Obispo County

One court, two branches that take family law filings

The court's Location and Contact Info page lists six locations, and one of them carries family law in its name: the Civil and Family Law Branch at 1050 Monterey Street, Room 220, San Luis Obispo. The Paso Robles Branch at 901 Park Street is the second place a family law case may be filed, because local rule 19.04, adopted effective July 1, 2026, states that family law cases may be filed at the San Luis Obispo or Paso Robles branches of the Superior Court. The Grover Beach Branch at 214 South 16th Street and the other locations on the page are not named in that rule, and this page does not send a divorce to any of them.

Every page on the court's site carries a notice that matters before you set out: the court says its counter and phone hours have changed because of budget cuts. The two location pages carry that notice, so this page prints no counter or telephone hours; read the branch's location page before you go.

• Civil and Family Law Branch, as its location page gives it: 1050 Monterey Street, Room 220, San Luis Obispo, CA 93408. Telephone (805) 706-3600. Counter and telephone hours are on the branch's location page, which carries the court's notice that its hours have changed.
• Paso Robles Branch, as its location page gives it: 901 Park Street, Paso Robles, CA 93446. Telephone (805) 706-3600. Counter and telephone hours are on the branch's location page, which carries the court's notice that its hours have changed.

The clerk's room: the court's documents give two addresses

The court's divorce pages tell a petitioner to take the completed originals and two copies to the Family Law Clerk's Office, and they give no room number. The court's own documents then differ on where that office is. Its location pages and its Uncontested Judgment packet, revised May 19, 2025, give 1050 Monterey Street, Room 220. Local Form FL013 gives the San Luis Obispo Branch as 1035 Palm Street, Room 385, San Luis Obispo, CA 93408; the court's petition packet, revised December 11, 2025, and its Default Judgment packet, revised March 14, 2023, give the same Palm Street room; local rule 2.03, amended effective July 1, 2023, lists the San Luis Obispo seat as the Courthouse Annex, 1035 Palm Street; and the Family division page sends parents to 1035 Palm Street, Room 385 or 901 Park Street with a class certificate.

No court page read for this page reconciles the two, so this page prints both exactly as the court prints them and chooses neither. The location pages, the uncontested judgment page and the court's packets give (805) 706-3600 for the clerk, and the location page is the one to read on the day you file.

Which branch is yours: north or south of the Cuesta Grade

Local rule 19.04, Venue of Family Law Proceedings, does two things. First, it requires the party filing the initial pleading to include Local Form FL013, Statement of Venue, with it. Second, it assigns the case to a judicial officer at one branch according to the petitioner's residence, or the respondent's residence if the petitioner lives outside the county. The rule names the places on each side of the line.

• San Luis Obispo Branch: San Luis Obispo, Avila Beach, Cayucos, Los Osos, Morro Bay, Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Nipomo, Oceano, Pismo Beach and the unincorporated areas south of the Cuesta Grade.
• Paso Robles Branch: Paso Robles, Atascadero, Cambria, Santa Margarita, Templeton and the unincorporated areas north of the Cuesta Grade.
• Form FL013 itself is marked Mandatory, carries the revision date February 11, 2009, and cites the venue rule by its former number, Local Rule 19.01; the rule in the edition effective July 1, 2026 is 19.04. The form is the one the court posts, and it is the one you file.

What the assignment means for your case

Rule 19.03(c) says the Family Law Division uses direct calendaring: when a case is filed, it is immediately assigned to a judicial officer for all purposes, citing Family Code section 2330.3. The Statement of Venue tells the court which branch, and rule 19.03(c) places the case before an officer there. Because the county has two family law branches, the office confirms yours with you before the petition is prepared, and the Statement of Venue names that branch.

Rule 19.04 says a family law case may be filed at either branch; whether the Paso Robles counter takes a dissolution petition over the counter is something no court page read for this page states, so this page quotes the rule and goes no further. Your filing instructions name the branch and the filing method.

The court's fees, as the statewide schedule lists them

The court's Fee and Bail Schedules page posts no civil fee list of its own. It links the Judicial Council's State Civil Fee Schedule, and the Judicial Council's Civil Fees page identifies the current one as the Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026. That schedule was read on October 18, 2026. Its asterisk footnote says the marked fees vary in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco because of a local surcharge for courthouse construction, and San Luis Obispo is not among them. The court's Start a Divorce Case and Respond to a Divorce Case pages, and its petition packet, state the same figure for the petition and the response as the schedule's family law lines. The items under Family Law Fees that arise in an uncontested divorce:

• Item 97: a petition or other first paper for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation or nullity, $435, citing Government Code sections 70670(b), 70602.5 and 70602.6. The court's petition packet lists it in its own words as the filing fee for filing the FL-100 Petition.
• Item 98: a response or other first paper filed in response to a petition for dissolution, $435, citing Government Code section 70670(d). It is charged to a spouse who files a Response (FL-120).
• Item 99: a joint petition for dissolution or legal separation, except for summary dissolution cases, $870, citing Family Code section 2342.5(h); the schedule says this fee covers the appearance of both petitioners.
• Item 100 lists the joint petition for summary dissolution, of a marriage or of a domestic partnership, at $435.
• Item 103: a settlement agreement or stipulation for judgment signed by a respondent who has defaulted, no fee.
• From the court's petition packet: a packet of blank forms may be bought at the Court Clerk's Office for $5.

How many first-paper fees each path pays here

On an ordinary petition where your spouse signs the settlement agreement and files nothing, the court collects item 97 once, $435, and item 103 lists the signed agreement at no fee. If your spouse files a Response, item 98 is added, and the two of you have paid $870 between you. A joint petition under Family Code section 2342.5 is item 99, $870: subdivision (h) of that section provides that a 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 is that sum in one line. A summary dissolution under Family Code sections 2400 to 2403 is item 100 and pays one first-paper fee, $435. The joint petition does not save a court fee in San Luis Obispo County; it pays both first-paper fees.

The office's flat fee is a separate amount paid to the office: $599 for a summary dissolution, $999 for a joint petition and $1,499 for an ordinary petition. For it the attorney prepares and reviews every document in a limited scope engagement under California Rules of Court, rule 5.425, and writes the filing instructions for your branch, which the attorney reviews before they are released to you. The 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 on it is done. The fee is earned in stages, and if the representation ends early the unearned part is refunded.

The office does not file your documents, does not serve your spouse, does not appear in court, does not provide a notary, and does not prepare or record deeds; you file as a self-represented party, with the attorney's written instructions. The office represents one spouse, and one only: your spouse is not this office's client in the divorce, receives no advice from it, and may consult an attorney of their own choosing.

If you cannot afford the fee

The court keeps no separate fee waiver page. Its Start a Divorce Case and Respond to a Divorce Case pages name the two forms, the Request to Waive Court Fees (FW-001) and the Order on Court Fee Waiver (FW-003), and add a plain warning in the court's words: if you do not qualify for a fee waiver, you must bring money to pay the filing fee. The court's Online Case Filing page says that fee waivers for filing fees, including e-filing fees, may be granted upon request, and links the Judicial Council's fee waiver materials. Local rule 31.04, amended effective July 1, 2024, permits a party to file an application for waiver of court fees and costs in lieu of paying the filing fee as part of an e-filing, decided under Government Code sections 68632 and 68633, with reconsideration and recovery under sections 68636 and 68637.

Government Code sections 68630 to 68634 are the governing statute. A waiver is granted to a person who receives a listed public benefit, whose household income is at or below the published limit, or who cannot pay the fee and still meet the household's basic needs, and the Judicial Council's guide, Ask for a fee waiver, puts it in one sentence: you only need to meet one of these to qualify. While the request is pending, the clerk still files the petition. On a joint petition, Family Code section 2342.5(h) requires both first-paper fees unless both spouses hold waivers, so each spouse who needs one files an FW-001 of their own.

When you ask, the office prepares the request and the order form inside the flat fee. The waiver reaches the court's fees, including the court's e-filing charges, and nothing else; the office's fee is unchanged by it.

E-filing: mandatory for the court, optional for you

The court's Online Case Filing page states that e-filing is mandatory for all civil case types, listing unlimited, limited, small claims, probate and guardianships, family law, family support, adoption and mental health, and local rule 31.06 says all family law case types must be filed electronically. The same page and the same rule carve out the person without a lawyer: self-represented parties are exempt from the mandatory electronic filing requirement under California Rules of Court, rule 2.253(b)(2), but are encouraged to participate voluntarily. You file the documents yourself, as a self-represented party, and the choice between e-filing and paper is yours.

If you e-file, Chapter 31 of the local rules sets the terms. Rule 31.02 says the approved e-filing sites are listed on the court's website; the Online Case Filing page links the list of electronic filing service providers currently serving the court, which is hosted by the vendor, and the court's page names no individual provider, so this page names none either. Rule 31.03 sets 11:59:59 p.m. as the cutoff for a same-day filing. Rule 31.04 lets a fee waiver application travel with the filing in place of the fee. The court's Online Form Preparation page offers what it calls free, guided interviews to help you prepare legal documents, and names three for a divorce: Start Divorce, Divorce Response and Finish Divorce by Default.

If you file on paper, the court's petition packet, revised December 11, 2025, lists the alternatives to e-filing as drop box, mail and in person, and says that with any of the three you must file the originals with two copies and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The Start a Divorce Case page gives the clerk's expectations for the set: two-hole punch each original at the top, make two copies, and take the completed originals and two copies to the Family Law Clerk's Office, including in its list FL-110, FL-100, FL-160s, FL-311, FL-105, FL013 and FL-150. The Family division page refers to drop boxes at the courthouse entrance, and the court's self-help services flyer refers to a drop box at either the San Luis Obispo or the Paso Robles court.

Whichever route you choose, Family Code section 2104 requires the preliminary declaration of disclosure to be served on your spouse, and what is filed is the Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure (FL-141). The Respond to a Divorce Case page tells a spouse who does respond that the Response (FL-120) is due within 30 days, is filed as an original plus one copy at the Family Law Clerk's Office, and is served by mail with form FL-335; in an uncontested divorce where your spouse signs the agreement instead, that page does not come into play.

Local rules and local forms

The court's Local Rules page lists the current edition as the Local Rules of Court effective July 1, 2026, and lists the former Family Law Policies and Procedures manual as repealed effective the same day. Family law is Chapter 19, Family Law Department Procedures and Policies, which rule 19.01(d) says may be cited as the San Luis Obispo County Family Law Local Rules, and rule 19.00(b) states that with the adoption of these rules the Family Law Division's practices and procedures are governed exclusively by them. For an uncontested dissolution the rules that reach your case are 19.03 on judicial assignments, 19.04 on venue, 19.05 on the Family Law Facilitator, 19.06 on forms, 19.07 on self-represented parties, 19.19 on proof of service, 19.21 on court appearance, 19.30 on non-appearance status reviews, 19.31 on the preparation of orders and judgments, and 19.32 on incorporating a marital settlement agreement into the judgment.

Rule 19.06 requires documents filed in the Family Law Department to be on forms provided by the Judicial Council or the court's local forms, with other documents in 12-point type and double-spaced. The one local form the petition needs is FL013, the Statement of Venue, described above. The court's Local Forms page also lists FL017 and FL017A, optional forms effective July 1, 2026 for the exchange of financial documents under rule 19.27; the form says it may be used to comply with the declaration requirement of rule 19.27(g), and that rule concerns a hearing on support or fees, not the uncontested judgment the office prepares.

Rule 19.30 is the one that sets a calendar for a case nobody is fighting. It provides for non-appearance status reviews about six months after filing, up to three of them, with milestones the court expects the papers to meet: a request to enter default within 60 days after the response was due; where a default has been entered, a judgment submitted within 60 days of the entry of default, in the rule's words; and a written agreement for judgment within six months of filing. The dates run from your own filing, service and default dates; the six-month waiting period of Family Code section 2339 runs separately, from the day your spouse is served or appears.

One entry in the rules deserves a plain statement of what is and is not known. Appendix II of the local rules lists among the family law local forms FL002, Domestic Judgment Worksheet, three pages, dated 8/99 and marked Mandatory. The court's web Local Forms page does not list it, the divorce pages do not name it, and neither the Uncontested Judgment packet, revised May 19, 2025, nor the Default Judgment packet, revised March 14, 2023, includes it. This page records both the appendix and the packets and does not say which governs today. The court's Default, Hearing page lists a local civil form, CVDF10, Request for Default Setting, for a default that needs a hearing; an uncontested divorce on a written agreement does not need one.

The judgment packet in San Luis Obispo County

The court's Finish a Divorce Case page opens with two sentences: there are many more forms that you must complete and file before your case is finalized, and the court will not contact you. It then offers three paths, Default, Uncontested and Trial. An uncontested divorce where both spouses sign is the Uncontested path, and the court's Finish page describes it as both spouses signing a notarized Marital Settlement Agreement or Stipulated Judgment; the Uncontested page lists a Signatures and Notary Page among the documents. Local rule 19.32 is the rule behind it: no marital settlement agreement is approved or incorporated unless the judgment refers to it, and where neither party has counsel, both must sign and the parties' signatures on the marital settlement agreement must be notarized. The Finish page's description of the uncontested path does not turn on who has counsel: both spouses sign a notarized agreement. The office does not provide a notary; you arrange one for your signature, and your spouse arranges one for theirs, before the agreement goes into the packet.

The Uncontested page tells you to give the Court Clerk all originals, copies for the court, and self-addressed stamped envelopes, and it counts them. The documents: the Notice of Entry of Judgment (FL-190) plus two copies; the Judgment (FL-180) with its attachments stapled, plus three copies; the Request to Enter Default (FL-165) plus one copy; and, where a case needs them, FL-195 plus three copies and FL-435 plus three copies. The envelopes: one manila envelope addressed to you with postage, and two legal-sized envelopes addressed to the other party with postage. The Uncontested Judgment packet, revised May 19, 2025, walks through the same forms with samples.

If your spouse signs the agreement but files no response, the court's Default pages apply as well. The Finish a Divorce Case: Default page says that in some cases you may obtain a default judgment by mail without appearing in front of a judge, and the Default, No Hearing page lists what is filed with the Court Clerk: FL-141, FL-165, FL-170, FL-190 and FL-180 with its attachments, with FL-191 and FL-195 where applicable, in these counts: FL-165 plus one copy, FL-190 plus two copies, FL-180 plus three copies, and the same manila and two legal-sized envelopes with postage. The Default page also describes a default with a hearing and names the situations it covers, among them an unequal division of property and a specific amount of spousal support. The judgment pages say to file with the Court Clerk and do not say in person, by mail, by drop box or electronically; your filing instructions name the branch and the method.

The statewide rules frame the packet in every county. California Rules of Court, rule 5.405 makes the Judgment Checklist (FL-182) the limit of what a court may require with a judgment; rule 5.411 governs a stipulated judgment signed by both spouses; rule 5.415 requires the Notice of Entry of Judgment to go in with stamped envelopes addressed to each party, which is what the court's envelope count supplies. Rule 19.31(b) adds a step after the court acts: when a filed, endorsed copy of the judgment is returned by the court to the submitting party, a copy must be served on all parties or their counsel. The first correction of a packet the court returns is part of the flat fee.

Appearing remotely, if a hearing is ever set

An uncontested divorce on a written agreement is entered on the papers: Family Code section 2336 and California Rules of Court, rule 5.409 allow the court to enter the judgment on your declaration without a hearing, and the court's own Default page says a default judgment may be obtained by mail without appearing. If the court does set a hearing, local rule 19.21, adopted effective July 1, 2026, governs. Personal appearance is required in family law unless the court permits otherwise; in the rule's words, remote appearance is the exception, not the norm. Remote appearance without permission is allowed only at trial setting conferences, trial readiness conferences, voluntary settlement conferences, domestic violence proceedings under Family Code section 6308, and child support hearings with the Department of Child Support Services, where it is required. For anything else, Local Form FL015, Application for Videoconference Appearance and Order, must be filed and served at least five court days before the hearing, and the other side has three court days to object. The form itself asks to appear by Zoom videoconference.

The court's home page carries a link titled Remote Court Appearances via Zoom, which opens a document listing the court's meeting information by department; the document is hosted outside the court's own domain, so this page describes the link and prints no meeting number. General rule 2.09, adopted May 11, 2020, sets the conduct for a remote appearance: connect to the court session at least five minutes before the scheduled appearance, with camera and microphone, and with the dress and decorum the rule describes. The office does not appear at hearings; if the court sets one in your case, the court's notice says what it has asked for.

The Family Law Facilitator / Self-Help Center

The court's self-help service for a divorce is the office it names the Family Law Facilitator / Self-Help Center, and local rule 19.05, adopted effective July 1, 2026, describes its work: helping a person initiate or respond to a dissolution petition, prepare the disclosure forms, process a default and prepare the judgment, through webinars and appointments by telephone and in person for individuals who are not represented by an attorney. The court's Family Law page gives the telephone number, (805) 706-3617, its hours, and says appointments are scheduled online through the link on that page; the court's banner about changed counter and telephone hours appears on that page too, so read it before you call. The page gives no street address for the center.

The Family Law page lists what the Facilitator helps with: divorce, legal separation and nullity; parentage; child support, custody and visitation; domestic violence and gun violence restraining orders; spousal support; uncontested stepparent adoption; and cases with the Department of Child Support Services. It also describes two weekly online question-and-answer webinars, one on family law case information and one on requests for order. The court's Self-Help page lists divorce, spousal support, parentage and family law matters among the case types its staff help with, lists the ones they do not, and states the limit in the court's words: the staff can only provide information and education, not legal advice.

Two court documents differ on how the center meets people. Rule 19.05 says appointments are by telephone and in person; the court's Self-Help Services flyer, revised October 4, 2021, describes remote services and says in-person service is suspended, and lists ways to send documents in. The rule is dated 2026 and the flyer 2021, so this page follows the rule for what the center offers and leaves the flyer's addresses off; the Family Law page is where to look for the court's current arrangements. Rule 19.31(b) points a self-represented party to the Facilitator for help preparing a judgment.

The flat fee covers none of these: minor children, a dispute between the spouses, a business, a pension needing its own order, real property outside California, a legal separation or annulment, or a spouse who cannot be located. 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 court enters the judgment when it has reviewed the complete packet, not when the packet is filed, and neither branch shortens the waiting period. Under Family Code section 2339 the earliest the marriage can end is six months after your spouse is served or appears, a date form FL-107-INFO places at six months and one day; the judgment states the date your marriage ends, under Family Code section 2340. Rule 19.30's milestones, described above, set the court's expectations for when the default request, the judgment or the written agreement reaches it, and they run alongside that period rather than shortening it.

The clerk uses the envelopes your packet supplied, under rule 5.415 and the court's own envelope count, to mail the entered Judgment and the Notice of Entry of Judgment to each spouse. Under rule 19.31(b) the submitting party then serves a copy of the endorsed judgment on the other party. If your agreement transfers California real property from one spouse to the other, the office does not prepare or record the deed; a title company or another attorney prepares and records it after the judgment.

The court's divorce landing page, Divorce (Dissolution), Legal Separation or Nullity, groups three pages, Start a Case, Respond to a Case and Finish Case, and none of them, and no court packet, covers summary dissolution, so the summary path on this page rests on Family Code sections 2400 to 2403 and item 100 of the statewide schedule, and nothing in it comes from a county page. The residence rule for filing here at all is Family Code section 2320: six months in California and three months in San Luis Obispo County when the petition is filed. The sources below were each read on October 18, 2026 at www.slo.courts.ca.gov or the Judicial Council's sites, and nothing the court's materials left unconfirmed is on this page.

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