Uncontested divorce without children in California, step by step
Uncontested means the two of you have already agreed on property, debts and spousal support. The court still requires five steps, in order. Here they are, with who does each one.
1. The petition
The attorney prepares the Petition (form FL-100) and Summons (form FL-110) from your intake, with the fee waiver forms if you qualify. You sign in ink and file them with the court, paying the court's fee of $435 as of September 7, 2026. The clerk issues the summons and assigns the case number.
2. Service
Your spouse must receive the petition and summons the way the law requires. You cannot hand them over yourself: an adult who is not a party does it, or your spouse signs a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt (form FL-117) by mail. The attorney prepares the proof of service for the server. The day your spouse is served starts the six-month period.
3. Disclosures
Each spouse serves the other with a preliminary declaration of disclosure: a schedule of assets and debts (form FL-142) and an income and expense declaration (form FL-150). The attorney prepares yours from the figures you enter; nothing is estimated. The preliminary disclosure cannot be waived.
4. The settlement agreement
The attorney drafts the marital settlement agreement from the terms you and your spouse agreed: who keeps what, who pays what, and spousal support waived, reserved or agreed. Both of you sign it in ink before a notary of your own choosing. One revision round is included.
5. The judgment
The attorney prepares the judgment packet: on the usual path, the Request to Enter Default (form FL-165), the declaration for an uncontested dissolution (form FL-170), the disclosure declaration (form FL-141), the Judgment (form FL-180) with the signed agreement attached, and the Notice of Entry of Judgment (form FL-190). You sign and submit it to the court. When the court enters the judgment, your marriage ends on the date the judgment states, never earlier than six months from service. If the court returns the packet, the first correction is included.
Your spouse can take part in two ways: sign the agreement and file nothing (a default with an agreement, the most common path, at no court fee to your spouse), or file an appearance and sign the agreement (an appearance, with the court's first-appearance fee). Either way the divorce stays uncontested.
What it costs and how long it takes
Law Offices of Rozsa Gyene prepares all five steps for a flat fee of $1,499, plus the court's fee paid to the court. The office's part takes days at each step; the six months belong to the law and cannot be shortened. Your portal shows which step is open, who it is with, and the six-month clock from the day it starts.
Rozsa Gyene, State Bar of California No. 208356, 3500 W. Olive Ave., Suite 300, Burbank, CA 91505.