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Timeline for default divorce in CA...nothing is happening!

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stellas

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I filed for divorce in Sacramento back in December, which I believe would make my divorce final in July if everything goes smoothly.

We are going the default route, and my ex has not filed any responses. We had one hearing for custody, which we agreed on everything so the judge just approved our order and sent us on our way.

After that hearing, I filed the final documents to ask for the divorce to be final and have a judgement.

Doing this myself, I usually have had my forms returned to me at least once with errors which I corrected and turned back in before they got filed. I usually got them back within a few days.

The last batch of forms I filed I have heard nothing. I filed over 3 months ago. After not hearing back after a few weeks, I went in and the front desk person said it takes 10-12 weeks for those forms to get the judgement on them. At the 12 week mark, I had a friend, who is a paralegal in a family law office, call the court clerk to ask and she was told nothing had been filed yet.

I'm not sure if I should be worried at this point, with my potential divorce date being just over a month away. I would like this finished and not delayed. The court is very uncooperative and there seems to be nothing I can do but sit and wait to see if it gets to the judge on time.

My paralegal friend mentioned I could as for a hearing, but I don't want to waste the judges time and inadvertently tick him off.

Does anyone have any experience with this process taking this long? Should I just sit it out and wait? Is it possible it won't get to the judge by July at all? Is there any legal rules that state that if the court doesn't process it in a timely manner, that I shouldn't be penalized?


My main concerned is that if it gets to the judge and it's not approved on some mistake I made in the paperwork, and I have to resubmit, and it takes another 12+ weeks to get back to a judge, then I'm stuck being married for 2 months (or more) longer than I should be. I'm wondering if I have any protections against that.
 


Silverplum

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I filed for divorce in Sacramento back in December, which I believe would make my divorce final in July if everything goes smoothly.

We are going the default route, and my ex has not filed any responses. We had one hearing for custody, which we agreed on everything so the judge just approved our order and sent us on our way.

After that hearing, I filed the final documents to ask for the divorce to be final and have a judgement.

Doing this myself, I usually have had my forms returned to me at least once with errors which I corrected and turned back in before they got filed. I usually got them back within a few days.

The last batch of forms I filed I have heard nothing. I filed over 3 months ago. After not hearing back after a few weeks, I went in and the front desk person said it takes 10-12 weeks for those forms to get the judgement on them. At the 12 week mark, I had a friend, who is a paralegal in a family law office, call the court clerk to ask and she was told nothing had been filed yet.

I'm not sure if I should be worried at this point, with my potential divorce date being just over a month away. I would like this finished and not delayed. The court is very uncooperative and there seems to be nothing I can do but sit and wait to see if it gets to the judge on time.

My paralegal friend mentioned I could as for a hearing, but I don't want to waste the judges time and inadvertently tick him off.

Does anyone have any experience with this process taking this long? Should I just sit it out and wait? Is it possible it won't get to the judge by July at all? Is there any legal rules that state that if the court doesn't process it in a timely manner, that I shouldn't be penalized?
What do you mean by "penalized," and who determines "in a timely manner" in 2013?

What's the docket at your local court? How many days are the courts dark?

stellas said:
My main concerned is that if it gets to the judge and it's not approved on some mistake I made in the paperwork, and I have to resubmit, and it takes another 12+ weeks to get back to a judge, then I'm stuck being married for 2 months (or more) longer than I should be. I'm wondering if I have any protections against that.
Errors are your fault, consequences thereof are yours also. I can't believe I have to point that out to someone.

:rolleyes:

And what "protections," exactly, might you wish from the State of CA?
 

stellas

Member
Since there are rules regarding the timelines about filing, that's the main thing I'm worried about.

Since I filed in December, I should be divorced by July, if I'm looking at what they said correctly. Sorry, but I'm not wealthy enough to have an attorney and I don't have a law background. I made errors only because the website Sacramento county referred me to to get my forms has the wrong forms. Not technically my mistake, I followed all the instructions to the letter. I've noticed and have been told this is common in the packets they hand out and on the website where the forms are, however the county lacks the money and interest to correct them....which leaves people like me stuck with their mistakes.

I'm fine waiting the process out. I'm not sure what the process is now, and the county is no help figuring it out. Since previous mistakes were picked up immediately and returned to me for correction, I'm wondering if that is the case now? If it's been sitting for over 3 months does that mean I DONT need to worry and just need to wait longer? Does anyone have experience in CA with their default divorce taking that long? Should I go ahead and ask for a hearing if it gets close to July?

I guess I don't expect protection, I've seen the county doesn't really care about helping anyone. What I mean is if I have rules on me, as the petitioner, about timelines for my end, doesn't the county have timelines? Or could they legitimately sit on my papers till December and do nothing, give me no information, and no recourse to push my divorce to adhere to the 6 months timeline? Does that happen ever?

The Family court here appears to only be dark one day a week, from what I can tell via their website.
 

single317dad

Senior Member
My main concerned is that if it gets to the judge and it's not approved on some mistake I made in the paperwork, and I have to resubmit, and it takes another 12+ weeks to get back to a judge, then I'm stuck being married for 2 months (or more) longer than I should be. I'm wondering if I have any protections against that.
You're not divorced until the judge orders it so. Any delay of the divorce (no matter whose fault) will extend your marriage.

Don't plan the next wedding until this one is dissolved.
 

Silverplum

Senior Member
Since there are rules regarding the timelines about filing, that's the main thing I'm worried about.

Since I filed in December, I should be divorced by July, if I'm looking at what they said correctly. Sorry, but I'm not wealthy enough to have an attorney and I don't have a law background. I made errors only because the website Sacramento county referred me to to get my forms has the wrong forms. Not technically my mistake, I followed all the instructions to the letter. I've noticed and have been told this is common in the packets they hand out and on the website where the forms are, however the county lacks the money and interest to correct them....which leaves people like me stuck with their mistakes.

I'm fine waiting the process out. I'm not sure what the process is now, and the county is no help figuring it out.
Read up on your local Court Rules, which should be on their website. The clerks are prohibited by law from providing you legal advice, which includes which forms to file.

FLMomOrlando said:
Since previous mistakes were picked up immediately and returned to me for correction, I'm wondering if that is the case now? If it's been sitting for over 3 months does that mean I DONT need to worry and just need to wait longer? Does anyone have experience in CA with their default divorce taking that long? Should I go ahead and ask for a hearing if it gets close to July?

I guess I don't expect protection, I've seen the county doesn't really care about helping anyone. What I mean is if I have rules on me, as the petitioner, about timelines for my end, doesn't the county have timelines? Or could they legitimately sit on my papers till December and do nothing, give me no information, and no recourse to push my divorce to adhere to the 6 months timeline? Does that happen ever?

The Family court here appears to only be dark one day a week, from what I can tell via their website.
That means the family court is working at 80% of their normal capacity. That equals delays.
 

stellas

Member
You're not divorced until the judge orders it so. Any delay of the divorce (no matter whose fault) will extend your marriage.

Don't plan the next wedding until this one is dissolved.
yes, I've heard that almost daily since I filed. ;) I guess I'm not making myself clear, I apologize.

I'm wondering
1)if anyone could tell me if this type of delay/level of "cutting it close" to the divorce date is common?

2)if it would benefit me to ask for a hearing (or, on that note, work against me)?

3) if it's possible for the court to simply sit on the paperwork indefinitely? or is there any laws/rules/regulations that protect against that?

If I have to wait, I'll wait. I've been waiting this long!:D Just not sure if I should be overly concerned and be doing more than just sitting and waiting.
 
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stellas

Member
Read up on your local Court Rules, which should be on their website. The clerks are prohibited by law from providing you legal advice, which includes which forms to file.


That means the family court is working at 80% of their normal capacity. That equals delays.
Yes, I know to expect delays. They had layoffs in the past few years, so yes, delays. They cut the majority of their self-help. Staffing is low. I understand this. I was told that was the reason why it now takes 10-12 weeks to get a judgement. Apparently it used to be much less.

I'm wondering if I should count it as a good sign that I didn't receive the final papers back within the first week I submitted them, i.e. do clerks review this stuff for errors before it goes to the judge or does it happen that a judge would find a paperwork error and deny the divorce?

Is there anything I should be doing to be more proactive in this? According to the surly gentleman at the front counter (who wouldn't even let me in to see my file the last time I went....) my final packet could be sitting aimlessly on some random desk for an indeterminate time. Just wondering if that makes sense to those who are more well versed in this sort of thing.

I know the clerks are prohibited by law from giving advice. It doesn't mean they don't do it anyways, I suppose. Although I know....I know....take it with a grain of salt. All they've really done for me is help me with the paperwork I needed to have fixed because the last girl who helped me was aware of the mistake in paperwork on the website.

I've found the rules for what I have to do, but I'm struggling to find the rules, if there are any, that a court has to adhere to in processing a divorce. But maybe those just don't exist?

ETA: found the rules, I think!!! thanks!
 
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stellas

Member
BUMPING for further questions pertaining to this:

I filed and my ex was served on December 10. We are filing a default divorce and he has not responded to anything for that reason. We agree on everything, there is no property to split, we do have kids but we have had a custody hearing just to formalize our agreement and get it ordered.

I submitted all the final paperwork for the judge to sign off on in February. Because of budget issues, they said to expect it to take 10 to 12 weeks to get to the judge. I went into the courthouse to check the file at 10 weeks and nothing was done yet and the clerk casually mentioned "you can't really do anything....unless you want to request a hearing".

In doing the math, I should actually be divorced by now, but the paperwork is sitting.

So my question is:
instead of just waiting on the paperwork, when the clerk mentioned I could request a hearing, does that refer to I could request a hearing to see the judge face to face and have the paperwork finished as opposed to waiting it out and NOT showing up? Would there be any legal difference/requirements if I asked for the hearing? If I were to go in and ask for this specific type of hearing, is the court required to give me a court date within XXXX number or days or is that just a "we get to it when we get to it" issue?

From what I can tell, it looks like it would cost me more money but everything would be otherwise the same and I could possibly get my divorce finalized faster?

Thanks.
 

tranquility

Senior Member
Just because you went past the minimum waiting period does not mean you are divorced. The judge still must sign off.
2338. (a) In a proceeding for dissolution of the marriage or legal
separation of the parties, the court shall file its decision and any
statement of decision as in other cases.
(b) If the court determines that no dissolution should be granted,
a judgment to that effect only shall be entered.
(c) If the court determines that a dissolution should be granted,
a judgment of dissolution of marriage shall be entered. After the
entry of the judgment and before it becomes final, neither party has
the right to dismiss the proceeding without the consent of the other.
As to when the hearing, generally it is a we get to it when we get to it issue. There are some local rules on timing of hearings, but you have to look to the court/venue specifically.
 

single317dad

Senior Member
I wouldn't count on a hearing being any faster. Imagine you're in a long government line, say the BMV. You decide you're in the wrong line and want a different service that's provided in a different line. You'd go to the back of that new line, which may be shorter or longer, with faster or slower service.

I think your best bet would be to continue contacting the court regularly, but not incessantly. They'll get to it.
 

stellas

Member
Just because you went past the minimum waiting period does not mean you are divorced. The judge still must sign off.

As to when the hearing, generally it is a we get to it when we get to it issue. There are some local rules on timing of hearings, but you have to look to the court/venue specifically.

I get that, that wasn't what I was asking. I'm past the waiting period but I'm obviously still married. I get it.
 

stellas

Member
I wouldn't count on a hearing being any faster. Imagine you're in a long government line, say the BMV. You decide you're in the wrong line and want a different service that's provided in a different line. You'd go to the back of that new line, which may be shorter or longer, with faster or slower service.

I think your best bet would be to continue contacting the court regularly, but not incessantly. They'll get to it.
I wonder why the clerk would have mentioned it then?? Then again, they are never terribly helpful and maybe he didn't know what he was talking about.
 

stellas

Member
I see all of my previous explanations of the court delays were for naught.

:rolleyes:
Um, no. Maybe you didn't read my post thoroughly. I don't think you understood the question. Or maybe with the sheer volume of eye rolling you do on any given day here, maybe your vision is a little impaired? If you're ever in NorCal I can recommend a good optometrist!

:D
 

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