My response:
No.
The 6 month Statute only means that a California court cannot sign a decree of dissolution until a minimum of 6 months have passed. The clock starts ticking on the day you are served with the papers.
Under Fam C §2320, a judgment of dissolution may not be entered unless one of the parties to the marriage has been a resident of the state for 6 months, and of the county in which the proceedings is filed for 3 months, immediately preceding the filing of the petition. The term "residence" has been held to be synonymous with "domicile." [In re Marriage of Dick (1993, 2nd Dist) 15 Cal App 4th 144, 18 Cal Rptr 2d 743; Whealton v Whealton (1967) 67 Cal 2d 656, 63 Cal Rptr 291, 432 P2d 979] However, more than domicile is required to comply with Fam C §2320. The statute also requires actual residence—physical presence—although absence of residence, unlike absence of domicile, does not deprive the court of jurisdiction or render the judgment invalid.
There is no durational residency requirement for legal separation and nullity actions. If neither party can comply with the residency requirements for dissolution actions, a petition for legal separation can be filed and later amended to request a judgment of dissolution after one party satisfies the residence requirement. The date of the filing of the amended petition or pleading is deemed to be the date of commencement of the proceeding for the dissolution of the marriage for the purposes of the residence requirements of Fam C §2320. [Fam C §2321(a)]
However, the 6-month waiting period of Fam C §2339 (judgment of dissolution cannot be final until 6 months from the date of service or the date of respondent’s appearance, whichever occurs first) runs from the date of service of the original petition for legal separation. Thus, the effect of Fam C §2321 is to permit parties who do not satisfy the residency requirements to obtain a dissolution within the same approximate time frame as persons who do.
IAAL
