California’s new joint petition gives spouses a broader way to begin a divorce or legal separation together. Unlike the old summary dissolution process, eligibility doesn’t depend on strict limits involving marriage length, children, property, and debts.
The key question is whether the couple can resolve every issue by agreement. The process still requires careful preparation, complete financial information, and terms that can become part of the final judgment.
Who Qualifies for the New Joint Petition
Senate Bill 1427 created the joint petition process for divorce and legal separation. It took effect on January 1, 2026, giving cooperative spouses an alternative to starting a case with one person as petitioner and the other as respondent.
The former summary dissolution rules generally required a marriage of five years or less and imposed limits involving children, assets, debts, and spousal support. Those narrow qualifications don’t govern the new process.
The central requirement is different: the parties must intend to resolve all issues by agreement. The petition identifies the matters they’ll address together rather than asking the court to decide disputes.
Before choosing this route, couples should discuss every decision that requires resolution:
- The date of separation and the grounds for dissolution.
- Parenting arrangements, child support, and health insurance for children, if applicable.
- Spousal support, property, debts, attorney’s fees, and restoration of a former name, if requested.
How Couples Start a Joint Case
Couples begin the case with the Joint Petition, Marriage or Domestic Partnership, form FL-700 and the Summons, Joint Petition, form FL-710. They file the forms with the court instead of having one spouse formally serve the other.
Under Senate Bill 1427, a properly filed petition is deemed served on both parties, and the filing counts as an appearance by each of them. This removes the formal service step between spouses, but it doesn’t remove the need for accurate documents filed in the correct county.
For a Ventura filing, the agreement should be specific enough to become part of the judgment. A promise to divide property fairly later leaves too much unresolved for a process based on present agreement. Before filing, couples should identify all applicable accounts, real estate, debts, retirement interests, and parenting terms.
Requirements That Still Apply After Filing
The joint procedure changes how a case begins, not the legal requirements for ending a marriage. Residency rules, financial disclosures, the waiting period, and applicable local court procedures remain in effect.
The Six-Month Waiting Period
California Family Code Section 2339 requires at least six months to pass before a divorce judgment can become final. For this procedure, the period begins on the filing date because each spouse is deemed served when the forms are filed. Filing together doesn’t permit an earlier final divorce date.
Residency Before Divorce Filing
At least one spouse must have lived in California for six months and in the filing county for three months before filing for divorce there. The new procedure doesn’t alter those residency periods. Couples who don’t yet qualify may need to pursue legal separation first and amend the case after meeting the requirements.
Financial Disclosures After Filing
Each spouse must exchange financial disclosures and prepare the judgment documents after filing. These disclosures cover income, expenses, assets, and debts. Complete information allows each person to understand the proposed terms before accepting them.
Custody Disputes in Ventura County
Parents who agree on every custody and visitation term may include those provisions in their proposed judgment. If a dispute develops over parental responsibilities, custody, or visitation, Ventura County Superior Court requires Child Custody Recommending Counseling, commonly called CCRC, before a contested hearing. Beginning the case cooperatively doesn’t bypass that local requirement.
What Happens If Agreement Breaks Down
A joint petition is cooperative by design, but it doesn’t lock either spouse into a process that no longer fits. If an unresolved issue emerges, either party can take steps that revoke the petition and convert the matter into a standard dissolution case.
Under Senate Bill 1427, an amended petition or response, a motion, or a request to set the case for trial triggers the conversion. The original filing date remains in place for applicable deadlines, including the six-month waiting period. This preserves the timeline when a couple begins in agreement but later needs the court to resolve a dispute.
California remains a no-fault divorce state. Neither spouse must prove that the other caused the marriage to end because irreconcilable differences support a dissolution. Even so, disagreements about support, a home, retirement accounts, or a parenting schedule should be addressed before anyone signs a proposed judgment.
When to Seek Attorney Review
An attorney can identify missing terms when a couple agrees in principle but hasn’t fully documented the agreement. Review is particularly valuable when the case involves children, a jointly owned home, retirement plans, a business interest, uneven income, separate-property claims, or questions about spousal support.
We assess whether the procedure fits the couple’s circumstances, review proposed terms, and explain the filings and disclosures that remain. We offer flat-rate arrangements for simple uncontested divorces, along with unbundled services and full-scope representation for cases that require greater involvement.
The practical test is straightforward: this process fits when the spouses are prepared to resolve every required issue by agreement and complete the core steps California law requires. At Zahn Law Offices, APC, we have handled Ventura County family law matters since 2010, and an attorney manages each case from consultation through resolution. To ask Zahn Law Offices, APC for an attorney-led review of a proposed agreement or guidance on whether this process fits, call us at (805) 804-9100.