California family law cases run on strict deadlines, and missing one can cost you the right to be heard on your property, children, or support. The most important California family law deadlines are these: automatic restraining orders take effect the instant a petition is filed and served; a respondent has 30 days to file a response; preliminary financial disclosures are due within 60 days; a divorce cannot be finalized for at least six months after service; and appeals must generally be filed within 60 days of notice of entry of judgment. What follows walks through each of them in the order they arrive in a case.
Automatic Restraining Orders Start Immediately
The first restriction in a California divorce isn’t really a deadline. It’s an instant lock. The moment a petition for dissolution or legal separation is filed, the automatic temporary restraining orders (ATROs) printed on the summons bind the petitioner. They bind the respondent as soon as the petition and summons are served.1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 2040
The ATROs stop both spouses from removing children from California, transferring or hiding property outside the ordinary course of business, changing insurance beneficiaries, or modifying nonprobate transfers such as trust amendments and retirement beneficiary designations. Extraordinary expenditures require at least five business days’ notice to the other spouse and an accounting to the court.2California Courts. Form FL-110 Summons The orders stay in force until the case is dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court orders otherwise. Violations can bring sanctions, and in some cases the court will simply unwind the transaction.
The 30-Day Response Deadline
After being personally served with the summons and petition, the respondent has 30 days to file a Response (Form FL-120).3California Courts. Learn Your Options The 30 days include weekends and holidays, and the clock starts the day after service.
Miss it, and the petitioner can request a default. Once entered, the court can end the marriage, divide property, assign debts, and order support based entirely on what the petitioner asked for. The respondent loses the ability to present evidence or contest anything. The most common cause of a default isn’t defiance; it’s the assumption that talking to your spouse counts as responding to the court.
If You Missed the 30 Days
California law allows the court to set aside a default caused by mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. You must file the request within six months after the default or default judgment was entered.4California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 473 That six-month window is a hard outer limit. If an attorney’s sworn admission of fault is filed, the court is generally required to grant relief, but the six-month period still applies. After it passes, relief becomes far more difficult.
Financial Disclosure Deadlines
Both spouses must exchange detailed financial information at two stages of the case. Skipping or delaying disclosure is one of the fastest ways to invite sanctions or have a judgment thrown out later.
Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure — 60 Days
The petitioner must serve a Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure (PDD) either with the petition or within 60 days of filing it. The respondent has the same 60-day window, measured from the date the response is filed.5California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 2104 The deadlines can be extended by written agreement or court order. The PDD covers all assets, debts, income, and expenses, whether you believe they are community or separate. It is served on the other party, not filed with the court; only the proof of service is filed.
One rule matters here: the PDD requirement cannot be waived. Even if both spouses agree to skip it, the court will not allow it.
Final Declaration of Disclosure — 45 Days Before Trial
A Final Declaration of Disclosure (FDD) must be served before or when the parties sign any settlement agreement resolving property or support, or no later than 45 days before the first scheduled trial date.6California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 2105 Unlike the PDD, both parties can mutually waive the FDD by signing a stipulation under penalty of perjury. Most cases that settle use this waiver, but both sides must agree and both must confirm they have already met their disclosure obligations.
What Happens If You Don’t Disclose
A party who fails to make required disclosures faces monetary sanctions and may be barred from presenting evidence on undisclosed assets or debts. The court can set aside the entire judgment, or just the portions tainted by the nondisclosure.6California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 2105 A motion to set aside a judgment based on disclosure failures must be brought within one year of discovering the problem.7California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 2122
Service Deadlines for Hearings and Motions
During the case, either spouse can ask for temporary orders on custody, visitation, support, or attorney fees by filing a Request for Order (RFO). The service rules are measured in court days, not calendar days, which trips up even experienced litigants.
The moving papers must be personally served on the other side at least 16 court days before the hearing. Court days exclude weekends and court holidays, so 16 court days usually works out to three or four calendar weeks.8California Courts. Serve Your Request for Order in Person Service by mail adds five calendar days when both sender and recipient are within California, ten days if one is out of state, or twenty days if one is outside the country.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1005
The responding spouse must file and serve a Responsive Declaration at least nine court days before the hearing. Any reply must be served at least five court days before the hearing.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1005 Missing these deadlines does not automatically cancel the hearing. It usually means the court refuses to consider your papers, leaving you to argue against the other side’s written evidence with nothing on the record.
Custody Mediation Before Any Hearing
If custody or visitation is contested, the court must send the issue to mediation before a hearing takes place.10California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 3170 Mediation is typically scheduled before the court date or on the same day. Failing to participate can delay the hearing or leave the court without the mediator’s input when it rules.11California Courts. What to Expect From Family Court Mediation Mediation is not optional. You cannot skip it and go straight to a judge on contested custody.
The Six-Month Waiting Period
No divorce in California becomes final until at least six months have passed from whichever came first: the date the respondent was served, or the date the respondent made a formal appearance.12California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 2339 Because the statute requires the six months to expire, the earliest a marital status can actually terminate is the day after the six-month anniversary. Practitioners commonly describe it as “six months and one day.”
The waiting period controls only when the marriage legally ends. Property division, custody, and support can be resolved and submitted for judgment well before the six months run out. The judgment simply specifies a termination date on or after the waiting period expires. The court can extend the period for good cause.13California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 2339
Post-Judgment Deadlines
A signed judgment does not end the deadlines. Several time limits apply to anyone who wants to challenge, modify, or appeal.
Motions to Set Aside a Judgment
California provides specific grounds and deadlines for asking the court to undo all or part of a family law judgment:
- Fraud: one year from the date you discovered or should have discovered it.
- Perjury in disclosures: one year from discovery or when you should have discovered it.
- Duress: two years from entry of judgment.
- Mental incapacity: two years from entry of judgment.
- Mistake, for stipulated or uncontested judgments: one year from entry of judgment.
- Failure to make required disclosures: one year from discovery or when you should have discovered the failure.
These are the exclusive grounds and deadlines.7California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 2122 Once the applicable window closes, the judgment stands regardless of how unfair it may seem.
Motions for Reconsideration — 10 Days
For temporary orders made during the case, a party can ask the same judge to reconsider. The motion must be filed within 10 days after you are served with written notice of entry of the order. Not 10 days from when the order was made, but 10 days from formal notice.14California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1008 It must be based on new or different facts, circumstances, or law. Simply restating your original arguments will not work.
Appeals — 60 Days or 180 Days
The deadline to appeal a final judgment or an appealable order cannot be extended. A notice of appeal must be filed by the earliest of:
- 60 days after the court clerk serves a Notice of Entry of judgment or a file-endorsed copy.
- 60 days after any party serves you with a Notice of Entry or a file-endorsed copy, with proof of service.
- 180 days after entry of judgment, if nobody serves any notice.
Whichever date arrives first controls.15Judicial Branch of California. Rule 8.104 – Time to Appeal Orders dividing marital property are final and can be challenged only through this appeal process or the set-aside grounds above. Orders on custody, visitation, and support can be modified later on a showing of changed circumstances, but that is a new motion, not an appeal.
Two Deadlines Outside the Family Code That Still Matter
Filing Status on December 31
The IRS determines your filing status based on whether you are married or divorced on December 31 of the tax year. If your divorce is final by that date, you file as single or head of household if you qualify. If the judgment has not terminated the marriage by December 31, the IRS treats you as married for the entire year.16Internal Revenue Service. Filing Taxes After Divorce or Separation Combined with the six-month waiting period, this means the date you file your petition can directly affect your filing status. Couples finalizing in late fall run into this frequently.
The 10-Year Marriage Rule
If your marriage lasted at least 10 years before the divorce became final, you may be eligible to collect Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse’s earnings record.17Social Security Administration. More Info – If You Had a Prior Marriage This does not reduce your ex-spouse’s benefits. It is an independent entitlement. Finalize at nine years and eleven months and you lose it permanently. For marriages approaching the 10-year mark, the timing of the final judgment is worth weighing before rushing to close the case.