How long do you have to respond to a divorce petition in California? 

One of the first steps in the divorce process is for one person to serve the other a divorce petition. If it is your spouse who has decided to get divorced, they are likely going to serve you this paperwork. It informs you about the upcoming legal process and tells you that they intend to end the marriage. You then have to respond to this paperwork so that the court can get the process underway – scheduling hearings, setting up court dates, etc. 

Under California law, you have to respond to the divorce petition in 30 days, in most cases. So you do not have to respond immediately, and you do have time to think over your position and consider the paperwork carefully. But you also should not procrastinate this process or delay the petition just because you don’t want to deal with it. There is a deadline, and you have to respond in some fashion in just one month.

What if you never respond?

If you fail to respond, your spouse can still get a divorce. They can just ask the court to issue you a default divorce decree. This acknowledges that you are nonresponsive and gives the court the ability to grant the divorce anyway.

Allowing this to happen can be detrimental to your position during the divorce. You won’t be involved in the process of splitting up assets or deciding how to divide child custody rights. The court can do all of this without your approval.

As you can see, divorce can get complicated, even at the very beginning. Make sure you know exactly what legal steps to take to protect your interests.