In California, it takes at least six months for your Pasadena divorce to be finalized after your spouse has been served with divorce papers or responded to the petition. However, if you and your spouse can't agree on issues relating to the division of property, spousal support, child custody, child support, and visitation, your divorce will take much longer. Highly contested divorces can easily take years to be resolved.
Your divorce is not final until the judge signs the divorce judgment. The court clerk will mail the divorce judgment to each spouse. The date that the judgment was filed will be stamped in the upper right corner. As of this date, you are no longer legally married.
You can't legally marry anyone else until the final judgment for your divorce has been entered. You must also file as a married person on your taxes until your divorce is finalized.
There is no way to legally get divorced in less than six months in the state of California. In a contested divorce, you can sometimes obtain a bifurcation of status which allows you to be considered single even though some issues regarding your settlement are still being decided. You can't get a bifurcation of status just because you don't want to wait six months.
The waiting period for a divorce to be finalized is intended to give couples a chance to reconcile. Sometimes, however, the waiting period is not long enough. If you reconcile with your spouse after the final judgment is entered by the court, you'll need to get remarried. You can stop your case at any point, but a finalized divorce can't be retracted.
How Can We Help?
If you are in need of legal representation during your divorce, please call our office at (626) 683-8113 or email us at info@PasadenaLawOffice.com. Our Pasadena divorce attorneys can advocate for your interests throughout the divorce process.