Free California Divorce Forms - Where to Get Them and How to Use Them

California Law Books


If you live in the State of California and you're contemplating a divorce, you're very fortunate to have free divorce forms available to you. Right? Well . . . sort of.
California has published a complete set of divorce forms which you can pick up at your county's superior court or download at the California on line self help law center. They are Adobe Acrobat fillable forms and you can download a free Adobe reader program at the Adobe web site. (Theoretically, you can also just fill them out by hand with a black pen, but court clerks really hate that.)
So, if the forms are free, why are there so many people out there selling divorce kits on the internet? Unfortunately, the California self help center isn't quite as helpful as you might think. I counted 138 different forms for family law alone, and very few of them have any instructions as to how to fill them out. Most of them won't apply to your case, but you really have no way of figuring out which ones do apply. And, they can be very, very confusing. Here's one of my personal favorites: Declaration Re Service of Declaration of Disclosure. Only a lawyer could come up with a title like that.
Let's consider a couple of recent studies. One study by a task force on pro se litigants (people who represent themselves) estimates that up to 60% of the people filing for divorce in California are doing their own divorces. Yet another recent study estimated that up to a third of the people who think they've gotten their own divorces in Los Angeles have never finished them and don't know it.
What's going on here? People are getting access to the free forms, but they're not getting the knowledge they need to use them. If you're going to do your own divorce, you're going to have to get some other resources to help you.
Of course, I think my e-book is the best resource, but I may be a little prejudiced on the matter. Here are some other resources that are well worth checking out:
Ed Sherman's Nolo Press - Ed wrote the grand-daddy of all divorce kits and is a practicing attorney in Santa Cruz. His book, "How to Do Your Own Divorce in California," has been around for many, many years and has sold over a million copies. He has a very good product and an excellent reputation. The book also comes with a CD containing the forms and the programs needed to fill them out. You can find copies at your local book store or his web site at nolo.com. (A word of caution - nearly every library in the state has a copy of this book, but it's best to get a new edition. California changes it's forms twice a year and you want to have the most up to date edition of the book.)
Sphinx Press - "How to File for Divorce in California" - also a very good book, written by a pair of lawyers and regularly updated. The edition that I obtained did not have a CD with the forms but has tear out forms in the back. Again, unless you have a type writer, it's best to download the forms you need from the self help center, rather than using a pen.
The Alpha California Divorce Kit, authored by Kermit Burton - the author is a former law clerk and, while there's not as much explanation of the system as the two preceding books, there are actual completed examples of each form. Again, no CD with this one, but it's comforting to be able to look at the forms and be sure that you've done them right.
Bob Pickus', "Divorce and Family Law in California" - the author is an attorney in Alameda and does clinics on family law. There are no forms or instructions with this one, but I really recommend it. It has some very good, in depth discussions of all of the issues in the California divorce.
If you live in Los Angeles, you can go to the L.A. superior court web site and download a document called, "Manual for Procedure for Processing Default and Uncontested Judgments Submitted by Declaration Pursuant to Family Code Section 2336." As you might guess from the title, it's written in legalese and it's just as dull as ditch water, but it does tell you how to process your divorce.
Be very sure to check the web site of your court for local rules and forms. If you get stuck half way through, you can always get access to your county's family law facilitator for more information. Good luck!
Daniel Adair is the author of The California Divorce Course, an On Line Guide to Filing Your Own California Divorce (http://divorcecalifornia.biz/index.html)

By Daniel Adair