California

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 40 out of 100

California requires the community estate to be split equally and limits the judge’s discretion over lawyer’s fees through a mandatory access-to-counsel rule. The judge has the most room on spousal support: the amount comes from a factor list, and the half-the-marriage duration rule is a general guide the judge may leave. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” California ranks 3 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	0 / 20	The court must divide the community estate equally unless the parties agree otherwise or another section of the property division statutes allows an exception. Cal. Fam. Code § 2550
Alimony	15 / 20	The judge sets the amount after considering a list of factors, and for duration a marriage under 10 years generally gets support for one-half its length, but the statute says this does not limit the court’s discretion to order a longer or shorter term, and for marriages of 10 years or more the court keeps jurisdiction indefinitely. Cal. Fam. Code §§ 4320, 4320(l), 4336
Fault	5 / 20	Evidence of specific acts of misconduct cannot be used in a dissolution unless a statute allows it, and for spousal support the statutes allow documented domestic violence and a recent domestic-violence conviction, which creates a rebuttable presumption against an award to the abuser. Cal. Fam. Code §§ 2335, 4320(i), 4320(m), 4325(a)
Lawyers’ fees	10 / 20	The court must ensure that each party has access to legal representation, and if its findings show a disparity in access to funds and ability to pay, it must order the other party to pay attorney’s fees and costs. Cal. Fam. Code § 2030(a)(1)-(2)
Second opinion	10 / 20	Each side may remove the assigned judge once by peremptory challenge in any civil action or special proceeding, including dissolution, and no statute gives a jury on property division or spousal support. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 170.6; Porter v. Superior Court (1977) 73 Cal.App.3d 793

Getting in

No waiting period. Both people appear together before a county clerk with photo identification. No statute sets a waiting period, and the license expires 90 days after it is issued. The officiant returns it within 10 days after the ceremony. A couple already living together may choose a confidential license, also good for 90 days. From January 1, 2027, no one under 18 can get a license.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 350, 354, 356, 359, 500, 504; AB 1267, Stats. 2026, ch. 850; Cal. Gov. Code §§ 26840, 26840.3, 26840.7

Who can marry you. A priest, minister, rabbi, or authorized person of any religious denomination, a judge, a county marriage commissioner, or a current or former elected official may officiate. The code does not address online ordination. One witness must sign. Members of a religious society without clergy may marry without an officiant, with two witnesses. Many counties deputize a friend or relative for one ceremony.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 307, 359(d), 400, 401(b), 420, 422

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot become married in California by agreement or by living together; a license and solemnization are required. California abolished common-law marriage in 1895. California does honor a marriage valid in the state where it was formed, including a common-law marriage from a state that allows them.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 300, 308; Elden v. Sheldon, 46 Cal. 3d 267 (1988)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

California is one of nine community property jurisdictions. Community property. What either of you earns during the marriage belongs to both of you as it’s earned, and it’s generally split in half at the end. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Property acquired during marriage while living in California is community property, and the court divides it equally. Property owned before marriage, gifts, inheritances, and their rents and profits stay separate, as do earnings after the date of separation. Growth of separate property stays separate unless a spouse’s more than minimal effort produced it; the community then shares in that part.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 70, 760, 770, 771, 2550; Beam v. Bank of America, 6 Cal. 3d 12 (1971)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

It can stay separate if you can trace it. Money in a married couple’s joint account is presumed community property, but that presumption falls if the inheritance can be traced to its separate source, unless a written agreement made it community. If the money buys a jointly titled asset, the asset is presumed community and the owner gets back only the traced amount, without interest or growth.
Cal. Prob. Code § 5305; Cal. Fam. Code §§ 852, 2581, 2640; In re Marriage of Mix, 14 Cal. 3d 604 (1975)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Both of you can be liable from the first dollar. California is a community property state. The community estate is liable for a debt either spouse incurs during marriage, and each spouse is personally liable for the other’s debts for necessaries of life incurred before separation, so the non-patient spouse’s separate property can be reached from the first dollar, with a right to reimbursement if community property or the other spouse’s separate property was available.
Cal. Fam. Code § 910(a); Cal. Fam. Code § 914(a)(1), (b)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

California has no elective share. At death the survivor keeps one-half of the community property and one-half of the quasi-community property (what was acquired elsewhere and would have been community had it been acquired in California); the decedent may dispose of the other half and of his or her separate property.
Cal. Prob. Code §§ 100, 101

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983) with California amendments, Cal. Fam. Code §§ 1600-1617. A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if not signed voluntarily, as defined by strict statutory conditions, or if unconscionable when signed without fair, reasonable and full disclosure; a spousal-support provision, however, is unenforceable if it is unconscionable at the time of enforcement. Postnuptial agreements are governed by the spouses’ fiduciary duty, and an agreement that advantages one spouse raises a presumption of undue influence.
Cal. Fam. Code § 1615(a); § 1612(c); § 721(b); In re Marriage of Haines, 33 Cal. App. 4th 277 (1995)

What an agreement needs. The agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties. For agreements signed on or after January 1, 2020, at least seven calendar days must pass between first presentation of the final agreement and signing; each party must have independent counsel or waive counsel in a separate writing after being advised at least seven days before signing; an unrepresented party must receive a written explanation of the terms and the rights given up, in a language he or she is proficient in, and sign a declaration saying so. A spousal-support provision is unenforceable unless the party giving it up had independent counsel, and disclosure must be fair, reasonable and full.
Cal. Fam. Code § 1611; § 1615(a)(2), (c); § 1612(c)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. A statewide formula uses both parents’ net incomes and time with the child; the Judicial Council classifies it as income shares. The percentages changed September 1, 2024. Support ends at 18, or later for an unmarried full-time high school student, but no later than 19. A court can order college support only by approving the parents’ agreement.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 3587, 3901, 3910, 4055

Moving away with a child. A parent with sole physical custody may move with the child unless the other parent first shows the move would harm the child; the court then decides best interests. With joint physical custody, the court decides custody anew. Notice is required only if the custody order says so, and then at least 45 days ahead where feasible.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 3024, 7501; In re Marriage of Burgess, 13 Cal. 4th 25 (1996); In re Marriage of LaMusga, 32 Cal. 4th 1072 (2004)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: six months. One spouse must have lived in California for six months, and in the filing county for three months, before filing for dissolution. A spouse who has not met this can file for legal separation and convert it later. A same-sex couple married in California may dissolve here with no residency if neither lives where the marriage can be dissolved.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 2320, 2321

How long it takes. A court grants dissolution on irreconcilable differences, and the other spouse’s consent is not required. It cannot become final until six months after service of the summons and petition or the other spouse’s appearance. From January 1, 2027, a judge may shorten that for good cause once all material issues are resolved. Filing for legal separation on arrival and amending after six months may be faster; no appellate decision was found.
Cal. Fam. Code §§ 2310, 2333, 2339; In re Marriage of Walton, 28 Cal. App. 3d 108 (1972); AB 1875, Stats. 2026, ch. 556; Cal. Fam. Code §§ 2320, 2321(a)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 360 days from arrival to a final decree (180 days of residence + 180-day wait after service). Courts often take longer.

If you moved here from another state

Earnings from elsewhere count as community property, once you both live here. What either spouse acquired while living elsewhere is treated as community property at a divorce here, and divided equally, if it would have been community property had that spouse lived here. This applies once both spouses live in California. In 1978 an appeals court refused to apply it where a husband moved here alone and his wife stayed in Pennsylvania.
Cal. Fam. Code § 125; § 2550; Addison v. Addison, 62 Cal. 2d 558 (1965); In re Marriage of Roesch, 83 Cal. App. 3d 96 (1978)

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in California and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a California lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in California” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.