It is happening way to often where people are calling me for help after finding out that their California divorce was never finalized. Usually this is after a significant period of time.
Yesterdays caller told me it had been 10 years since they filed for divorce. The oldest case I had to help someone finish up had been filed 18 years ago. In the worst situations, some people had already remarried!
So why is this happening so much? It boils down to clients attempting to complete their divorce case on their own. In all these cases, the parties were attempting to do their own divorce and represent themselves having no idea how the divorce process works. In all these cases, there was nobody to blame but themselves.
So how can you tell when your divorce is totally over? It is when you get a final judgment in your divorce case which handles all issues of your divorce and is signed by the judge. The form will say “Judgment” and you will receive a “Notice of Entry of Judgment” that lets you know that the divorce judgment has been entered.
Until you receive these documents, your California divorce is not finalized.
Lets say you go to Court for a hearing about custody or spousal support or something like that and the Judge makes orders at the hearing. This is not your final judgment. These are just temporary orders until final judgment is entered.
I had this happen just the other day. A client of ours went to a hearing where his wife was requesting spousal support. At the end of the hearing, he called me to say everything was settled. I asked him what did he mean? He said he went to court and the Judge made orders and they were done.
I had to inform him that these were just temporary orders and that he still had to complete the majority of the divorce process. All that had been done was that he filed and his wife responded and they had a hearing on spousal support.
They had not completed their financial disclosures or completed their final divorce judgment.
Just remember that your California divorce is not final until judgment is entered and your receive it back from the court signed by the Judge.
If you find yourself reading this article and have realized that your California divorce is not finalized we can help. Make sure to locate your case number and give us a call. We can look up your case summary and see what has been filed and what is left to do complete your California divorce.
We are a licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm that specializes in California divorce. We can help you finalize your California divorce. Call us today or download the free report of the top 10 reasons your divorce was not finalized.
