Santa Clarita Divorce | Can You File Divorce Response Form FL-120 After 30 Days? | Divorce661.com

There is a lot of misunderstanding on the whole, “You have 30 days  to file a Response to your Divorce”.

While it is true that you technically only have 30 days to file a Response to your Santa Clarita Divorce, there are a few things you should know.

First, the 30 days does not start until you have been served the divorce papers, not when the case was filed. So if the Santa Clarita divorce case was filed 2 months ago, but you were just served yesterday, the 30 days begins yesterday.

Second, nothing automatically happens after 30 days.  The Petitioner to the divorce would have to take the specific action of preparing and fling a Request To Enter Default Form FL-165.  Until this form is filed, you always have the ability to file the Response.

With our amicable Santa Clarita divorce clients this is never an issue. We don’t file the request to enter default until we are submitting the judgment. We do this so we can provide a full agreement to the court. You see, the benefit of not filing a Response for our amicable clients is that you don’t have to pay the 2nd court filing fee which is triggered when the Response was filed.

So just know that until the request to enter default has been filed, you can always file your Response if you choose to do so.  You can do this even years later after you’ve been served.

Divorce661.com is a full service divorce paralegal firm located in Santa Clarita, CA and assist with parties going through an amicable divorce.  We serve clients across California as our services are provided remotely and no court appearance is required.