If you are going through a California divorce and are trying to complete a True Default Divorce or Default With Agreement divorce case, you will need to file a request to enter default.
The difference between these two types of divorce cases is when you submit your request to enter default paperwork to the court.
Request To Enter Default When True Default Divorce Case
If you are going through a divorce which will be a true default, one where your spouse is not responding and will not enter into a written agreement, you will want to wait 30 days after your spouse has been served. Not doing so will result in your request to enter default being rejected by the court and you will have to resubmit it.
The 30 days starts the day your spouse is personally served the divorce papers or if you used the notice of acknowledgment of receipt and mailed the divorce documents, you would use 30 days after they signed that form.
Request To Enter Default When Default With Agreement
If you are completing a divorce where you are going to have a default with agreement (also known as a Hybrid) you won’t want to file the Request To Enter Default form after 30 days.
In this case, you are going to want to file the Request To Enter Default along when you submit your divorce judgment to the court. This way the court will know you are doing a hybrid divorce case. If you submit it after the 30 days, the court will assume your are file a true default case.
When submitting your Request To Enter Default form, make sure not to sign it before the 30 days have passed. We had a client who had their request to enter default rejected because they had signed it before the 30 days were passed. They filed it after the 30 days, but because they dated it before the 30 days, the court rejected it and they had to refile it.
We specialize in divorce in California and are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA. If you need assistance with your divorce please make sure to give us a call.