CALIFORNIA DIVORCE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS
| Type of Divorce or Dissolution | California Divorce Residency Requirements |
| Traditional Opposite Sex (Husband and Wife) Divorce | At least one spouse/partner must have been resident in California for 6 months immediately preceding the filing of the case AND that SAME spouse/partner must also have been resident in the county of filing for 3 consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the case. The location of the marriage doesn't matter. |
| Same Sex Divorce | At least one spouse/partner must have been resident in California for 6 months immediately preceding the filing of the case AND that SAME spouse/partner must also have been resident in the county of filing for 3 consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the case. The location of the marriage doesn't matter. |
| Same Sex Divorce | No residency requirement. Neither spouse/partner currently resides in California. Both spouses/partners must reside in a state or country that will not dissolve their marriage. The marriage must have occurred in California. The case will be filed in the California county in which the marriage occurred. |
| Termination of Domestic Partnership Registered in California | No Residency Requirement, though either or both spouses/partners MAY currently reside in California. The case will be filed in the California county of residence of one of the spouses/partners, or if none, in Sacramento County. |
| Termination of Domestic Partnership NOT Registered in California | At least one spouse/partner must have been resident in California for 6 months immediately preceding the filing of the case AND that SAME spouse/partner must also have been resident in the county of filing for 3 consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the case. |
| Please also note that a marriage and a domestic partnership may both exist at the same time for the same spouses/partners and that both relationships must be dissolved in the same case to remove all legal ties and restore those spouses/partners to the status of single people. | |
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