Note your deadline
You generally have 30 days from the date you were served to file a Response. If no Response is filed, your spouse can ask the court to proceed by default, which means the case can move forward without your input. Write the date you were served on the papers and on your calendar.
Read the back of the Summons
The Summons includes automatic temporary restraining orders that apply to both spouses. They apply to the spouse who filed as soon as the case is filed, and to you as soon as you are served. In general, until the case ends or the court orders otherwise, neither spouse may:
- Take the children out of California without the other parent's written consent or a court order.
- Transfer, hide, borrow against or get rid of property, except in the usual course of business or for necessities of life.
- Cancel, cash out or change the beneficiaries of insurance policies.
- Create or change a nonprobate transfer, such as a trust or a beneficiary designation, without the other spouse's written consent or a court order.
Read the exact wording on your Summons, because the details matter.
Check for a hearing date
Sometimes a Request for Order is served with the Petition, asking the court for temporary orders on custody, support or other issues. If there is a hearing date, that deadline comes first. A written response to a Request for Order is generally due nine court days before the hearing.
What not to do
- Do not move money out of joint accounts or run up joint credit cards.
- Do not post about the case, your spouse or your children on social media.
- Do not sign anything your spouse or their attorney sends you before you understand it.
- Do not ignore the papers. Missing the deadline can cost you the chance to be heard.
What to do now
- Make a copy of everything you were served, and keep the originals together.
- Start keeping your financial records: pay stubs, bank, credit card, investment, retirement and mortgage statements.
- Write down the date you and your spouse separated and why you chose that date. The date of separation can affect how property and support are decided.
- Request a consultation as soon as possible so there is time to prepare your Response.
After a Response is filed, each spouse must exchange preliminary financial disclosures, generally within 60 days. Starting to gather records now makes that step much easier.
Family Code §§ 70, 2040, 2104 · Code of Civil Procedure § 1005
This guide is general information about California family law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case is different.