In the state of California, divorce lawyers can help couples end their marriages or domestic partnerships using the three following legal procedures:

Divorce

Divorce is the most common way of ending a marriage or domestic partnership. Unlike in other states, in order to get a divorce in California, there is no need to prove any wrongdoing on the part of either spouse. “Irreconcilable differences” can simply be cited as the reason for divorce. Your divorce lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga cannot file your divorce paperwork unless you have resided in California for the past six months and in San Bernardino County for the past three months. However, exceptions will be made for domestic partners who were married in California but currently reside in a state which will not recognize or terminate their domestic partnership agreement. Even if you file your papers immediately, the divorce will not be legal until the state-mandated six-month waiting period has passed.

Because California is a community property state, legal assistance is often needed to divide marital assets at the time of divorce. A divorce lawyer can make sure you get your fair share of the marital assets, whether they consist of cash, property, investments, or business holdings. Plus, a lawyer can also assist you with alimony, child support, custody, and visitation agreements

Summary Dissolution

A summary dissolution is essentially a quicker, simpler divorce process for couples who have been together for less than five years. Ask your divorce lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga for details.

Annulment

Annulments are used to end marriages or domestic partnerships that were never truly legally valid in the first place. These cases are rare, but they do still occur from time to time. In order to get an annulment, one of the following must be proven to the satisfaction of a judge:

• The parties are related by blood
• The marriage or partnership is bigamous
• One of the parties entered the marriage while physically or mentally incapacitated
• At the time of the marriage, one of the parties was under 18
• One of the parties was compelled to enter the marriage by force or fraud
• One of the parties was married to or in a domestic partnership with someone else prior to the marriage, and that prior relationship was never legally terminated but instead only assumed to be terminated due to the an absence of at least 5 years.

No waiting period applies to annulments, beyond the wait for a court date.

Terminating a marriage or domestic partnership by any one of these three methods is a complicated legal process. Hiring a divorce lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga will be crucial to your success, so make sure you choose your counsel wisely.