Your FL-825 is ready. What to do next
- Check it
Open the PDF and read both pages. If something is wrong, fix it here and download again. You do not sign FL-825: there is no signature line for you.
- Attach your agreement
FL-810 (step 9): if you have a property settlement agreement, staple it to FL-825. The court’s guide says the agreement is attached to FL-825.
- Make copies
FL-810 (step 8) says to make three copies of FL-825. Item 19 of FL-800 says you submit the original and three copies with two stamped envelopes. The court’s guide says to give the clerk the original and 2 copies. Ask the clerk how many your court wants.
- Turn it in with FL-800
FL-810 (step 11): take FL-800, FL-825 and all copies to the superior court clerk’s office with two self-addressed stamped envelopes, one for each of you. Find the court: Find My Court.
- What the court does
FL-810 (step 13): the court may process the judgment when you file, in the next few weeks, or after the six-month waiting period, and give or mail it to you. FL-825 will show the effective date of your dissolution, six months from the date you filed the joint petition. The form says: the date the judgment is entered is NOT the date your divorce is final; the effective date is in item 1a.
Good to know
- Until the effective date, either of you can stop the case by filing form FL-830 (Notice of Revocation of Petition for Summary Dissolution).
- The form’s notice: dissolution may automatically cancel a spouse’s or partner’s rights under a will, trust, retirement plan, power of attorney, pay-on-death account and similar instruments, but not as a life-insurance beneficiary. Review these, your credit accounts, insurance and credit reports.
Sources: California Courts Self-Help Guide: Fill out forms · Summary dissolution · Summary Dissolution Information (FL-810) · form FL-825.