California Learn
California's six-month clock runs from service OR appearance — whichever comes FIRST
No dissolution judgment is final for ending the marriage until six months from the date of service of the summons and petition or the date of the respondent's appearance, whichever occurs first. Filing starts nothing; the clock starts when the case reaches the other spouse — a third pattern entirely from Texas (from filing) and Arizona (from service).
The honesty note
The floor is the earliest legal possibility — the rest of the case controls the real date, and the court can extend the period for good cause.
Authority locked — retrieved from the hash-pinned corpus
Do it with the tools
Legal information, not legal advice. Statements about county practice defer to your superior court's local rules (CRC rule 5.4 territory) and the official self-help center — where this platform has no verified county data, it says so instead of guessing.