California File & Finish
Three traps, taught in order — before they cost you.
Stage one binds YOU to the ATROs. Stage two starts the only clock that matters — from service or appearance, whichever occurs first. And stage six is the gate paperwork-perfect cases stall at every day: no property judgment without final disclosures. This tracker exists so each one is old news by the time you reach it.
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File the petition — the ATROs bind YOU now
The ATROs bind hereFiling (FL-100 lane) captions in the Superior Court of California for your county — and the § 2040 automatic restraining orders bind the PETITIONER from filing and issuance of the summons (§ 233): children stay in state, property stays put, insurance stays intact, nonprobate transfers freeze. Filing alone starts NO clock.
§ 2040§ 233§ 2320
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Serve — or the respondent appears — THE CLOCK STARTS
This stage starts the clockService (personal, substituted, or by the other CCP modes) binds the RESPONDENT to the ATROs (§ 233) and starts the § 2339 six-month finality floor — from service OR the respondent's appearance, WHICHEVER OCCURS FIRST. Proof of service goes in the file.
§ 2339§ 233§ 415.10§ 415.20
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The thirty-day response window
The summons itself states it: a written response within 30 days after service (CCP § 412.20, applied to Family Code cases through § 210). Default becomes possible after it runs — agreed cases commonly use an appearance instead, which itself starts the § 2339 clock if service hasn't.
§ 412.20§ 210
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Preliminary declarations of disclosure
Each side serves the preliminary declaration on the § 2104 sixty-day track (FL-140 lane with the income-and-expense declaration) — the fiduciary duties (§ 721) run through every exchange, and disclosure fights feed § 2107 remedies.
§ 2104§ 721
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Agreement, RFO motion practice, or mediation
Agreed cases paper the judgment. Contested issues move by Request for Order (rule 5.92) with LIVE testimony the default at hearings (§ 217); contested custody or visitation is SET for mediation as a structural step (§ 3170). Fee access: § 2030 need-based orders level the field; § 271 sanctions conduct.
§ 217§ 3170§ 2030§ 271§ 5.92
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THE DISCLOSURE GATE — before any property judgment
The gate — § 2106Judgment on property rights DOES NOT ENTER until final declarations of disclosure are executed and served — or validly waived (§ 2105(d), the FL-144 lane) or excepted (§§ 2107/2110). This is the § 2106 trap the platform teaches wherever judgment appears: paperwork-perfect cases stall here every day.
§ 2106§ 2105
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Judgment — and the six-month floor
The judgment (FL-180 lane) can be submitted when the case is resolved, but the marriage does not END before six months from the whichever-first trigger (§ 2339) — the judgment states the termination date. Need status ended sooner than the rest of the case? § 2337 bifurcation exists, with its protective conditions.
§ 2339§ 2337
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After the judgment
Titles, deeds, beneficiary designations, QDRO-class retirement orders, and support mechanics — the judgment lists them; finishing them makes it real. Long-duration marriages: § 4336 keeps spousal-support jurisdiction open indefinitely absent agreement or a terminating order.
§ 4336
Authority locked — retrieved from the hash-pinned corpus
The tracker's posture, stated once and enforced everywhere: Filed is not served — and in California the finality clock runs from service OR the respondent's appearance, whichever occurs FIRST (§ 2339), while the ATROs bind from filing and service respectively (§§ 2040/233). Where the Rules of Court or county practice control a step, this tracker cites the rule or says so instead of guessing. Legal information, not legal advice.