Divorce Mediation Without Children in California: What the Process Covers

When a California couple divorces without minor children, mediation covers the money side of the marriage. That means dividing community property, deciding who keeps which debts, and settling spousal support. A neutral mediator helps you and your spouse talk these through toward an agreement you both accept. A written agreement can be submitted to the court with the final forms, and a judge reviews them before signing the judgment.

One spouse may be reading this for both of you, wondering what you would actually sit down to discuss. You may also be wondering which California rules apply no matter how you reach an agreement. Those questions are reasonable, because the house, the retirement accounts, the debts and any support between you are often years of shared life put into numbers.

This page walks through what divorce mediation addresses when there are no children, the community property rules it works within, the disclosures California law still requires, and where mediation's role ends and the court's begins. Simple Divorce Mediation mediates California divorces for couples in San Diego County and, through online mediation, for couples anywhere in California.

What Divorce Mediation Without Children Actually Covers

California law defines mediation in Evidence Code section 1115 as "a process in which a neutral person or persons facilitate communication between the disputants to assist them in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement." The same section defines a mediator as "a neutral person who conducts a mediation." In plain terms, the mediator helps you and your spouse communicate so you can reach terms you both accept.

A mediator does not represent either spouse, does not advocate for either side, and does not decide anything for you. The decisions stay with the two of you. Either spouse may have a lawyer of their own during mediation. Neither of you is required to, and neither of you is barred from doing so.

Without parenting issues to work out, a mediation can focus on finances. The financial picture may include:

• Property division — the home, bank and investment accounts, vehicles, retirement plans, and any business.
• Debt allocation — mortgages, credit cards, car loans and other obligations taken on during the marriage.
• Spousal support — whether one spouse will pay support to the other, how much and for how long.

Under Family Code section 3170, when custody or visitation is contested, the court must set those contested issues for mediation through its own program. That process concerns children, and it is entirely separate from private divorce mediation. For couples who do have minor children, the questions look different; the page on divorce mediation with children covers that path.

California Community Property: The Legal Framework Mediation Works Within

Family Code section 2550 sets the baseline: except upon the written agreement of the parties, an oral stipulation in open court, or as the division otherwise provides, the court divides the community estate equally. Community property generally means property either spouse acquired during the marriage. Because the rule yields to the spouses' written agreement, mediation gives you and your spouse room to decide how the estate is divided, with the equal-division rule as the backdrop.

Under Family Code section 770(a), separate property of a married person includes property owned before the marriage and property acquired after marriage by gift, bequest, devise, or descent.

The date of separation, under Family Code section 70, is the date that a complete and final break in the marital relationship has occurred, as evidenced by the spouse having expressed to the other spouse the intent to end the marriage and conduct consistent with that intent. Under section 771, a spouse's earnings and accumulations after the date of separation are that spouse's separate property. The date of separation does not, however, set the date for valuing property. Under Family Code section 2552, the court values the assets and liabilities as near as practicable to the time of trial, except that, on 30 days' notice by the moving party to the other party, the court may for good cause value all or part of them at a date after separation and before trial.

Several more rules often come up for couples without children:

Separate-property contributions. Family Code section 2640(b) provides that a spouse who traces contributions to the acquisition of community property back to a separate-property source is reimbursed for them, unless that spouse made a written waiver of the right to reimbursement or signed a writing that has the effect of a waiver. The reimbursement is paid without interest or adjustment for change in monetary values, and it may not exceed the net value of the property at the time of the division. Under section 2640(a), contributions include downpayments, payments for improvements, and payments that reduce the principal of a loan used to buy or improve the property. They do not include interest, maintenance, insurance or taxes.

Community money and a separate-property home. The reverse situation is different. When community money pays down the loan on a home one spouse owned as separate property, California applies what is known as the Moore/Marsden apportionment, which can give the community an interest in that home. This is a separate rule from section 2640.

A business. A business's value can include goodwill. Its value is decided on the evidence, often with the help of experts.

Retirement plans. Under Family Code section 2610, except as its subdivision (b) provides, the court makes whatever orders are necessary or appropriate so each spouse receives their full community share of any public or private retirement plan, including survivor and death benefits.

Some couples without children may also qualify for summary dissolution, a simplified procedure with conditions set by Family Code section 2400, including that there are no children of the relationship. Its property and debt limits are set by statute and adjusted periodically under section 2400(b). The page on property division mediation goes further into how these rules shape the discussion.

Financial Disclosure: What California Law Requires Before Any Agreement

Mediating your divorce does not let you and your spouse skip, shorten or informally replace the declarations of disclosure. A declaration of disclosure is a statement executed under penalty of perjury on a form prescribed by the Judicial Council. California requires two rounds.

The preliminary declaration of disclosure. Under Family Code section 2104(f), the petitioner serves it with the petition or within 60 days of filing the petition, and the respondent serves it with the response or within 60 days of filing the response, unless the parties extend that time by written agreement or the court extends it by order. When the petitioner served the summons and petition by publication or posting under a court order and the respondent files a response before a default judgment is entered, the petitioner has 30 days from that response.

The final declaration of disclosure. Under Family Code section 2105(a), except by court order for good cause, each spouse serves a final declaration of disclosure and a current income and expense declaration before or at the time the parties enter into an agreement resolving property or support issues other than temporary support, or, if the case goes to trial, no later than 45 days before the first assigned trial date. Section 2105(a) also provides that perjury on the final declaration may be grounds for setting aside all or part of the judgment.

A mutual waiver. You and your spouse may agree to waive the final declaration, but the waiver must be mutual; one spouse cannot waive it alone. Under Family Code section 2105(d), the waiver must be executed under penalty of perjury in open court or by separate stipulation, and it must include the representations that subdivision lists.

The page on financial disclosure in mediation covers disclosures in more detail, and the California Courts self-help site has general divorce information at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov.

Spousal Support: How Mediation Addresses It

Spousal support, also called alimony, is money one spouse pays the other after separation or divorce. For couples without children, it may be one of the questions mediation addresses, alongside property division.

When a court orders spousal support, Family Code section 4320 directs it to consider a list of circumstances, including:

• whether each spouse's earning capacity is enough to keep up the standard of living established during the marriage;
• the extent to which the supported spouse contributed to the other's education, training, career or license;
• the supporting spouse's ability to pay; and
• each spouse's needs based on the marital standard of living.

You and your spouse may discuss whether support will be paid, the amount and how long it lasts. No one can say in advance what a particular couple will agree to; each agreement depends on your circumstances. The page on spousal support mediation covers the factors more fully.

Mediation Confidentiality Under California Law

Evidence Code section 1119 makes private mediation confidential, except as the Evidence Code's mediation chapter otherwise provides. Generally, what is said and the writings prepared for, in the course of, or under a mediation or a mediation consultation are not admissible or subject to discovery in an arbitration, administrative adjudication, civil action or other noncriminal proceeding in which testimony can be compelled, and the communications between participants remain confidential.

That protection is not absolute. Under Evidence Code section 1123, a written settlement agreement prepared in the course of or under a mediation is not made inadmissible or protected from disclosure by the chapter if the spouses sign it and any one of these conditions is met:

• the agreement says it is admissible or subject to disclosure, or words to that effect;
• the agreement says it is enforceable or binding, or words to that effect;
• all parties expressly agree in writing, or orally in the manner the Evidence Code allows, to its disclosure; or
• the agreement is used to show fraud, duress or illegality relevant to an issue in dispute.

A mediation consultation, as Evidence Code section 1115(c) defines it, is a communication between a person and a mediator for the purpose of starting, considering or reconvening a mediation, or retaining the mediator.

When a spouse has an attorney in the mediation, Evidence Code section 1129 requires, except in the case of a class or representative action, that attorney to give the client a printed disclosure of the confidentiality restrictions and obtain the client's signed acknowledgment, as soon as reasonably possible before the client agrees to participate, or as soon as reasonably possible after being retained if the attorney is retained later.

For completeness: under Evidence Code section 1117(b), this chapter does not apply to the court's child custody mediation; those court proceedings are private and confidential under Family Code section 3177 instead. The page on divorce mediation confidentiality discusses these limits further.

The Six-Month Waiting Period and What Mediation Can and Cannot Change

Family Code section 2339 sets a six-month waiting period. Generally, a judgment of dissolution is not final to end the marriage until six months have passed from the date the summons and petition are served or the date the respondent appears in the case, whichever occurs first. The court may extend that period for good cause, and the rule is subject to Family Code sections 2340 to 2344.

Within that frame, you and your spouse may reach agreement on the property, the debts and spousal support. What mediation produces is an agreement, not a divorce decree. A written agreement can be submitted to the court with the final forms, and a judge reviews them before signing the judgment. For couples in San Diego County, family law cases are heard by the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego; where any case is filed depends on the spouses' circumstances, such as where they live. General court information is on the California Courts website.

Whether mediation takes less time or involves less strain than going to court depends on the couple and the issues, and it is not a promise. The page on the divorce mediation agreement explains how that agreement comes together.

When Mediation May Not Be the Right Path

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Mediation may not be right for every couple. Where there has been domestic violence, coercion or a protective order, safety comes first, and sitting down to mediate with the other spouse is not something to be encouraged in those circumstances.

Mediation can also stall over a single issue or a gap in information. A partial agreement, where some questions are settled and others are not, is one possible outcome. Whatever the situation, the decision whether to mediate belongs to each spouse, and no one is obliged to keep going in a process that does not feel safe or workable.

To Talk With Simple Divorce Mediation About Mediation Without Children

A consultation is a place to raise questions about property, debts and support. The practice does not take either spouse's side or make decisions for you. To talk with the practice about divorce mediation without children, call Simple Divorce Mediation at 858-330-1378 for a joint mediation consultation.

About this article. Reviewed by Amy J. Lass, CA Bar No. 246779. Last updated 2026-10-08.