Joint Petition Divorce Mediation in California: A Step-by-Step Guide

Joint petition divorce mediation means you and your spouse work out your divorce terms with a neutral mediator, then ask a California court to enter a judgment based on that agreement, either by filing one petition together or by one spouse filing and the other responding.

You and your spouse may have already agreed that the marriage is ending. What feels unsettled is everything after that: who files, in what order, what papers come first, and whether working things out together changes any of the legal steps. Most people facing this process have never seen a divorce file. They are trying to do this cooperatively while also carrying the weight of the decision itself. This guide walks through the order things usually happen when a couple uses mediation and then files, and it is even-handed throughout. It does not favor either spouse.

The steps below follow the path a mediated California divorce commonly takes. That path runs through reaching agreement in mediation, financial disclosures, the filing itself, service, and the court's judgment. Simple Divorce Mediation mediates California divorces for couples in San Diego County and, online, for couples anywhere in California. For that reason, the guide notes where the San Diego court's own processes fit in and keeps them separate from private mediation. No step has a fixed duration. The one firm clock is the six-month waiting period, explained in Step 4.

Before You Start: What You and Your Spouse Need to Know

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Where there has been domestic violence, coercion or a protective order, safety comes first. Mediation with the other spouse may not be appropriate in that situation, and nothing in this guide is meant to encourage it.

Residency comes first. A California court can enter a judgment of dissolution only if one spouse has lived in California for six months and in the county where the case is filed for three months immediately before the petition is filed (Family Code section 2320). A limited exception exists for some same-sex marriages entered in California. Where a case is filed depends on where the spouses live, so not every couple files in the same court. Family law cases in San Diego County are heard by the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego.

Mediation, defined. Mediation is a process in which a neutral person helps both spouses communicate so they can reach an agreement they both accept (Evidence Code section 1115). A mediator is that neutral person. The mediator does not represent either spouse and does not decide anything for them. Private divorce mediation is also separate from the court's own custody mediation, which is run by the court's Family Court Services. The two are different processes with different confidentiality rules, and private mediation has no connection to the court.

Disclosure still applies. Mediating does not remove the duty of financial disclosure. Each spouse still completes the declarations of disclosure described in Step 2.

Lawyers are optional, not prohibited. Either spouse may have a lawyer of their own at any point, whether to review an agreement, to advise during mediation, or not at all.

Step 1: Reach Agreement Through Mediation

The mediator's job under Evidence Code section 1115 is to help you and your spouse communicate toward an agreement you both accept. The mediator is not an advocate, a representative or a decision-maker for either of you. Mediation can address the issues a California divorce involves, including:

• Property and debts: what is community property and how it is divided.
• Spousal support: whether one spouse will pay support, how much, and for how long.
• Child custody and visitation: a parenting plan for where the children live and how time is shared.
• Child support: an agreed amount, which remains subject to court approval.

Child support has a guardrail. Parents may agree on a child support amount, but the court must approve it. The court does not approve an amount below the guideline formula unless the parents declare all of the following (Family Code section 4065(a)):

1. They are fully informed of their rights concerning child support.
2. The order is being agreed to without coercion or duress.
3. The agreement is in the best interests of the children involved.
4. The needs of the children will be adequately met by the agreed amount.
5. The right to support has not been assigned to the county, and no public assistance application is pending.

Confidentiality has limits. Under Evidence Code section 1119, what is said and written for the purpose of mediation is generally not admissible or subject to discovery in later civil proceedings, except as the Evidence Code's mediation chapter otherwise provides. That protection is not absolute. A written settlement agreement signed by the spouses can be admitted or disclosed if any one of the following applies (Evidence Code section 1123):

• the agreement says it is admissible or subject to disclosure;
• the agreement says it is enforceable or binding;
• all parties expressly agree to its disclosure; or
• the agreement is used to show fraud, duress or illegality relevant to an issue in dispute.

The divorce mediation confidentiality rules are covered in more depth elsewhere on this site.

If a spouse has a lawyer. An attorney who represents a spouse in mediation must give that client a printed disclosure of these confidentiality restrictions and get a signed acknowledgment. The attorney does this as soon as reasonably possible before the client agrees to participate or, if retained later, as soon as reasonably possible after being retained (Evidence Code section 1129).

The court's custody mediation is different. Each superior court makes a mediator available (Family Code section 3160). When a petition or other pleading shows that custody or visitation is contested, the court must set those issues for mediation (Family Code section 3170). In San Diego County, that court process is child custody recommending counseling with Family Court Services.

Under Family Code section 3183(a), except as section 3188 provides, the court's mediator may, consistent with local court rules, give the court a recommendation on custody or visitation. The mediator must first provide that recommendation in writing to the parties and their attorneys before the hearing. Family Court Services says that if no agreement is reached, the counselor makes a recommendation and the court hearing proceeds. The judge decides. Domestic violence cases are handled by Family Court Services under a separate written protocol approved by the Judicial Council (Family Code section 3170(b)).

The Evidence Code's mediation confidentiality chapter, including sections 1119 and 1123, does not apply to these court proceedings (Evidence Code section 1117(b)(1)). Those proceedings have their own confidentiality rules in the Family Code.

What this step costs and takes. The time and cost of reaching agreement depend on how many issues you and your spouse have and how far apart you are on them. Mediation may take less time or cost less than litigation for some couples, depending on the couple and the issues. Nothing guarantees that. The step ends with a written agreement, sometimes called a marital settlement agreement. The divorce mediation agreement itself is explained in a separate guide.

Step 2: Complete Financial Disclosures

For many couples, this is the step that feels most like paperwork for its own sake. In fact, it is what lets each of you sign an agreement with a full picture of the finances. Mediation does not let spouses skip, shorten or informally replace the declarations of disclosure.

Preliminary declaration of disclosure. Each spouse serves the other with a preliminary declaration of disclosure, which lists assets, debts and income. Under Family Code section 2104(f), the petitioner serves it with the petition or within 60 days of filing the petition. The respondent serves it with the response or within 60 days of filing the response. The parties can extend that time by written agreement, or the court can extend it by order. One special rule applies: if 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.

Final declaration of disclosure. Except by court order for good cause, each spouse serves a final declaration of disclosure and a current income and expense declaration under penalty of perjury. These are due before or at the time the spouses enter into an agreement resolving property or support issues other than temporary support. If the case goes to trial, they are due no later than 45 days before the first assigned trial date (Family Code section 2105(a)).

The spouses can waive the final declaration, but only by mutual waiver, never by one spouse alone. That waiver must be executed under penalty of perjury, either in open court or by separate stipulation, and must include the representations Family Code section 2105(d) lists. More detail is in the guide to financial disclosure in mediation.

The property rules the disclosures feed into. These rules frame what the disclosures are used for:

• Equal division. Unless the spouses agree otherwise in writing or by oral stipulation in open court, or the law provides otherwise, the court divides the community estate equally (Family Code section 2550).
• Valuation timing. The court values assets and debts as near as practicable to the time of trial. For good cause, and on 30 days' notice by the moving party to the other party, it may use a date after separation and before trial (Family Code section 2552).
• Separate-property reimbursement. A spouse is reimbursed for contributions to the acquisition of community property traced to a separate-property source (Family Code section 2640(b)). Those contributions are 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. The reimbursement is owed unless that spouse has made a written waiver or signed a writing that has the effect of a waiver. It is paid without interest or adjustment for change in monetary values and may not exceed the net value of the property at the time of division.
• Moore/Marsden apportionment. This is the opposite situation: community money paying down a loan on one spouse's separate-property home. It is a different rule from section 2640.
• Retirement plans. Except as subdivision (b) provides, Family Code section 2610 directs the court to make the orders needed so each spouse receives a full community share of any retirement plan.
• Businesses. A business's value can include goodwill. Its value is decided on the evidence, often with experts.

How property is worked through in mediation is covered in the guide to property division mediation.

Step 3: File the Petition — Joint or Individual

A California dissolution begins when a petition, or a joint petition, is filed (Family Code section 2330). The petition states facts including the date of marriage, the date of separation, and the number and ages of any minor children. Couples who have mediated generally take one of three paths:

• Standard petition and response. One spouse files as petitioner (the person who starts the case) and the other is the respondent. Both can still agree on every term through mediation and submit their agreement to the court.
• Joint petition in a regular dissolution. The spouses can file a joint petition and joint summons. The joint petition is deemed served on both spouses when it is filed, and both are treated as having appeared in the case (Family Code section 2331(b)). For identification, the first joint petitioner is treated as petitioner and the other as respondent. A joint summons includes the standard temporary restraining orders (Family Code section 2342.5).
• Summary dissolution. This is a separate, simplified procedure. Couples can use it only if they meet every condition in Family Code section 2400. Those conditions include that the residency requirements are met, that there are no children of the relationship and neither spouse is pregnant, and that the marriage lasted no more than five years as of separation. Other conditions concern property and debts, and the dollar limits are set by statute and adjusted periodically. Summary dissolution begins with a joint petition signed under oath by both spouses (Family Code section 2401).

Which path fits depends on the couple's circumstances. Not every couple qualifies for summary dissolution, and not every couple chooses a joint petition. In San Diego County, filings go to the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. A filing fee applies, and the court's self-help resources list the current amount.

Step 4: Serve the Other Spouse and Respond

Service is formal delivery of the papers. In a standard dissolution, the petitioner serves the respondent with a copy of the summons and petition, in the same manner as papers in civil cases generally (Family Code section 2331(a)). The respondent may then file a response. Couples who have reached full agreement through mediation commonly move ahead by agreement rather than by a contested response.

The six-month waiting period. No judgment of dissolution ends 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 (Family Code section 2339). The court can extend that period for good cause. This is why the waiting period is described as starting at service or appearance, not at filing. With a joint petition, both spouses are treated as served and as having appeared when the joint petition is filed (Family Code section 2331(b)). How long until a divorce is final is covered in its own article.

Step 5: Submit Your Agreement and Wait for the Court's Judgment

Once both spouses sign the mediated agreement, it can be submitted to the court as a stipulated judgment or incorporated into a judgment. The court reviews it rather than simply approving it. A child support amount below the guideline, for example, requires the declarations Family Code section 4065(a) lists.

The marriage is not dissolved until the court enters the judgment, and the judgment cannot end the marriage before the six-month period under section 2339 has passed. Once the judgment is entered, the property and support terms in the agreement become court orders. The guide to what happens after mediation covers this stage in more detail.

Typical timeline

No two mediated divorces move at the same pace. The time it takes to reach agreement depends on the issues and on the two of you. The preliminary disclosures have the 60-day windows described in Step 2. The final disclosures come before or at signing, unless both spouses validly waive them. The six-month waiting period runs from service or appearance, whichever is first, and the court's processing time adds to the overall length. This guide does not predict a specific total duration.

When the Process Gets More Complicated

It is natural to worry that one hard issue will undo everything else you and your spouse have worked through. Usually, a complication changes one part of the process rather than the whole thing.

Contested custody

If a pleading shows that custody or visitation is contested, the court must set those issues for mediation (Family Code section 3170). In San Diego County, Family Court Services conducts that child custody recommending counseling. As described in Step 1, the counselor may make a recommendation to the court, and the judge decides.

Domestic violence

Safety comes first. Where there has been domestic violence, coercion or a protective order, mediation with the other spouse may not be appropriate. Family Court Services handles domestic violence cases under a separate written protocol approved by the Judicial Council (Family Code section 3170(b)). If temporary orders are needed while a case is pending, the guide to temporary orders during mediation explains how they work.

Business valuation

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

Retirement accounts and separate-property tracing

Family Code section 2610 directs orders that give each spouse a full community share of a retirement plan, except as subdivision (b) provides. A qualified domestic relations order or a similar order may be needed to carry out the division.

Contributions to the acquisition of property traced to a separate-property source are reimbursed under Family Code section 2640(b). The reimbursement is owed unless the spouse waived it in writing, is paid without interest, and is capped at the property's net value at division. Moore/Marsden questions, where community money paid down a loan on one spouse's separate-property home, are a separate issue.

Outside advice

Either spouse may consult or retain a lawyer of their own at any stage. This guide does not cover how a rule applies to your particular facts.

Talking Through a Mediated, Jointly Filed Divorce

A mediated divorce with a joint filing raises practical questions that a general guide cannot settle, such as which filing path fits, how the disclosure timing lines up with signing, and which issues are likely to need the most discussion between the two of you. Simple Divorce Mediation mediates California divorces for couples in San Diego County and, online, for couples anywhere in California.

To learn more about joint-petition divorce mediation and schedule a joint consultation, call Simple Divorce Mediation at 858-330-1378.

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