What Happens After Divorce Mediation in California: A Step-by-Step Guide

After divorce mediation in California, you and your spouse put what you agreed on into a written, signed agreement and complete your final financial disclosures. Then you file the agreement with the court along with the judgment paperwork. A judge reviews and signs it, and the divorce becomes final no sooner than six months after service of the petition or the respondent's appearance.

You and your spouse may have just finished your last mediation session, or you may be close to it. Either way, you have done hard work, and now you face a stretch of paperwork and court steps you have probably never seen before. Most people facing this process want to know three things: what still has to happen, who does it, and when the marriage actually ends. This guide walks through that path for couples in San Diego County and for couples anywhere in California who mediate online. It covers the gap between a mediated agreement and a final judgment, one step at a time.

The path has five steps after the prerequisites are in place. One date is fixed by statute: the six-month waiting period. Everything else depends on how quickly documents are prepared and on the court's own processing. For an overview of the whole mediation process from the beginning, see how divorce mediation works.

Before You Start: What You Need in Place Before the Post-Mediation Steps Begin

The case has to be open. A divorce agreement is submitted inside a court case, so a petition must already be on file. For couples who live in San Diego County, that court is generally the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. Where a case is filed, and which court's procedures apply, depends on the spouses' circumstances, such as where they live.

Preliminary disclosures have a deadline. A declaration of disclosure is a sworn financial statement listing a spouse's assets, debts, income and expenses. Under Family Code section 2104(f), each spouse serves a preliminary declaration of disclosure either with the petition or response, or within 60 days of filing it. You and your spouse can extend that time by written agreement, or the court can extend it by order. There is one special case. 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.

Mediation does not change this duty. Both spouses complete their disclosures whether they mediated or not.

The six-month clock may already be running. Under Family Code section 2339, a judgment of dissolution is generally not final until six months have passed from one of two dates, whichever comes first:

• the date the summons and petition were served on the respondent, or
• the date the respondent appeared in the case.

The clock does not run from the filing date. The court may extend the period for good cause.

One more term appears throughout this guide. A mediated settlement agreement is the written document recording the terms you and your spouse agreed to in mediation. Under Evidence Code section 1115, a mediator is a neutral person who helps both of you communicate so you can reach an agreement you both accept. The mediator does not decide anything for either of you.

Step 1: Putting the Agreement in Writing

An agreement you reach out loud in a mediation session does not become part of your divorce until it is written down and signed by both of you. This is the first task after the sessions end.

What the written agreement covers. It records whatever issues you resolved. That can include:

• division of property and debts
• spousal support
• child custody and visitation
• child support

If you settled only some of these, the document covers only those. Our guide to the divorce mediation agreement explains this document in more detail.

How confidentiality applies. Evidence Code section 1119 generally keeps what is said and written in a mediation from being admitted or compelled in court, except as the Evidence Code's mediation chapter otherwise provides. That protection is not absolute.

Under Evidence Code section 1123, a written settlement agreement signed by the settling parties can be admitted or disclosed if any 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 to its disclosure, in writing or orally as the Evidence Code allows
• the agreement is used to show fraud, duress or illegality relevant to an issue in dispute

Because a divorce agreement usually needs to be enforceable, it often contains exactly that kind of language.

Lawyer review. Either spouse may have a lawyer of their own review the written agreement before signing. Some couples do; some do not.

An attorney who represents a spouse in mediation has a specific duty under Evidence Code section 1129. The attorney must give the client a printed disclosure of the confidentiality rules, and get the client's signed acknowledgment, as soon as reasonably possible before the client agrees to participate. If the attorney is retained later, the same duty applies as soon as reasonably possible after being retained.

Step 2: Completing the Financial Disclosures

The final declaration of disclosure has its own timing rule. Under Family Code section 2105(a), each spouse serves a final declaration of disclosure and a current income and expense declaration on the other spouse. The deadline depends on how the case is resolved:

• If the case settles: 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: no later than 45 days before the first assigned trial date.

The court can order otherwise for good cause. The disclosure is signed under penalty of perjury. Perjury on it can be grounds for setting aside the judgment, in addition to other remedies.

For a mediated case, this matters for timing. The final disclosures are not a step to save for after signing. They belong before or at the moment the property or support agreement is made.

Waiving the final disclosure. You and your spouse may mutually waive the final declaration of disclosure. 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,
• entered into in open court or by separate stipulation, and
• written to include the representations that subdivision lists.

The preliminary declarations under section 2104(f) are a separate requirement.

What mediation does not change. Mediating does not let spouses skip, shorten or informally swap out these declarations. The disclosures give both of you the same financial picture before you commit to terms. That shared picture is part of what makes a mediated agreement hold up later.

Family Code section 2122 sets time limits for asking a court to set aside a judgment. Those grounds include actual fraud, perjury in a declaration of disclosure or its waiver, duress, and mental incapacity, among others.

Step 3: Filing the Agreement and Judgment Documents with the Court

Once the disclosures are complete and the terms are signed, the agreement moves into court paperwork.

The settlement document. The mediated settlement agreement is typically folded into a Marital Settlement Agreement, or into a stipulated judgment. A Marital Settlement Agreement is a written contract between the spouses that sets out all the terms of their divorce, which the court then adopts as its order. A stipulated judgment does the same job: it puts the agreed terms into the form of a judgment for the judge to sign.

What gets filed. The settlement document is submitted with the court's judgment forms and any supporting documents the court requires. The filing goes to the Superior Court of California in the county where the case is open. For San Diego County couples, that is the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. For couples elsewhere in California, including those who mediate online, it is the court in their own county. The California Courts self-help site, linked in Sources, describes the judgment paperwork.

Child support terms. Child support needs extra care at this step. Parents may agree on child support, but under Family Code section 4065(a) the agreement is subject to the court's approval. The court will not approve an amount below the guideline formula unless the parents declare all five things the section lists. That section and the court's review are covered in Step 4.

Nothing is final yet. Filing hands the documents to the court. The divorce is not final until a judge signs the judgment.

Step 4: The Court's Review — What the Judge Looks At

This step can feel unsettling, because you have already agreed and someone else now looks over your work. The judge does not simply rubber-stamp the agreement. The judge reviews whether it meets California's legal standards.

Child support. The court applies the statewide guideline formula. Under Family Code section 4065(a), the court will not approve a stipulated amount below guideline unless the parents declare all of the following:

1. They are fully informed of their rights concerning child support.
2. The order is agreed to without coercion or duress.
3. The agreement is in the best interests of the children involved.
4. The children's needs 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.

If the local child support agency is providing services in the case under Family Code section 17400, the stipulated agreement is not valid unless that agency has also joined in signing it (Family Code section 4065(c)).

Custody and visitation. The court's standard is the best interest of the child. Parents' agreed parenting plans are reviewed with that standard in mind.

Property division. California is a community property state. Under Family Code section 2550, the court divides the community estate equally. That rule has exceptions: a written agreement of the spouses, an oral stipulation in open court, or another provision of the Family Code's property division. A mediated written agreement can therefore divide property differently, and the judge reviews it in that light.

Separate-property reimbursement. Family Code section 2640(b) covers one spouse's separate money put toward community property. That spouse is reimbursed for contributions traced to a separate-property source. Contributions include:

• downpayments
• payments for improvements
• 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 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 division. It is not owed if the spouse made a written waiver of the right, or signed a writing that has the effect of a waiver.

Valuation date. Under Family Code section 2552, the court values community assets and debts as near as practicable to the time of trial. For good cause, it may use a date after separation and before trial, on 30 days' notice by the moving party to the other party. Our guide to property division mediation explains how couples work through these values.

Businesses and retirement plans. A business's value can include goodwill, and that value is decided on the evidence, often with experts. For retirement plans, Family Code section 2610 directs the court to make the orders needed for each spouse to receive their full community share, except as subdivision (b) of that section provides.

Step 5: When the Waiting Period Ends and the Judgment Becomes Final

A judgment of dissolution is the court order that legally ends the marriage. Two things have to line up before the marriage ends:

• the judge has signed the judgment, and
• the six-month period under Family Code section 2339 has passed.

That period runs from the date the summons and petition were served on the respondent, or the date the respondent appeared in the case, whichever came first.

This means fast progress in mediation does not move the end date earlier. Even if you and your spouse reach agreement and file everything promptly, the marriage is not terminated until the waiting period has run. The court may also extend it for good cause.

Once the judgment is signed and the period has passed, the divorce is final and both spouses are legally single.

When the Process Gets More Complicated: Partial Agreements, Custody Disputes, and Unresolved Issues

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

When some issues are settled and others are not

Mediation may resolve some issues and leave others open. A partial agreement can still be put in writing and submitted to the court for the issues it covers, while the rest move forward separately. Our guides to partial agreement divorce mediation and to when divorce mediation fails cover what follows.

When custody or visitation is still contested

Under Family Code section 3170, when a court filing shows that custody or visitation is contested, the court must set those issues for mediation. This court process is separate from private divorce mediation. Simple Divorce Mediation is a private practice with no connection to the court or its Family Court Services.

In San Diego County, the court's process is child custody recommending counseling with Family Court Services, under Family Code sections 3170 and 3183. Here is how the recommendation works:

• Under section 3183(a): except as section 3188 provides, and consistent with local court rules, the court's mediator may submit a custody or visitation recommendation to the court. The recommendation must first be given in writing to the parties and their attorneys before the hearing. A mediator authorized to do this is called a child custody recommending counselor.
• According to Family Court Services: if no agreement is reached, the counselor makes a recommendation and the court hearing proceeds.

The judge decides custody. Our page on child custody mediation explains the court's process in more depth.

Confidentiality works differently in court custody mediation

The Evidence Code's mediation confidentiality chapter does not apply to the court's child custody mediation under the Family Code's custody mediation chapter (Evidence Code section 1117(b)). Instead, Family Code section 3177 provides that those proceedings are held in private and are confidential.

When there has been domestic violence

Under Family Code section 3170(b), Family Court Services handles domestic violence cases under a separate written protocol approved by the Judicial Council.

Where there has been domestic violence, coercion or a protective order, safety comes first. Mediating face to face with the other spouse may not be appropriate, and nothing in this guide suggests otherwise.

Typical Timeline: From Signed Agreement to Final Judgment

The one fixed point is the statutory floor. No divorce can be final until six months have passed from service of the summons and petition or the respondent's appearance, whichever came first (Family Code section 2339).

Beyond that floor, timing varies with a few practical things:

• how quickly the written agreement and judgment documents are prepared
• whether the final disclosures are already complete when the agreement is signed
• whether the court asks for corrections
• the court's own processing schedule

If the six months have already passed by the time the judgment is signed, finality follows the judge's signature. If they have not, the marriage ends when the period runs out.

Mediation may shorten parts of this, depending on the couple and the issues, but that is not a given. For more on timing, see our guide to the divorce mediation timeline.

Talking Through Your Next Steps

The stretch between a mediated agreement and a signed judgment is where details matter. That includes the timing of final disclosures, whether child support terms meet guideline or include the declarations section 4065(a) requires, and how the six-month date falls in a given case.

A consultation can cover how these steps generally apply to couples at different stages of the process, including which issues are typically settled through mediation and which commonly remain open, whether you are in San Diego County or mediating online from elsewhere in California.

To talk through what comes after your mediation, 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.