CALIFORNIA DIVORCE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS
Relationship
Residency Requirements
Traditional Opposite Sex (Husband and Wife) Marriage
At least one spouse/partner must have been resident in California for 6 months immediately preceding the filing of the case AND that SAME spouse/partner must also have been resident in the county of filing for 3 consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the case. The location of the marriage doesn't matter.
Same Sex Marriage
At least one spouse/partner must have been resident in California for 6 months immediately preceding the filing of the case AND that SAME spouse/partner must also have been resident in the county of filing for 3 consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the case. The location of the marriage doesn't matter.
Same Sex Marriage
No residency requirement. Neither spouse/partner currently resides in California. Both spouses/partners must reside in a state or country that will not dissolve their marriage. The marriage must have occurred in California. The case will be filed in the California county in which the marriage occurred.
Domestic Partnership Registered in California
No Residency Requirement, though either or both spouses/partners MAY currently reside in California. The case will be filed in the California county of residence of one of the spouses/partners, or if none, in Sacramento County.
Domestic Partnership NOT Registered in California
At least one spouse/partner must have been resident in California for 6 months immediately preceding the filing of the case AND that SAME spouse/partner must also have been resident in the county of filing for 3 consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the case.
Please also note that a marriage and a domestic partnership may both exist at the same time for the same spouses/partners and that both relationships must be dissolved in the same case to remove all legal ties and restore those spouses/partners to the status of single people.