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Form FL-100 Guide: Petition—Marriage/Domestic Partnership

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Part of our Divorce & Family Law guides.

What is Form FL-100?

Form FL-100 is California’s Petition—Marriage/Domestic Partnership. It starts a court case asking for a divorce, legal separation, or annulment and identifies the issues you want the court to address, such as children, support, property, and debts.

The petition tells the court what you are asking for. It does not, by itself, end your marriage, divide your property, or create the custody or support orders you request. Those decisions come through later steps in the case.

This guide follows all 12 numbered items on the three-page form. Keep the official form beside you as you work through it. Throughout the guide, “you” means the petitioner—the person filing FL-100.

California also has separate joint-petition and summary-dissolution procedures. This walkthrough covers FL-100, not those alternative forms.

Form version: FL-100, revised January 1, 2020. Verified against the current California Courts listing and all three pages of the official form on October 3, 2026. Get the official Form FL-100.

FormExplainer provides general informational guidance about legal and government forms. It does not provide legal advice, assess individual circumstances, or create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified professional.

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Before You Start: What Should I Gather for FL-100?

Have your relationship dates, information about your children, and a working list of property and debts nearby. You will also need the court information for the county where you are filing. These records help you answer the questions; they are not all documents to attach.

  • Your full name and your spouse’s or domestic partner’s full name, along with the contact information requested at the top of the form.
  • Your marriage certificate or domestic-partnership registration record to check the date and place of the relationship. If you have both relationships, keep both records.
  • A timeline of where you and the other person have lived and the events relevant to your date of separation.
  • For children of the relationship: names, birth dates, residence history for the past five years, and information about existing custody or protective orders and other cases involving them.
  • A list of assets and debts, with records showing when they were acquired, where the money came from, and who owes or holds them. Include accounts, retirement benefits, real estate, vehicles, businesses, and loans—not just household belongings.
  • Any existing case papers, agreements, parentage declarations, or court orders that may affect the answers.

Keep three groups separate: records you consult while completing FL-100; forms or continuation sheets you actually attach; and financial documents you exchange later in the case. The attachment checklist below explains what goes with the petition.

Do not attach your entire financial file just because you used it to check an answer. For example, FL-160’s instructions distinguish a property list filed with a petition from private statements shared in financial disclosures.

If disclosing an address could create a safety risk, ask the court’s self-help center about the appropriate confidentiality procedure before putting it on papers that will be filed or served.

Page 1 — Your Case, Relationship, Dates, and Children

The top of the form: Contact information, court, and parties

Enter your name and contact information in the party-without-attorney area if you represent yourself. The State Bar number, firm, and attorney-representation fields concern a lawyer. Use the court’s official information for its county, addresses, and branch. Leave “For Court Use Only” to the court.

For a new case, the clerk assigns a case number when you file. If you are filing an amended petition in an existing case, use that case number. Repeat the party names and case number where requested on pages 2 and 3.

What is the difference between the petitioner and respondent?

The petitioner is the person who starts this case with the petition. The respondent is the spouse or domestic partner on the other side. These are case labels, not a statement about who caused the relationship to end.

Keep the labels consistent throughout the form. In particular, “payable to Petitioner” means payable to you, while “payable by Petitioner” means you would be the person paying.

Do I choose divorce, legal separation, or nullity?

The boxes below the party names identify what kind of court case you are starting and whether it concerns a marriage, a domestic partnership, or both.

  • Dissolution (divorce) asks the court to end the marriage or domestic partnership.
  • Legal separation asks for orders about matters such as property, debts, support, and children while the marriage or partnership remains legally in place. Living apart is not the same as obtaining a legal-separation judgment.
  • Nullity (annulment) asks for a determination that the marriage or partnership is not legally valid. It requires a legal basis; it is not simply another word for divorce.

The “Amended” box identifies a petition that changes one already filed. It is not a box to check merely because you corrected a typing mistake before filing your first petition. An amended petition can have its own service requirements; check the procedure if you are changing an existing case.

California Courts explains legal separation and the legal reasons for annulment. If you are unsure which process fits, resolve that question before selecting the case type.

Check the descriptions that apply: you are married; your domestic partnership was established in California; or it was established outside California. The form says to check all that apply, so marriage and a registered domestic partnership are not necessarily alternatives.

“Domestic partnership” here refers to a legally established relationship. It does not simply mean that you live together or use “partner” to describe your relationship. If you registered a partnership and later married the same person, check the status of both rather than assuming one automatically erased the other.

2. Residency Requirements — What Is the Form Asking?

Item 2 asks which residency or special filing provision applies. It is checking the connection that permits this case to be filed in California and in the particular county; it is not asking only for your current mailing address.

2a. For an ordinary divorce, at least one spouse must have lived in California for the six months immediately before filing and in the filing county for the three months immediately before filing. The petitioner and respondent boxes identify who meets those requirements. You do not both have to qualify.

2b. A domestic partnership established in California has an exception: neither partner has to be living in California to ask a California court to dissolve that partnership. Do not apply that exception automatically to a partnership established elsewhere.

2c. This is the special provision for a same-sex marriage entered into in California when the spouses live in a jurisdiction that does not recognize and will not dissolve it. The form requires filing in the California county where the marriage occurred and asks where each spouse lives.

Legal separation has different residency rules. For a married couple, one spouse must live in California, but the ordinary six-month state and three-month county residency requirements for divorce do not apply. California-registered domestic partnerships have their own exception. See the official starting-forms guidance before applying a rule to your situation.

Watch out: A California court’s ability to end a relationship does not automatically mean it can decide every property, support, or child-custody issue. If either party or the children live elsewhere, get help with that specific jurisdiction question. Do not treat a checked residency box as resolving it.

3. Statistical Facts — Marriage, Registration, and Separation Dates

Item 3a asks for the marriage date, separation date, and the years and months between them. Item 3b asks for the corresponding domestic-partnership registration and separation information. Use the official registration date, not simply the date you began living together.

What date of separation do I put on FL-100?

The date of separation concerns a complete and final break in the relationship, shown through an intention to end it and conduct consistent with that intention. It is not automatically the date you moved out, filed FL-100, or received a divorce judgment. Our FL-100 date-of-separation explanation covers the statutory standard, useful records, financial significance, and what happens when spouses disagree.

California Courts explains that one person must have communicated the decision to end the marriage through words or actions, with later conduct consistent with that decision. The whole picture matters. Continuing to live under one roof, moving out temporarily, or attempting a reconciliation can make the answer less straightforward.

For example, imagine a couple married in 2018, had a temporary separation in 2023, reconciled, and filed for divorce in 2026. Those are three different events. The form does not tell them to use the first move-out date or the filing date just because either is easy to remember.

The date can affect property, debts, and support. Review your records and the official date-of-separation explanation. If the date is disputed or uncertain, get help with that question rather than inventing a precise answer. This guide cannot choose a date for you.

Once the applicable dates are established, the duration fields ask for the years and months between those dates—not the time from the wedding to today.

4. Minor Children — Which Children Does FL-100 Ask About?

Item 4 concerns minor children of you and the respondent, not every child or other person living in your household. List the requested names, birth dates, and ages, or use the no-minor-children box when it accurately applies.

The form includes a box for a child who is not yet born and a continuation option, “Attachment 4b,” if the list needs more room. Item 4c says the court can determine that children listed who were born before the marriage or domestic partnership are children of the relationship. Do not assume a child is excluded just because of that timing.

4d. If there are minor children of you and the respondent, attach a completed FL-105, Declaration Under the UCCJEA. This separate form asks about where the children have lived, other cases and orders involving them, and people who have or claim custody or visitation rights. Listing the children on FL-100 does not replace it.

4e. Identify whether a voluntary declaration of parentage or paternity has been signed, and attach a copy if available, as the form directs. This is a particular parentage document, not simply a birth certificate.

If parentage is uncertain, a child is connected to another case, or you are unsure how a stepchild or other family relationship should be treated, get help before deciding what to list. The child questions and the court’s authority to make custody orders are connected, but they are not the same question.

Page 2 — Grounds, Children, Support, and Separate Property

Item 5 connects the type of case you selected on page 1 to its legal basis. It does not ask for a general account of everything that went wrong in the relationship.

5a. Divorce or legal separation. The two printed choices are irreconcilable differences and permanent legal incapacity to make decisions. Irreconcilable differences concerns a breakdown that cannot be repaired. It does not require a list of a spouse’s faults. The incapacity option has a particular legal meaning; it is not a way to describe someone making decisions you disagree with.

5b–5c. Nullity. The form separates a claimed void relationship, based on incest or bigamy, from a claimed voidable relationship. The latter choices concern the petitioner’s age at the time of the relationship, a prior existing marriage or partnership, unsound mind, fraud, force, or physical incapacity.

These labels have legal requirements that may differ from their everyday meanings. For example, not every lie during a marriage establishes annulment fraud, and some grounds have filing deadlines. Use the official annulment guidance and get advice about the particular ground before relying on it. A short marriage alone does not establish a ground.

6. Child Custody and Visitation

Legal custody concerns who makes important decisions for a child, such as decisions about education and health care. Physical custody concerns where the child lives and how the child’s care is shared. They answer different questions.

Item 6a asks who should have legal custody. Item 6b asks who should have physical custody. Each has choices for the petitioner, respondent, joint custody, or another person. “Joint” means shared; checking it does not, by itself, write a parenting schedule.

For example, who decides which school a child attends is a legal-custody issue. Where the child stays on school nights is a physical-custody or parenting-time issue. One answer does not automatically supply the other.

Item 6c asks about visitation, also called parenting time. The attachment choices provide room for the actual proposal: FL-311, FL-312, FL-341(C), FL-341(D), FL-341(E), or Attachment 6c(1). They concern different aspects of a plan, such as schedules, holidays, decision-making, or child-abduction prevention. They are not a direction to attach every listed form. The FL-311 guide explains the custody attachment, including how to describe schedules, exchanges, holidays, and supervision.

Make sure any attachment you identify is actually included and agrees with the boxes on the petition. California Courts’ custody and parenting-time guidance explains the terms and available procedures.

These are requests, not orders that take effect because you check a box. If you need a decision while the case is pending, there is a separate temporary-order process. Existing orders, safety concerns, and cases in another state or country need specific attention before you choose a proposed arrangement.

7. Child Support

Item 7 contains notices about child support and a line for other requests. It is not a worksheet for calculating a monthly support amount.

For minor children of you and the respondent, the form explains that support can be ordered on request with the required financial forms. It also gives notice about an earnings assignment and interest on overdue support. An earnings assignment is a way to collect payments from earnings; it is separate from deciding the amount of support.

Use 7d to state an additional child-support request if applicable. Keep the request distinct from information about custody or spousal support, which have their own sections. For the financial information a support request may require, see the FL-150 Income and Expense Declaration guide. Completing FL-100 alone does not calculate support or schedule a support hearing.

8. Spousal or Domestic Partner Support

Can I ask for spousal support on FL-100?

Yes. Item 8a lets you identify a request for support payable to the petitioner or respondent. The other choices address whether the court should keep or end its ability to award support to a particular person.

Read the recipient boxes carefully. Support payable to the petitioner means support payable to you. Support payable to the respondent means support payable to your spouse or domestic partner.

  • 8a. Support payable to: identifies who would receive the requested support.
  • 8b. Terminate the court’s ability to award support: asks the court to end its authority to award support to the selected person.
  • 8c. Reserve for future determination: asks the court to keep the issue open for a later decision for the selected person.
  • 8d. Other: provides space for another support request.

The important distinction is between “no payment is being requested now” and “the court should never be able to award support to this person.” Reserving the issue is different from terminating the court’s authority. A blank space is not an explanation of which result you intend.

Watch out: A request to terminate support authority can affect future rights. If you do not understand that consequence, get advice before choosing the box. This is a place where explaining the choice matters more than trying to finish the form quickly.

Temporary support while the case is pending and support addressed in the final judgment also involve different steps. The petition identifies your request; a temporary support order requires additional papers. See California Courts’ spousal and domestic partner support guidance and the FL-150 guide for the financial form.

9. Separate Property and Debts

What is separate property on FL-100?

Separate property generally means property belonging to one spouse or partner individually, rather than to the marital or partnership community. Common starting points include property owned before the marriage or registered partnership, an individual gift or inheritance, and earnings after separation. Debts can also be separate.

That is a starting point, not a reliable way to classify every item from its name alone. Separate and community funds can become mixed. A bank account, home, business, or retirement benefit may have more than one component.

For example, a retirement account may include contributions from before marriage, during marriage, and after separation. The fact that it is one account does not answer how each portion should be treated.

Item 9a says there are no known assets or debts to confirm as separate property. “I have not made a list yet” is different from “there are none.” Check your records before choosing an absence-of-property statement.

How do I list separate property and debts?

Item 9b lets you list them directly, use Attachment 9b, or attach a separate-property FL-160. Identify each item and the person to whom you are asking the court to confirm it.

“Confirm to” means recognize it as that person’s separate property or obligation. It does not mean confirm that you received the statement or currently possess the item. The list can identify property or debts you claim belong separately to the respondent as well as to you.

Use descriptions that distinguish the items: the particular vehicle, account, property, or creditor. Keep full private financial records in your working file unless the applicable form or procedure calls for them. If you use FL-160 only as a petition attachment, follow its limited-column instructions explained below.

The official property and debts overview explains the general categories. A dispute about mixed funds, a written agreement, retirement rights, or the date of separation needs more than a label on this form.

Page 3 — Community Property, Other Requests, and Signature

10. Community and Quasi-Community Property

What is community property on FL-100?

Community property generally includes what either spouse or partner earned during the marriage or registered partnership before separation, and property bought with those earnings. Debts incurred during that period are also generally part of the community picture. Gifts, inheritances, mixed funds, and particular kinds of debt can require a different analysis.

Do not decide the category solely from whose name appears on an account or who uses an item. A car used by one spouse can still involve community property. A credit card in one name can still raise community-debt questions.

Quasi-community property generally concerns property acquired while living outside California that would have been community property if acquired under California’s community-property rules. California treats qualifying property like community property when dividing it. The phrase does not simply mean that an asset happens to be located outside California today.

How do I list community property and debts?

Item 10a states that there are no known community or quasi-community assets or debts to divide. Item 10b asks the court to determine rights in the items you list directly, on Attachment 10b, or on FL-160.

Think about both what is owned and what is owed. A home and its mortgage are related, but they are different entries of information. A vehicle and its loan are another familiar pair. Do not leave out the debt because you already named the asset.

For example, “2019 sedan” identifies an asset. “Vehicle loan owed to the lender” identifies the related obligation. Those descriptions help organize the list; they do not decide who ultimately gets the car or pays the loan.

Does listing property decide how it will be divided?

No. Listing an item identifies it for the case. A final division requires a court order, whether it follows an agreement or a decision by the judge.

The petition, the financial-disclosure exchange, and the eventual property division serve different purposes. An informal arrangement about who keeps an item is not a substitute for addressing it in the case. Likewise, describing a debt on FL-100 does not itself change a lender’s contract or release a borrower.

If you use FL-160, keep the separate-property declaration separate from the community and quasi-community declaration. Its instructions expressly say not to combine them. A clear list helps everyone see the issues; it does not settle a disputed classification.

11. Attorney Fees, Former Name, and Other Requests

What does the attorney-fees request mean?

Item 11a asks who should pay attorney fees and costs: the petitioner or the respondent. It is a request for the court to address payment, not a statement that a fee award has already been made.

Notice the word by. “Payable by Respondent” means the respondent would pay. This is the reverse perspective from item 8’s support “payable to” boxes, which identify the recipient.

A request for an attorney-fee order can require additional forms and financial information. The petition checkbox alone does not establish entitlement or an amount. It is also different from asking the court to waive your filing fee.

Can I ask to restore my former name?

Yes. Item 11b lets the petitioner request restoration of a former name. Write the complete former name you want restored, with the spelling you intend the order to use.

This field asks about your former name. It is not a place to change the respondent’s name or a child’s name, and it is not the general process for selecting a completely new name. Checking it makes a request; your name is not changed merely because you filed the petition.

11c. Other requests. Use this space for another order you are asking the court to make, with Attachment 11c if needed. Keep it connected to the requested court action. A general explanation of the relationship’s history is different from an identifiable request. If you do not know whether the court can make the order you have in mind, ask the self-help center or an attorney before relying on this line.

12. Read the Restraining Orders, Then Review and Sign

Item 12 directs you to read the standard restraining orders on the Summons, FL-110. FL-100 expressly says they apply to you when the petition is filed.

These orders restrict certain actions involving children, property, insurance, and transfers while the case is pending. Read the actual orders and their exceptions before moving property, changing coverage or beneficiaries, or taking another action covered by them. They are not just background information to read after filing.

How do I sign FL-100?

After reviewing all three pages and the attachments, date the declaration, type or print your name, and sign on the petitioner’s signature line. You are declaring under penalty of perjury under California law that the information is true and correct.

The separate attorney name and signature lines are for your attorney if you have one. Someone helping type your answers does not replace your review or your signature.

Read the notices below the signature area too. They address Social Security number redaction and possible effects of divorce or legal separation on inheritance and other rights. The notice does not mean every beneficiary designation changes automatically; it specifically distinguishes life-insurance beneficiary rights. Review questions about these matters with appropriate help, keeping the Summons restrictions in mind.

What Do I Attach to FL-100?

Attach the child-related forms and any continuation or request attachments that apply to your answers. The Summons is a separate initial case document, while the financial-disclosure packet is a separate step. They should not all be treated as interchangeable “attachments.”

  • Minor children: a completed FL-105, as item 4d directs, with any attachments that FL-105 itself requires.
  • Parentage declaration: a copy of the signed voluntary declaration of parentage or paternity, if available, when item 4e applies.
  • Additional children: Attachment 4b if the list continues.
  • Custody and visitation requests: the applicable forms or Attachment 6c(1) identified in item 6.
  • Property and debts: the appropriate FL-160 or Attachment 9b or 10b if you use it instead of the space on FL-100.
  • Other requests: Attachment 11c if that answer continues.

Label a continuation with its item number and make clear which case and parties it belongs to. Check that every attachment mentioned in a checked box is present and that the attachment does not contradict the petition.

How do I use FL-160 as a petition attachment?

The Property Declaration, FL-160 has instructions on page 4 for different uses. When it is used only as an attachment to a petition or response, those instructions call for:

  • Separate property, answering item 9: columns A and F on pages 1 and 2, and columns A and D on page 3. These identify the property or debt and the proposed person to whom it should be confirmed.
  • Community or quasi-community property, answering item 10: column A on all three listing pages. This identifies the assets and debts.

Other uses of FL-160 require different columns and, for disclosures, supporting records. The form specifically directs you not to file the listed private financial documents with a court-filed property declaration. Read the instructions for the use you are making of the form, rather than filling and attaching everything simply because it appears somewhere on FL-160.

Do I attach bank statements, tax returns, or my marriage certificate?

The general FL-100 petition instructions do not tell every filer to attach those records. They may help you complete the answers, and financial records belong in later disclosure requirements, but that does not make the whole file a petition attachment. A particular request, another form, or a court order may require additional material.

Before filing, also check your court’s local requirements. Keep a complete copy of the signed petition and everything that actually goes with it.

What Happens After I File FL-100?

Filing starts the case. You still need to complete service, financial disclosures when required, and the steps needed for a judgment. The following explains the ordinary divorce or legal-separation process; an annulment or an amended petition may require different procedural guidance.

Which papers start the case, and where do I file them?

California Courts identifies FL-100 and the Summons, FL-110, as the basic starting papers, with FL-105 if you have minor children together and other applicable attachments or local forms. File in the proper superior court and check that court’s accepted filing methods.

For an in-person filing, the official instructions call for the originals and two copies. The clerk keeps the originals, stamps copies, and assigns the case number. Electronic filing and filing by mail have their own practical requirements. The current filing instructions explain those options and the filing fee. If you cannot afford the fee, review the fee-waiver process.

Do I serve FL-100 on my spouse or domestic partner?

Yes. After filing, the respondent must receive the initial papers through the required service process. You cannot serve them yourself. The server must be at least 18 and not a party to the case.

Personal service is the usual method. The server provides the filed papers, including the Petition and Summons and applicable attachments, plus a blank Response, FL-120, and other required response forms. The official service instructions exclude fee-waiver forms from the papers given to the respondent.

The server completes and signs the Proof of Service of Summons, FL-115, and you file it with the court. An informal conversation, email, or your own handoff is not automatically valid service. If ordinary personal service is not possible, use the official service guidance or the self-help center to identify the correct alternative. Our California divorce-service explanation walks through the initial packet, permitted methods, proof, timing, and how later-document service differs.

The Summons gives the respondent 30 calendar days after service to file a Response and have a copy served. That response period is different from a deadline for serving a separate request with a hearing date. If you are also asking for temporary orders, check the service requirements for those papers.

When do financial disclosures and FL-150 come in?

For divorce or legal separation, California Courts states that the petitioner’s preliminary financial disclosures are due within 60 days after filing the Petition. The respondent’s corresponding deadline runs from filing the Response.

That exchange provides the other party with financial forms and supporting records. You do not file the disclosure packet itself with the court; you file the appropriate form showing that the disclosure step was completed. This is different from filing FL-150 for a support or attorney-fee proceeding.

Use the official financial-disclosure instructions and our FL-150 guide to keep those uses separate. Do not assume that identifying property in the petition completes financial disclosure.

Does the divorce become final automatically?

No. Filing, service, and the passage of time do not finish the case on their own. You still need the appropriate judgment papers and the court’s approval.

California’s minimum divorce waiting period is separate from both the respondent’s 30-day response period and the residency requirements. FL-107-INFO describes the earliest possible divorce date as six months and one day after the first of these events: service of the Summons and Petition, filing the Response, or filing FL-130, Appearance, Stipulations, and Waivers. The case may take longer. Legal separation does not have that same six-month waiting period.

If the respondent does not respond, there is a default procedure rather than an automatic divorce. If you agree, the agreement still needs to be put into the required court paperwork. If you disagree, unresolved issues need to be decided. The official FL-107-INFO process overview explains the stages.

Before You Finish

  • Check the current form revision, court, party names, and case number where applicable.
  • Make sure the case type and relationship boxes match the request you intend to make.
  • Recheck residency information and relationship dates. Resolve uncertainty about a consequential date rather than guessing.
  • Review the children’s information, FL-105, and any parentage or custody attachments.
  • Read the support choices carefully, especially reserve versus terminate and who would receive support.
  • Check both assets and debts. Keep separate-property and community-property lists distinct, and do not confuse identifying an item with a final division.
  • Check the “payable by” attorney-fee choice and the complete spelling of any former name requested.
  • Read the Summons restraining orders, match every attachment to its question, and review the complete packet before signing.
  • Confirm local filing requirements, service, copies, and the next disclosure steps. Keep your own complete set.

Official Sources and Help

This guide follows the current California Courts FL-100 listing and the three-page official form, revised January 1, 2020. Check the official listing again before filing in case the form changes.

Your court’s self-help center can help with forms and procedures. For advice about a disputed separation date, jurisdiction, property classification, support rights, or which requests to make, consult a qualified family law attorney.

Return to Divorce & Family Law or continue to the FL-150 Income and Expense Declaration guide.