Step One:

Prepare the following documents:

• Fee Waiver Request and Order (Form FW-001 and FW-003), or a $435 filing fee paid in check or money order to the court
• Petition —Marriage/Domestic Partnership, (Form FL-100);
• Summons, (Form FL-110);
• Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (Form FL-105/GC-120) .

The following are attachments to the Petition if there are minor children:

• Child Custody and Visitation Time Attachment (Form Fl-311)
• Request for Child Abduction Prevention Orders (Form FL-312, if needed)
• Children’s Holiday Schedule Attachment (Form FL-341(C))
• Additional Provisions for Child Custody Attachment (Form FL-341(D), if needed)
• Joint Legal Custody Attachment (Form FL-341(E))

Then sign in blue ink, date, and make 3 copies. File the original and 2 copies with the court of each document. After these have been filed you are ready to have them served on the opposing party.

Who Can Serve Your Papers?

To “serve” your papers, you will have to find someone 18 or older (NOT you) to deliver a copy of your papers to your spouse or domestic partner. The “server” (the person delivering your papers to your spouse/domestic partner) can be a:

• Friend;
• Relative;
• County Sheriff; or
• Process server.

What needs to be Served?

• A copy of ALL the papers you filed with the court (except for any fee waiver papers you may have filed);
• A blank Response — Marriage/Domestic Partnership (Form FL-120);
• If you have children with your spouse or domestic partner, include a blank Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) (Form FL-105/GC-120).

How the Papers Must be Served

Personal Service: This means that your “server” hand-delivers a copy of all the papers (and the blank forms) to your spouse or domestic partner.

Service by mail with a Notice and Acknowledgement of Receipt: If you and your spouse or domestic partner are cooperating on your family law case, and your spouse or domestic partner agrees to accept service by mail, this can be an easy and less expensive way to serve the papers.

• Someone 18 or older (NOT you) that is not involved in the case must mail copies of each of the forms you filed with he court, the blank forms listed above , and 2 copies of the Notice and Acknowledgement of Receipt (Family Law) (Form FL-117)

Service by Publication or Posting: This is reserved for the limited circumstances in which the opposing party cannot be found. However, you must seek an order from the court before serving by publication in a newspaper or posting at the court.

Serving the Local Child Support Agency

If you or your spouse or domestic partner gets money or other help from the government for a child of this relationship (or if you have a child support case pending with the local child support agency), you must also serve a copy of your filed forms on the child support agency’s office in the county where the benefits are being paid. The child support agency can be served by mail. Use Proof of Service by Mail (Form FL-335)

File Your Proof of Service

Once you serve your spouse or domestic partner with copies of your papers, you must show the court that you completed this step. To do this, your “server” has to fill out a proof of service form telling the judge when and how he or she served the papers on your spouse/domestic partner.

Your server must:

• Fill out the Proof of Service of Summons (Form FL-115);
• If your spouse/partner was served by mail and Notice and Acknowledgement of Receipt, make sure your server also gives you the Notice and Acknowledgement of Receipt — Family Law (Form FL-117).