Form FL-120, the Response (Marriage/Domestic Partnership), is the document a spouse or domestic partner files to answer a California divorce, legal separation or nullity petition. Once you are served with the Petition (form FL-100) and Summons (form FL-110), you have 30 days to file and serve it. Miss that window and the petitioner can ask the court to enter your default, which lets the judge decide the divorce case without you.
The form is short, but the boxes you check on it affect custody, support and property for years. (You will also see the form number written FL 120 or FL120.) This guide covers the deadline, each numbered item, the filing fee, service, and what happens next.
What the FL-120 Response (Marriage/Domestic Partnership) Form Is
The FL-120 is the mirror image of the petition. The petitioner used the FL-100 to tell the court what they want; you use the FL-120 to do the same, item by item, on the same topics: dates, children, grounds, custody, support and property. Filing it makes you a full participant, so no judgment is entered without your input, and it lets you ask for something different, such as a legal separation instead of a divorce or a different custody arrangement.
Who Fills Out FL-120 in a Divorce or Domestic Partnership Case
The respondent does. In a California family law case, the spouse or domestic partner who files the initial petition is the petitioner, and the other is the respondent. If both spouses agree on everything, the respondent still uses this form to appear in the case; agreement changes what you check, not which form you use. The same form is used for dissolution, legal separation or nullity, whether the parties are married, registered domestic partners, or both.
The 30-Day Deadline
You have 30 calendar days after personal service of the Summons and Petition to file your Response with the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. The Summons says so on its face. Weekends and holidays count toward the 30 days; if day 30 falls on a weekend or court holiday, the deadline moves to the next court day.
If you were served by mail with a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt (form FL-117), the clock generally starts on the date you sign the acknowledgment rather than the date the envelope arrived. Our guide to how divorce papers are served in California explains each method.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
After 30 days, the petitioner can file a Request to Enter Default (form FL-165). Once the default is entered, you lose the right to file a Response and to contest the petitioner’s requests. The court can then end the marriage, divide property and debts, and make custody and support orders based on the petition alone.
Two points soften this. First, a late Response is accepted as long as the default has not actually been entered, so if you are past 30 days and no default is on file, file the Response immediately. Second, a default that has already been entered can sometimes be set aside on a motion showing mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect, generally within six months, but set-aside motions are discretionary and expensive. Filing on time is far cheaper. Our page on true default divorce in Orange County explains what a default case looks like from both sides.
Your Three Options After You Are Served Divorce Papers
File a Response and Contest
You disagree with some or all of what the petition asks for. You file the FL-120 stating your own positions, and the disputed issues are resolved through negotiation, mediation or a court hearing. This is a contested divorce, though most contested cases still settle before trial.
File a Response and Agree
You and your spouse agree on the terms. You still file the FL-120 so you are a party to the case, then submit a written settlement agreement with the judgment paperwork. This is an uncontested divorce with a Response, and it is the safest route for a respondent who wants an agreed outcome without giving up standing in the case.
Do Not Respond
You let the 30 days pass. Either the petitioner proceeds by true default, and the court can grant what the petition requested, or the two of you sign a written agreement that the petitioner submits with the default paperwork (a default with agreement). Doing nothing only makes sense if you agree with every request in the petition and accept that changing your mind later takes a set-aside motion.
Before You Start: Get a Blank Form and Read the Petition
The person who served you should have included a blank Response with the Petition and Summons, as the Judicial Council’s instructions, Legal Steps for a Divorce or Legal Separation (form FL-107-INFO), describe. If you do not have it, download the current version from the California Courts website. Your Response answers the petition, so read the FL-100 line by line and note every box the petitioner checked, especially the boxes on spousal support, attorney fees and property. Whatever the petition asked for becomes the default outcome if you do not answer it.
Read the back of the Summons too. It contains the automatic temporary restraining orders under Family Code section 2040, which took effect on you the moment you were served. Until the case ends, neither spouse may take the children out of California or apply for a new passport for them without written consent or a court order, transfer or hide property outside the ordinary course of business, change insurance beneficiaries or coverage, or change nonprobate transfers such as trusts and payable-on-death accounts.
How to Fill Out FL-120, Item by Item
Type or print clearly. The caption at the top asks for your name, mailing and email addresses and phone number, the court (for an Orange County case, the Superior Court of California, County of Orange), the case number from the petition, and the parties’ names exactly as they appear on the petition. Items 1 through 3 collect basic information; the rest are your requests.
Item 1: Legal Relationship
Check whether you are married, registered domestic partners established in California, domestic partners registered elsewhere, or both married and registered. Match the petition unless it is wrong.
Item 2: Residence Requirements
Under Family Code section 2320, a divorce judgment cannot be entered unless one spouse has lived in California for at least six months and in the county where the case is filed for at least three months before the petition was filed. Item 2 asks you to confirm which spouse meets that rule. If neither does, leave the residency box unchecked and raise the issue; the case may need to proceed as a legal separation until the residency period runs, then be amended to a dissolution.
Item 3: Statistical Facts
Enter the date of marriage, the date of separation, and the time between them in years and months (domestic partners give the registration date instead). These details matter, and the date of separation deserves the most care. Under Family Code section 70, it is the date of a complete and final break in the marriage, shown by one spouse expressing the intent to end the marriage and acting consistently with that intent. It marks the end of the community for property and debt purposes and feeds the length-of-marriage calculation for spousal support. If you disagree with the petitioner’s date, put your own date here.
Item 4: Minor Children
State whether there are minor children of the relationship, including children born before or during the marriage and adopted children, and whether a child is not yet born. List the children’s names, birthdates and ages. If there are minor children involved, you must also complete and file the Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (form FL-105), which tells the court where the children have lived for the last five years. The response is incomplete without it.
Item 5: Legal Grounds
Choose what you are asking for: dissolution, legal separation or nullity. You can also state that you deny the grounds in the petition, or that the parties were never legally married or registered. California is a no-fault state, so the grounds for dissolution or legal separation are irreconcilable differences or permanent legal incapacity to make decisions, under Family Code section 2310. Nullity has its own grounds, such as bigamy, incest, fraud or force.
You can ask for something different from the petitioner. If the petition requests a legal separation and you want a divorce, checking dissolution here is enough to put that in play; if either spouse wants a divorce, the court can grant one.
Item 6: Child Custody and Visitation
This is where the Response must address child custody and visitation (parenting time). Two separate questions appear here. Legal custody is the right to make decisions about the children’s health, education and welfare. Physical custody is where the children live. For each, you can request petitioner, respondent, joint, or other. If you want to propose a detailed parenting schedule, attach the Child Custody and Visitation Application Attachment (form FL-311).
Check what you actually want the court to order. Requesting joint legal and joint physical custody is common, but if you believe sole physical custody is appropriate, this is the place to say so.
Item 7: Child Support
Item 7 is mostly notice text. It tells you that if there are minor children the court will make child support orders on request once financial forms are filed, that an earnings assignment may issue without further notice, and that overdue support accrues interest at the legal rate of 10 percent. The only checkbox is 7d, Other, which you can use for a specific child support request.
Support itself is set by California’s statewide guideline formula based on both parents’ incomes and the time each spends with the children, so the number comes from the Income and Expense Declarations rather than from anything you write here.
Item 8: Spousal or Domestic Partner Support
This item has the most expensive checkbox on the form. You can ask that support be paid to you, ask that support be paid to the petitioner, or ask the court to terminate its ability to award support to either party. If you check the box terminating the court’s ability to award support to yourself, you are giving up spousal support permanently.
Do not waive support to seem cooperative. If you are unsure, leave the door open by requesting that the court reserve jurisdiction over support. How you fill this item can decide spousal support for years, so review it carefully.
Item 9: Separate Property
List the assets and debts you want confirmed to you or to the petitioner as separate property, meaning property owned before the marriage, acquired after the date of separation, or received by gift or inheritance. If the list is long, check the box and attach a Property Declaration (form FL-160).
Item 10: Community and Quasi-Community Property
State either that there are no community assets or debts, or that you want the court to determine each spouse’s rights in them and list them, again with an FL-160 attachment if needed. Quasi-community property is property acquired while living in another state that would have been community property if acquired in California. An incomplete list here is not fatal, because the formal disclosures come later, but leaving out a major asset invites argument.
Item 11: Other Requests
This is where you request attorney’s fees and costs from the petitioner if you need help paying for your side of the case, ask to restore your former name, or add any other request. Then read the declaration, sign and date under penalty of perjury, and have your attorney sign if you have one.
Other Family Law Forms to File With the FL-120
The Response is filed with the FL-105 if there are minor children, and with the FL-311 or FL-160 if you used them. Check the court’s website for local forms, local rules, and county-specific filing logistics before you file, since counties set their own submission procedures, and keep copies of all documents you file.
The Income and Expense Declaration (form FL-150) is not part of the Response itself, but you will need it soon. Under Family Code section 2104, the respondent must serve a preliminary declaration of disclosure either with the Response or within 60 days of filing it. That package is the FL-140, the FL-142 Schedule of Assets and Debts, and the FL-150.
The Filing Fee
The fee to file a Response is $435 in Orange County under the court’s January 1, 2026 fee schedule, the same as the petitioner paid to file. A few California counties charge slightly more, so budget $435 to $450 statewide.
If you receive public benefits, have low income, or cannot pay the fee and still meet your basic needs, you can ask the court to waive it by filing a Request to Waive Court Fees (form FW-001) with your Response. The court issues its decision on form FW-003.
How to File the Response
Make at least two copies of every form after signing. In Orange County, family law cases are filed with the Family Law Clerk’s Office at the Lamoreaux Justice Center, 341 The City Drive South, Orange, CA 92868. Attorneys must e-file. A self-represented respondent can file electronically through the court’s family e-filing system, use the drop box outside the building entrance, file in person, or mail the original and two copies to the clerk with a self-addressed, stamped envelope so the endorsed copies come back to you. Filing mechanics can vary by county, so confirm the current submission method with the court before you file.
Keep the copy the clerk stamps. The filed date on it is your proof that you responded in time. If you would rather not handle the paperwork yourself, our divorce document filing service prepares and files the forms for you.
How to Serve the Response (No Process Server Required)
Filing is only half the job. The form itself says the original Response must be filed with proof that a copy was served on the petitioner, or on the petitioner’s attorney if they have one. Unlike the initial petition, the Response can simply be mailed. It can also be hand delivered (Code of Civil Procedure section 1011). Either way, the person serving must be at least 18 and not a party to the case. A friend or relative can do it; you do not need a professional process server.
For mail service, that person mails the copies, then completes and signs a Proof of Service by Mail (form FL-335); the mailer must live or work in the county where the mailing happens. For hand delivery, the proof is a Proof of Personal Service (form FL-330). You file the proof with the court. Without it, the court has no record that the petitioner received your Response.
What Happens After You File, Including Temporary Orders
Once the Response is on file, the case is contested in the procedural sense, even if you and your spouse agree on most issues. Both sides exchange preliminary disclosures within the 60-day windows. Either spouse can ask for temporary orders on custody, support, or use of the home by filing a Request for Order, described in our guide to the FL-300 Request for Order. Cases with custody disputes go to mediation through the court’s Family Court Services before a judge hears them.
The court may set a case management or status conference to check on progress. If you settle, the terms go into a written agreement and a judgment. If you do not, the unresolved issues are tried. Either way, California’s waiting period applies: a divorce cannot become final until at least six months after the respondent was served or first appeared in the case.
Common FL-120 Mistakes
Waiving spousal support in Item 8 without understanding it is the most costly error. Others come up constantly:
- Leaving out the FL-105 when there are children, which delays the case.
- Copying the petitioner’s date of separation when you disagree with it. For example, a few months’ difference can move a bonus or a retirement contribution between community and separate property.
- Leaving Items 9 and 10 blank, which suggests you have no property claims.
- Filing the form but never serving it, or serving it without filing proof.
- Filing on day 31, after the petitioner has already requested a default.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Happens If You Do Not File FL-120 in California?
After 30 days the petitioner can request your default, and the court can grant the petition’s requests without hearing from you. A late Response is accepted until the default is entered, so file right away if you are past the deadline.
How Much Does It Cost to File FL-120?
The filing fee is $435 in Orange County and $435 to $450 elsewhere in California, unless the court grants a fee waiver (form FW-001).
Do I Need a Lawyer to File a Response?
No. Many respondents file the FL-120 on their own, and the court’s self-help center can review forms for free. A consultation is worth the time when there are children, a home, retirement accounts, a business, or any request for spousal support, because the boxes you check on this form are difficult to undo later.
Can I Change My Response After Filing It?
Generally yes. A respondent can file an amended Response, and property and support positions are refined through disclosures and settlement negotiations. Amending a Response is far simpler than setting aside a default.
What Is Form FL-115?
The FL-115 is the Proof of Service of Summons. The person who served you completes it to show when and how you received the Petition and Summons, and it is filed with the court. For personal service, the date it records starts your 30 days, so check it if you are unsure of your deadline.
What Is the First Thing to Do After Being Served Divorce Papers?
Write down the date you were served and count 30 days. Then read the Petition line by line, note every request, and decide whether to respond and contest, respond and agree, or talk to a lawyer before choosing.
Can a Divorce Be Reopened Once It Is Final?
Sometimes. Family Code section 2122 lets a court set aside all or part of a judgment for actual fraud, perjury, duress, mental incapacity, mistake in a stipulated or uncontested judgment, or a failure to make the required financial disclosures. Each ground has its own deadline, generally one year from discovery for fraud, perjury and disclosure failures, two years from judgment for duress and incapacity, and one year from judgment for mistake. Custody and support orders can also be modified later when circumstances change.
How Do I Get a Copy of My Divorce Papers?
Keep the endorsed copies the clerk returns when you file. If you lose them, request copies from the clerk of the superior court where the case was filed; the court charges copy fees.
Do I Have to Serve the Response If My Spouse Already Knows About It?
Yes. Formal service by mail or hand delivery through an adult who is not a party, documented on form FL-335 or FL-330, is required. Telling your spouse, or emailing a copy yourself, does not satisfy the rule unless your spouse has agreed in writing to accept electronic service and a proof of electronic service is filed.
Responding With Help
A Response filed on time, with the right attachments and the right boxes checked, protects your right to be heard on custody, property and support issues. Our Tustin and Placentia offices help Orange County respondents prepare and file the FL-120 and handle the process that follows, from temporary orders to judgment. Learn more about how we handle divorce in Orange County, or contact our office to discuss your case.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Court forms, fees and procedures change, outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case, and reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Consult a qualified California family law attorney about your circumstances.
