File for Divorce Online in San Diego County, California

The San Diego County Superior Court accepts electronic filing (e-filing) for family law cases through approved Electronic Filing Service Providers (EFSPs). If you are representing yourself, e-filing is optional — you can still file on paper.

San Diego calls its family law program “permissive e-filing” — attorneys and self-represented litigants may e-file, but nobody is required to. Filings go through an approved Odyssey eFileCA service provider. The court requires text-searchable (OCR) PDFs and will reject a new petition if every party is not entered. Each document must be uploaded separately within the same transaction.

San Diego court e-filing page and approved providers

MutualFile prepares your San Diego divorce forms so they are court-ready, then walks you through exactly how to submit them — whether you e-file through an EFSP, file in person, or file by mail. You file with the court yourself; we make sure the paperwork is complete before you do.

The process in San Diego follows standard California divorce procedure:

1. File the Petition (FL-100) and Summons (FL-110) with the San Diego County Superior Court
2. Serve your spouse with the filed documents
3. Exchange financial disclosures (FL-140, FL-142, FL-150)
4. Spouse has 30 days to respond after being served
5. Reach a settlement agreement or proceed through court proceedings
6. Submit the Judgment (FL-180) for the court to review and sign
7. The 6-month waiting period must pass before the divorce is final

For a full walkthrough, see our step-by-step California divorce guide.

Joint petition: $435 or $870 in San Diego?

$870 — and that is the total for your case, not per spouse. A joint petition (FL-700) for dissolution or legal separation filed with the San Diego County Superior Court carries one combined $870 fee that covers both spouses' appearances, in place of the separate Petition and Response fees in a traditional filing. If one spouse later revokes the joint petition, the schedule says no additional first-appearance fee is due from either of you. San Diego's own fee schedule (ADM-001, revised September 2026) lists it this way too. The $435 figure applies only to a joint petition for summary dissolution, a separate short-marriage procedure with strict eligibility limits. Fee waivers are available for those who qualify.

Source: San Diego Superior Court Fee Schedule (ADM-001, rev. 9/26).

Fee waivers in San Diego

Each spouse who wants a fee waiver must file their own FW-001 plus an FW-003 with the top portion completed — each party completes their own forms. San Diego court fee-waiver information.

See our full California divorce cost breakdown for more details.

San Diego splits family law across four regional business offices rather than one central filing counter, and your filing district is set by ZIP code. All four family law business offices open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Court review times vary depending on caseload — visit sdcourt.ca.gov for current processing estimates.

California has a mandatory 6-month waiting period. In a traditional divorce it runs from the date your spouse is served; in a joint petition (SB 1427) it runs from the date you file, because there is no service step. Either way this is the legal minimum — no divorce can be finalized before this period passes, regardless of how quickly you complete your paperwork.