Response — Marriage / Domestic Partnership
Form FL-120 is how the respondent answers the petition item by item — agreeing or objecting to each request about residency, children, custody, support, and property. The response is generally due within 30 days of the date of service, and our guide walks every item in order so nothing is missed.
Before you start
Gather this first
- ✓A copy of the Petition (Form FL-100) served on you
- ✓A copy of the Summons (Form FL-110), which shows the case number and court
- ✓The date you were served — the response is generally due within 30 days
- ✓Your full legal name and current mailing address
- ✓Your marriage certificate or domestic partnership registration, and the date the parties separated
The guide
What it walks through, in order
- Top boxes
Your information and the court box
Your mailing address goes in the top-left box. Unlike an initial filing, the case number is not left blank — it connects your response to the existing case, copied from the summons and petition.
- Items 1–2
Type of case and residency
You respond to the type of case requested — dissolution, legal separation, or nullity — and to the residency facts. For dissolution, at least one party must have lived in California for six months and in the county for three months before the petition was filed.
- Items 3–4
Statistical facts and children
Dates of marriage or registration and separation — the parties may assert different dates if they disagree — plus declarations about children, including a pregnancy that is pending.
- Item 5
Legal grounds
Your position on the legal basis for the case: irreconcilable differences, incurable insanity, or the statutory nullity grounds such as bigamy, unsound mind, fraud, force, or underage marriage.
- Items 6–8
Custody, visitation, and support
Your answers to the custody and visitation requests and to child and spousal or domestic partner support — agree, disagree, or state your own request in each box.
- Items 9–11
Property and other requests
How you ask the court to handle community and separate property, attorney fees, and any other requests the petition made.
- Final
Signature and final check
Print your name, sign, and run the guide's pre-filing checklist: every box addressed, copies made, service on the other party completed, and proof of service filed.
These guides are for informational and educational purposes only. Errless Self-Help Document Services is a self-help document service. We are not attorneys and cannot give legal advice. Every person's situation is different — if you have questions about which boxes to check or what the law means for your case, please speak with a licensed California family law attorney.
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