A CALIFORNIA DIVORCE IS TOO COMPLEX

California is proud that it has one of the first no fault divorce laws. It is really too bad that the process for getting a divorce has become so complex that even attorneys make major mistakes.

For instance, there is a form called Declaration of Disclosure, which has a box to check whether this is the final declaration or the preliminary declaration. Most people, including the Santa Clara County Family Law Clinic run by the court, check the final and preliminary disclosure boxes both. Generally, the courts call that the final disclosure as you can not check both boxes. Unfortunately, the law only requires that the preliminary declarations of disclosures be exchanged, so the people can not actually get divorced because they checked the wrong box. Dumb beyond belief.

This is not the fault of the courts or the family law clinic. It is the fact that the divorce law forms have just added forms rather than reform forms. And the fact that the Judicial Council does not have enough money to fix all of the forms.

Of course, courts could make a quick fix by saying that, when both boxes are checked, it is a preliminary disclosure, and when there is a final disclosure without a preliminary disclosure, it will be deemed a preliminary disclosure.

A better fix would be to modify the disclosure form so that it states, "I have informed my spouse, in writing, by listing all of the community, quasi community property, and separate property, that I possessed on the date of separation. I understand that if I failed to disclose any property, that property may be awarded, in its entirety, to my spouse."

You all need to quit voting for term limits. The main reason the law does not get fixed is that the people have to leave the legislature just as they have finally learned their job. It is as if you told Steve Jobs that he could only run Apple for 12 years. Dumb beyond belief.