Title
Title
Rules and Forms | Family Law: Technical Changes to Summary Dissolution Forms (Action Required)
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Summary
Summary
The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee recommends technical revisions to two family law summary dissolution forms. The technical changes are mandated by Family Code section 2400 to reflect an increase in the cost of living based on changes to the California Consumer Price Index. Additional technical changes are included to promote gender neutrality and consistency in the reference to the complete term “domestic partner” in Judicial Council forms, and to correct clerical errors.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee recommends that the Judicial Council, effective September 1, 2021:
1. Approve and adopt the calculations attached at page 6, which demonstrate an increase required to the maximum dollar amounts for community and separate property assets in summary dissolution forms FL-800 and FL-810.
2. Revise Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution (form FL-800) to:
a. Reflect an increase in the limitations for community and separate property assets under Family Code section 2400(a)(7)1 from $45,000 to $47,000.
b. Make items 15a. and 15b. gender neutral by deleting “his or her” in item 15 and stating that a party desires to have “a former name restored.”
c. Correct the reference to “Marriage or Partnership of” in the caption on page 1 so that it appears as “Marriage or Domestic Partnership of.”
d. Correct the reference to “partner support” in item 17 so that it appears as “domestic partner support.”
3. Revise the instructional booklet titled Summary Dissolution Information (form FL-810) to:
a. Reflect the same changes to the dollar figures in form FL-800.2 The Spanish translation of the booklet (form FL-810S) will also be updated.
b. Correct all references to “partner” and “partner support,” so that they appear as “domestic partner” and “domestic partner support.”
c. Change the sample property settlement agreement and other pages that reference specific dates to make those dates more recent.
d. Make the form easier to find by replacing the link to the general website on the cover page with specific links to form FL-810 and the Spanish translation (form FL-810S).
e. Make minor corrections to pages 13 and 15 so that the form’s content is internally consistent.