Residency requirements in California

To file your divorce in a California court, you or your spouse must have lived in the state for at least six months and in the county where you wish to file for at least three months. It is not necessary that both parties live in California. If one spouse lives outside the state, filing in the county where the petitioner lives, will only make sense. However, if both parties live in the state, you will have a choice of filing in the county where either party lives.