Divorce with Children in California: Custody, Support, and Extra Forms

What's Different When Children Are Involved

A California divorce without children requires four core forms and a financial disclosure package. Add minor children to the picture and the paperwork roughly doubles. You need additional declarations at filing, mandatory custody mediation if you disagree, guideline child support calculations, and specific judgment attachments.

Beyond the paperwork, having children changes the court's posture. A judge reviewing a childless divorce mostly checks that the financial disclosures are complete and the property split is lawful. A judge reviewing a divorce with children is also evaluating whether the parenting plan serves the children's best interests under Family Code Section 3011.

Extra Forms Required at Filing

When you file your petition (Form FL-100 or FL-700), you must also submit Form FL-105/GC-120. If you're requesting specific custody arrangements, you can also use Form FL-311.

Form FL-105/GC-120 — Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)

This form tells the court where your children have lived for the past five years, whether any other state or country has issued custody orders, and whether any related cases (dependency, guardianship, domestic violence) are pending elsewhere. The UCCJEA prevents conflicting custody orders from different states.

You must list every address where each child has lived, along with the names and current addresses of everyone the child lived with. If you're concerned about safety and don't want to disclose your address, you can file Form FL-105 confidentially — but talk to the clerk or a family law facilitator about the process for your county.

Form FL-311 — Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time) Application Attachment

If you're requesting specific custody arrangements in your petition, this attachment details what you're asking for: which parent gets primary physical custody, how legal custody decisions are shared, and the proposed visitation schedule.

Physical Custody vs. Legal Custody

California courts distinguish between two types of custody, and parents often conflate them:

Physical custody determines where the child lives day-to-day. Joint physical custody means the child spends significant time living with both parents. Sole physical custody means the child lives primarily with one parent and has visitation with the other.

Legal custody determines who makes major decisions about the child's health, education, and welfare. Joint legal custody — by far the most common arrangement — means both parents share these decisions. Sole legal custody gives one parent unilateral decision-making authority.

A typical California arrangement is joint legal custody with primary physical custody to one parent. This means both parents decide on schools, medical care, and extracurricular activities, but the child lives primarily with one parent and follows a visitation schedule with the other.

The court's overriding concern is the child's best interests, which under Family Code Section 3011 considers the child's health, safety, and welfare; the nature and amount of contact with both parents; any history of abuse by either parent; and the child's habitual substance use by either parent.

How Guideline Child Support Works

California uses a statewide formula — the "guideline" — to calculate child support. It's not optional. Family Code Section 4055 sets out the algebraic formula, and deviating from it requires the judge to make specific findings on the record explaining why.

The formula factors in:

• Each parent's net disposable income — gross income minus taxes, mandatory deductions, and certain hardship allowances
• The percentage of time each parent has physical custody — expressed as a time-share fraction
• Tax filing status and deductions

The higher-earning parent generally pays support to the lower-earning parent. The amount decreases as the paying parent's custodial time increases, reaching zero when both incomes and time-shares are exactly equal (which rarely happens in practice).

You'll calculate support using a software tool like DissoMaster or XSpouse, or by working through the formula manually on Form FL-155 (Financial Statement Simplified). Court self-help centers often have the software available for free.

The calculated amount goes into Form FL-342 (Child Support Information and Order Attachment), which attaches to the judgment.

Mandatory Mediation for Custody Disputes

If both parents agree on custody and visitation, you can write up the arrangement in your Marital Settlement Agreement and submit it with the judgment package. No mediation, no court hearing, no custody evaluation.

If you disagree, the court will order mediation before scheduling a hearing. In most California counties, Family Court Services provides free mediation sessions. Some counties use a Child Custody Recommending Counselor (CCRC) model, where the mediator submits a recommendation to the judge if the parents can't agree.

CCRC counties include Los Angeles, San Diego, and many others. Non-CCRC counties keep mediation purely facilitative — the mediator tries to help you reach agreement but doesn't tell the judge what they think you should do.

Either way, you'll attend at least one mediation session before any custody trial. These sessions are confidential in non-CCRC counties and partially confidential in CCRC counties (the recommendation itself becomes part of the record).

The Judgment Package with Children

When you submit your final judgment, a divorce with children requires these additional attachments beyond the standard forms:

• Form FL-341 — Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time) Order Attachment (details the physical and legal custody arrangement)
• Form FL-342 — Child Support Information and Order Attachment (states the guideline child support amount)
• Form FL-343 — Spousal, Partner, or Family Support Order Attachment (if spousal support is ordered)
• Form FL-191 — Child Support Case Registry Form (registers the case with the state)
• Form FL-192 — Notice of Rights and Responsibilities (healthcare costs and reimbursement)

If either parent receives public assistance (such as CalWORKs), the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) must review and sign off on the child support terms before the judgment is submitted to the judge. This requirement catches many self-represented filers off guard — without the LCSA sign-off, the clerk will reject the judgment package.

Joint Petition with Children

The 2026 joint petition (Form FL-700) works for couples with children. You'll still need Form FL-105 and the custody-related judgment attachments, but you skip formal service of process and the case proceeds without a court appearance (assuming you agree on custody terms).

If you and your co-parent agree on a parenting plan and child support, the joint petition is often the most efficient path. The adversarial structure of a traditional filing serves no purpose when both parents are aligned on what's best for the children.

Building a Parenting Plan That Holds Up

Courts want specificity in parenting plans. A plan that says "parents will share custody" gives the judge nothing to enforce. A plan that specifies which days each parent has custody, how holidays alternate, and who handles transportation provides clarity for everyone — especially the children.

At minimum, your parenting plan should address:

• Regular weekday and weekend schedule
• Holiday and school break rotation (alternating years for major holidays)
• Summer vacation arrangements
• Transportation and exchange logistics
• Communication protocols (phone calls, video chats with the other parent)
• How major decisions are made (jointly or by one parent)
• Relocation provisions (what happens if one parent wants to move)

The California Divorce Filing Process Guide includes a parenting plan framework and the full judgment assembly checklist with all child-related attachments, so you can build a custody arrangement the court will approve.

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