Assembling your judgment of dissolution: After you have completed your judgment of dissolution (FL-180), it is time to assemble all the parts of the judgment.
Forms Approach
Judgment with agreement consisting of collection of Judicial Council forms: If you are processing your judgment entirely with court forms (i.e., not using a Marital Settlement Agreement), then the different parts you will need are the following: Judgment (FL-180); Property Order Attachment To Judgment (FL-345); Spousal, Partner, or Family Support Order Attachment (FL-343); and “Stipulation For Entry of Judgment”.
If you have minor children, then you will also need to attach the following forms to your judgment: Child Custody And Visitation (Parenting Time) Order Attachment (FL-341), any of the additional child custody related forms you may have elected to include such as FL- 341(A), FL-341(B), FL-341(C), 341(D) and/or FL-341(E). You will also need to attach your Child Support Information Order Attachment (FL-342), together with your guideline child support calculation printout, and if you go with a non-guideline child support amount, then attach FL-342(A). You will also need to attach the Notice of Rights And Responsibilities and Information Sheet On Changing A Child Support Order (FL-192).
Put your forms in the following order. Start with the FL-180. Then, add the “Stipulation For Entry of Judgment”. Then, add the rest of the forms. It really does not matter the order you assemble the rest of the forms. Most people put their forms in the following order: child custody related forms; child support related forms; spousal support forms, and finally the property division form.
Agreement Template Approach
Judgment with Marital Settlement Agreement: If you are using the Marital Settlement Agreement approach instead of all the Judicial Council court forms approach, then you will need the completed FL-180 plus the signed Marital Settlement Agreement. If you have minor children, then you will also need to attach the FL-192 form. You will also need to attach a computer printout, such as DissoMaster, showing how the amount of child support was calculated.
If you have minor children, a few counties, even if you have a Marital Settlement Agreement, will insist that you also attach to your judgment the basic child custody Judicial Council form (FL-341) and the basic child support Judicial Council form (FL-342), filling out the forms to match the general terms of your Marital Settlement Agreement. You can check with the Family Court Facilitator in your particular county to see if the court will require the FL-341 and FL-342 to be attached even if you have a Marital Settlement Agreement or you can just submit your judgment and, if you live in one of the few counties that insist on having the FL-341 and FL-342, the court will send the judgment back to you and let you know you have to include those forms.
