Video Transcript
Welcome to FreeDivorce.com.
Christina: This is Christina.
Ed: This is Ed. Today, we are going to talk about the additional court forms you will need to submit to the court when you submit your assembled divorce judgment. We are going to go over these additional forms one by one. We are not going to repeat what we said in the prior video about the “Appearance, Stipulation, And Waiver” form, which is FL-130, or the “Request To Enter Default” form, which is FL-165. In this video, we are going to discuss four additional court forms, one of which you will need only if you have child support as part of your divorce settlement agreement.
Ed: One of the four forms is called a “Declaration For Default or Uncontested Dissolution, which is FL-170. Christina, please tell us about the FL-170.
Christina: Whether you are processing your judgment as an uncontested case, which we sometimes call a “non-default case with an agreement” or as a default case, whether it’s a “true default” or “default with an agreement”, you will need to complete the form called, “Declaration For Default Or Uncontested Dissolution”, which is FL-170. This is a three-page form.
Ed: Is the FL-170 in our Court Forms Database?
Christina: Yes. You can find a blank version of the FL-170 in our database that you can fill out and print for free. We also have included in our Database three different versions of the completed FL-170. The completed version you want to look at will depend on which method you are using to process your judgment. If you are processing your case as an uncontested case, click on the completed version of the FL-170 that is entitled, “non-default with the agreement”. If you are processing your case as a “default with an agreement” case, then click on the completed version of the FL-170 that is entitled, “Default with the agreement”. If you are processing your case as a true default, click on the completed version of the FL-170 that is entitled, “True Default”. If your case is a contested case, you will not use the FL-170.
Ed: I’m looking at page 1 of the FL-170, item #4. Which boxes do I check?
Christina: If you are processing the judgment as a true default, you check box 4(a). If you are processing the judgment as a “default with an agreement case”, you check box 4(b). If you are processing the judgment as an uncontested case, check box 4(c). Then, fill out the rest of the form, checking the appropriate boxes. After you have filled out the form, print it, date and sign it. Only one party has to fill out and sign the FL-170. After you have filled out the FL-170, set is aside for now. You will eventually submit your completed FL-170 when you submit your divorce judgment to the court clerk.
Ed: Another form you will need to submit to the court along with your divorce judgment is the “Notice of Entry of Judgment” form, which is FL-190. Christina, please tell us about this form.
Christina: Whether you are processing your judgment as an uncontested case, a default with an agreement case, a true default or a contested case, you will need to fill out the form known as, “Notice of Entry of Judgment”, which is the FL-190. So, no matter how you are processing your case, you will need to submit this form with your judgment.
Ed: Is the FL-190 contained in our Court Forms Database?
Christina: Yes. You will find a blank FL-190 in our database that you can fill out and print for free.
Ed: If I want help filling out my FL-190, is an instructional video included in the “Judgment” video package that will walk me through how to fill out this form?
Christina: Yes. If you purchased the “Judgment” video package, just watch the FL-190 video.
Ed: What do I do with the FL-190 after I have filled it out?
Christina: After you have filled out the FL-190, make two additional copies of the completed FL-190 form. Set aside the original and the two copies for now. You will eventually submit the FL-190 to the court clerk when you submit your judgment.
Ed: Another form you will need to submit to the court along with your divorce judgment is the “Stipulation And Waiver Of Final Declaration of Disclosure” form, which is FL-144. Christina, please tell us about this form.
Christina: Whether you are processing your judgment as an uncontested case or a “default with an agreement” case, you will need to fill out the FL-144, assuming you and your spouse agreed to not exchange your Final Declarations of Disclosure. As we discussed in an earlier video, both parties are required by the court to complete their Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure documents consisting of the following four forms: Declaration of Disclosure (FL-140); Schedule of Assets & Debts (FL-142); Income & Expense Declaration (FL-150); and Declaration Regarding Service Of Declaration Of Disclosure And Income And Expense Declaration (FL-141). The Preliminary Declaration of Disclosures is completed and exchanged at the beginning of the divorce process. You should have already done your Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure forms. There is also a “Final Declaration of Disclosure” that is supposed to be completed and exchanged at the end of the divorce process, just before the judgment of dissolution is submitted to the court.
The Final Declaration of Disclosure consists of the exact same four forms that make up the Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure. Since many contested divorce cases take over a year to complete, the idea is that the information set forth in your Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure may have become outdated while waiting to settle or get to trial, so the court wants you and your spouse to fill out a Final Declaration of Disclosure before you finalize a settlement. You cannot waive exchanging your Preliminary Declarations of Disclosure, but you can waive exchanging your Final Declarations of Disclosure.
If you are processing an uncontested divorce where you and your spouse were able to reach a settlement agreement, typically, all of the divorce paperwork is going to be completed quickly, in a matter of a few weeks or months. The information in the Final Declaration of Disclosure would likely be the same as the information in the Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure. If the information in the Final Declaration will be the same as in the Preliminary Declaration, why bother with a Final Declaration of Disclosure? You can waive the exchange of Final Declarations of Disclosure by filling out the FL-144 form.
Ed: Is the FL-144 contained in our Court Forms Database?
Christina: Yes. You can find a blank version of the FL-144 and a completed version in our database.
Ed: What if my spouse and I did not agree to waive the exchange of our Final Declaration of disclosure documents? What if we both filled out our Final Declaration of Disclosure documents and exchanged them? In that case, do I still fill out the FL-144?
Christina: No. If you and your spouse filled out and exchanged your Final Declarations of Disclosure, then you don’t use the FL-144. Instead, you are going to fill out the FL-141 form, which is entitled, “Declaration Regarding Service Of Declaration Of Disclosure And Income And Expense Declaration”. We talked about the FL-141 in an earlier video when we were discussing the Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure documents. If you and your spouse exchanged your Final Declarations of Disclosure documents, then the FL-141 “Declaration Regarding Service” form will take the place of the FL-144 waiver form. If you exchanged your Final Declarations of Disclosures, then both you and your spouse will have to fill out the FL-141 form.
Ed: What do I do with my completed FL-144 or my completed FL-141?
Christina: After you have filled out either the FL-144 or the FL-141, set it aside for now. You will eventually file this form with the court when you submit your divorce judgment.
Ed: If your divorce judgment includes child support provisions, then another form you will need to submit to the court along with your divorce judgment is the “Income Withholding For Support” form, which is FL-195. Christina, please tell us about this form.
Christina: This is a wage assignment form. If you have minor children and child support is part of your settlement agreement, some courts will not process a judgment of dissolution unless you include the FL-195 form with your paperwork. This form is complicated because it is really a federal government form designed to work in all 50 states. You know it is a federal form when the form is 4 pages long, but comes with seven pages of instructions on how to fill out the form.
Ed: Is this federal form contained in our Court Forms Database?
Christina: Yes. If you go to our database, you will find both an example of a completed FL-195 and a blank FL- 195 form that you can fill out and print. We have also included in our database a copy of the instructions on how to fill out the form. The instructions are form FL-196.
Ed: What do I do with the FL-195 after I have completed it?
Christina: You will submit the completed FL-195 to the court along with your divorce judgment. It will be signed by a judge and you will receive a copy, along with the judgment, after the judgment has been processed by the court. When the FL-195 is sent back to you by the court, you can mail a copy to your spouse’s employer and the employer will then deduct the support from your spouse’s earnings.
Ed: Do I have to mail the FL-195 to my spouse’s employer after it comes back from the court?
Christina: Just because you fill out the FL-195 form and file it with your judgment of dissolution does not mean you have to serve the form on your spouse’s employer. When the FL-195 form comes back from the court, you can elect to just hold the form and not send a copy to your spouse’s employer. If your spouse pays the child and/or spousal support each month in a timely manner, there may be no need to send this income withholding order to your spouse’s employer.
Ed: If I send my spouse’s employer the FL-195, will the employer deduct the support from my spouse’s earnings and then send the money directly to me?
Christina: No. If you send the withholding order to your spouse’s employer, the employer will deduct the child support and spousal support that is due from your ex-spouse’s wages. The money will not be sent by the employer directly to you, but will instead be sent by the employer to the California State Disbursement Unit in Sacramento. You will need to contact the State Disbursement Unit and set up an account with them. When the State Disbursement Unit receives funds from your ex-spouse’s employer, the State Disbursement Unit will then transfer the funds to your account.
Ed: How do I set up an account with the California State Disbursement Unit?
Christina: If you Google “California State Disbursement Unit”, it will take you to their website. You can follow the online instructions on how to apply for their services and set up your account. If you decide you do not want your support to go through the State Disbursement Unit because you trust your ex-spouse to pay support on time directly to you, just hold onto the “Income Withholding For Support” form when it comes back from the court. If in the future, a problem develops with your ex-spouse paying support on time, you can always mail the “Income Withholding For Support” form to the employer when a problem arises.
Ed: What if I don’t have children so there is no child support order, but my divorce agreement does require my spouse to pay me spousal support, do I still fill out the FL-195?
Christina: If child support is not part of the judgment, just spousal support, then you can fill out a form that is much simpler to fill out than the FL-195. If just spousal support is involved and you want a wage assignment, you can fill out a form entitled, “Earnings Assignment Order For Spousal Or Partner Support”, which is FL-435.
Ed: If I use the FL-435, do I have to set up an account with the California State Disbursement Unit?
Christina: If only spousal support is involved and you use the FL-435, the employer will send the spousal support money directly to you and not to the California State Disbursement Unit. If you use the FL-435, after you complete it, you will submit it to the court clerk, along with your divorce judgment. When the FL-435 comes back from the court, mail a copy to your ex-spouse’s employer.