[1] To start your marital dissolution case, you must complete and file the following 4 forms with the Riverside Superior Court:

a. Petition (Form FL-100)
b. Summons (Form FL-110)
c. Certificate of Counsel (Local Form)
(see www.courts.co.riverside.ca.us/localfrms/1A.pdf)
d. Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement
Act (if you have minor children) (Form FL-105)

[2] File an original and 2 copies of each form with the Clerk’s Office at the Courthouse. The filing fee is $335, unless you qualify for a fee waiver. To apply for a fee waiver, you must complete the following 2 forms and file them with the court with your other paperwork:

a. Information Sheet On Waiver of Court Fees and Costs
(Form FW-001-Info)
b. Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs (Form FW-001)
c. Order on Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs
(Form FW-003)

[3] Serve one of the conformed copies of the Summons and Petition by personal service on the other party, by someone who is at least 18 years of age. In addition to a copy of the filed paperwork, you have also have blank copies of the following documents served at the same time:

a. Response (Form FL-120)
b. Proof of Service By Mail (Form FL-335)
c. Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement
Act (if you have minor children) (Form FL-105)
d. Declaration of Disclosure (Form FL-140)
e. Income & Expense Declaration (Form FL-150)
f. Schedule of Assets & Debts (Form FL-142)

After you have completed service of the initial paperwork on the other party, you must have a “Proof of Service of Summons (Family Law)” (Form FL-115) completed and signed by the person who personally served the paperwork, and then you must file the Proof of Service with the Clerk’s Office at the court.