Filing the petition starts your divorce on paper. Serving it starts the clock: until your spouse has been handed the file-stamped petition and summons by someone other than you, the court cannot move the case forward. StrikeServe assigns a California registered process server to deliver the packet, records each attempt with GPS coordinates and a timestamp, and returns a completed FL-115 Proof of Service of Summons signed under penalty of perjury.
Upload the file-stamped documents, enter the address, add notes about work hours or vehicles, and choose a speed. The flat price is the same in all 58 counties.
A California divorce is served as a packet: file-stamped copies of everything you filed, plus the blank forms your spouse needs to respond.
Opens the case and states what you are asking the court to decide.
Tells your spouse a case exists and that they have 30 days to respond.
Required when there are minor children; states where they have lived and any other custody cases.
Not served on your spouse. The server completes and signs it after delivery; you file it.
Add the blank FL-120 Response and any Request for Order or local forms your court requires; the server delivers it all as one set.
You cannot serve your own divorce papers. Code of Civil Procedure section 414.10 allows a summons to be served by any person who is at least 18 and not a party to the action, and the petitioner is a party. A friend or relative over 18, the sheriff or a registered process server can serve, and FL-115 asks the server to declare that they qualify and to sign under penalty of perjury.
If service is challenged, the server may have to explain what happened; a registered server working from a GPS-timestamped attempt log is far better placed to do that than a relative working from memory.
Three flat tiers, the same price in all 58 California counties. Every tier includes up to three attempts and a court-formatted proof of service.
First attempt within 5–7 business days. When there is no hearing date yet and you need the 30-day response period to start.
First attempt within 2–3 business days. When a Request for Order hearing is already set or you need the response period running before a specific date.
Order by noon; first attempt the same day. When the hearing is close, or your spouse is at a known address today and may not be tomorrow.
File-stamped papers, blank response forms, the service address and any notes.
Routine, Rush or Same-Day. Flat price, up to three attempts. Same-Day orders must be placed by noon.
Each attempt appears on your timeline with GPS coordinates and a timestamp.
Court-formatted, signed under penalty of perjury, or a Declaration of Non-Service if service fails.
Ready when you are. Upload the packet to start.
Personal service under Code of Civil Procedure section 415.10 means the server hands the papers to your spouse. If your spouse refuses them, the server can set them down nearby and state what they are; that still counts, and it is what the court expects to see in FL-115 item 3a.
If personal service cannot be completed after reasonable diligence, section 415.20(b) allows substituted service: the server leaves the papers with a competent adult at your spouse's home, workplace or usual mailing address, explains what they are, and mails a second copy to the same address. Service is deemed complete on the tenth day after mailing. FL-115 item 3b covers this method and requires a declaration of diligence describing the earlier attempts; StrikeServe's attempt log is the basis for that declaration.
The FL-110 summons gives your spouse 30 days after service to file a response. If they do not, you can ask the court to proceed by default. Nothing starts until FL-115 is filed, and the date on the proof is the date the court uses.
The server varies the days and times of the included attempts, tries a workplace or second address you provide, and documents each visit. If your spouse still cannot be reached, you receive a Declaration of Non-Service, which supports substituted service or, with the court's permission, posting or publication.
A spouse in another state can be personally served there or served by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested, with the signed receipt attached to FL-115. A spouse abroad may need to be served under the Hague Service Convention. StrikeServe serves within California.
When the serve is complete, the signed FL-115 appears in your dashboard. File the original with the clerk and keep a stamped copy; the court will not move the case forward until it is on file.
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