If you are ending a same-sex marriage or registered domestic partnership in Ventura or Santa Barbara County, California family law governs it. Community property is generally divided equally, parentage determines who can seek custody and child support, and spousal support depends on statutory factors. Your case is generally filed in the superior court of the county where you live, though exceptions exist: a same-sex couple who married in California but now lives somewhere that will not dissolve the marriage may file where they married, and a California-registered domestic partnership can be dissolved in a California court even if neither partner currently lives in the state.
Most people facing a same-sex divorce in Ventura are not only ending a relationship. They are trying to work out how the law will read a history that may include a domestic partnership registration, a marriage that came years later, a home bought before either one existed, and children whose legal parentage was never formally confirmed. Whether you live in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, or up the coast in Santa Barbara, the open questions tend to be the same: which relationship the court will count, which property is shared, and whether both parents stand on equal legal footing. The sections below take those questions in that order.
Same-Sex Divorce in California: What the Law Actually Covers
California applies the same Family Code to the dissolution of a same-sex marriage that it applies to any other marriage. The rules on property division, support, custody and finality are the same. What differs is the relationship history the court has to account for.
That history often has several layers. Under AB 205 (Stats. 2003, ch. 421), beginning January 1, 2005, registered domestic partners have the rights and duties of spouses, whenever they registered. That law is the source of the property and support rights that come up when a partnership is dissolved.
Marriage followed a separate timeline. In November 2008, California voters approved Proposition 8, which provided that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. No new same-sex marriages took place in California from November 2008 until after Hollingsworth v. Perry was decided on June 26, 2013. That decision addressed standing only. The Supreme Court held that the petitioners lacked standing to appeal the District Court's order, and it vacated the Ninth Circuit's judgment and remanded the case.
Because of these overlapping periods, a couple in Thousand Oaks might have registered as domestic partners, married years later, and lived together long before either step. A couple in Santa Maria might have married before Proposition 8. Each of these histories raises its own legal questions.
A Ventura County resident generally files in the Superior Court of California, County of Ventura. A Santa Barbara County resident generally files in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. For a marriage, Family Code section 2320 generally requires, as a condition of entering a judgment of dissolution, that one spouse have lived in California for six months and in the filing county for three months, measured immediately before the petition was filed. Section 2320 also has an exception for same-sex spouses who married in California and now live somewhere that will not dissolve the marriage. The firm's page on divorce after moving away covers that exception in more detail.
Domestic Partnerships and the Dissolution Process in Ventura County
Family Code section 299 governs how a registered domestic partnership ends. The simplest route skips court entirely. Under that route, both partners sign and file a Notice of Termination of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State. It is available only if all of the conditions in section 299(a) are met at the time of filing, including:
- there are no children of the relationship and neither partner, to their knowledge, is pregnant
- the partnership has lasted no more than five years
- neither partner owns an interest in real property, other than a qualifying short-term residential lease
- unpaid debts incurred during the partnership stay under a limit set by statute
Married couples have a parallel option called summary dissolution, which Family Code section 2400 et seq. governs. It has similar limits: a short marriage, no children, no real property, and caps on both debts and assets.
Many couples in Ventura, Simi Valley and Oxnard will not qualify for either short route. A home, a child, or a long relationship moves the case into a full dissolution proceeding. In a full proceeding, one partner files a petition and the other responds. The court then addresses property, support and children.
Some couples are both registered domestic partners and married to each other. Family Code section 299(e) allows them to ask the court to dissolve the partnership and the marriage together in a single proceeding. The partnership and the marriage remain two legal relationships, and the court ends both.
For marriages, Family Code section 2339 sets a waiting period. A judgment is not final to end the marriage until six months have passed from service of the summons and petition, or from the respondent's appearance, whichever comes first. The court may extend that period for good cause. Some couples want the finances settled without ending the relationship. The firm's page on same-sex legal separation explains that alternative.
Community Property and the Date of Separation in Same-Sex Cases
Family Code section 2550 generally requires the court to divide the community estate equally. The community estate is generally the property and debts acquired during the marriage and before the date of separation. The court can depart from equal division if the parties agree in writing or by oral stipulation in court. The firm's page on community property for same-sex couples covers how this works for partnerships as well as marriages.
The date of separation marks the point when the community stops acquiring property. Family Code section 70 defines it as the date of "a complete and final break" in the relationship. Two things must both be present: one spouse has expressed the intent to end the marriage, and that spouse's conduct is consistent with that intent. The court considers all relevant evidence. Because this is a factual question, couples in Camarillo or Lompoc who stayed in the same house after deciding to part may genuinely disagree about the date.
The start of the community period can be just as hard to pin down in same-sex cases. Many couples were together for years before they could register or marry. During that time they may have bought a house, built retirement savings, or paid down a mortgage. Property acquired before the legal relationship began is a separate question from community property, and it calls for careful analysis of when the asset was acquired, how it was paid for, and how it was titled. The way that timeline applies to a pre-2005 registration in particular depends on the specific facts.
Separate property generally remains separate if it can be traced. Separate property includes assets owned before the relationship and assets received by gift or inheritance. The analysis is the same in Santa Barbara as anywhere in California, but the facts can vary a great deal. The firm has pages on the family home in divorce and on dividing retirement accounts for those specific assets.
Spouses can change their statutory property rights by agreement under Family Code section 1500. A premarital agreement is governed by its own enforceability rules in section 1615. An agreement signed during the marriage is a different kind of document.
Parentage in LGBTQ Families: Why It Matters in a Ventura County Divorce
Parentage, the legal status of being a child's parent, is not automatic for every parent in an LGBTQ family. Before a court can order custody or child support in favor of a non-biological parent, that person's parentage has to be established. For many Ventura County families, this is the most important question in the case.
California has several routes to parentage.
Presumptions. Family Code section 7611 lists situations in which a person is presumed to be a child's parent. One example is being married to the child's birth mother when the child is born, or when the child is born within 300 days after the marriage ends.
Assisted reproduction. Under Family Code section 7613, an intended parent who consents to another person's conception through assisted reproduction with donated genetic material is treated in law as a natural parent of the child. The consent is meant to be in writing and signed by both. If it was not, a court may still find consent if there is clear and convincing evidence of an oral agreement before conception that both would be parents. Section 7613 also addresses when a donor is not a parent.
Voluntary declaration of parentage. This signed declaration is another route, and it does not require a court order.
Judgments. A court can also establish parentage through a judgment.
California also allows a court to find that a child has more than two parents. Under SB 274 (Stats. 2013, ch. 564), a court can do this where limiting the child to two parents would be detrimental to the child.
For families in Thousand Oaks, Santa Maria or Simi Valley with children conceived through assisted reproduction or surrogacy, parentage is part of the dissolution itself. It affects every custody and support order that follows.
Adoption is a separate legal process from these parentage routes. The firm explains adoption law for informational purposes on its page on same-sex couples adopting children, but it does not take adoption matters.
Spousal Support and the Length of the Relationship
Family Code section 4320 lists the circumstances a court must consider when it sets spousal support. They include:
- each party's earning capacity compared with the marital standard of living
- time one spouse spent out of work for domestic duties
- one spouse's contributions to the other's education or career
- the supporting party's ability to pay
- each party's needs, obligations and assets, including separate property
- the duration of the marriage
- the age and health of the parties
The courts in Ventura County and Santa Barbara County apply these same factors.
The "duration of the marriage" factor is where same-sex histories become complicated. Consider a couple who registered as domestic partners in 2004 and married in 2015. They have two legal relationships with different starting dates, and the court has to characterize that history to decide how long the relationship lasted. Years of living together before either step add another layer. How a court weighs each period depends on the facts, and it can affect both the amount and the length of support.
Serving Ventura County and Santa Barbara County
This page covers Ventura County and Santa Barbara County, including Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Lompoc. Dissolution cases for Ventura County residents are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Ventura. Cases for Santa Barbara County residents are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara.
Family Code section 10002 requires each superior court to maintain an office of the family law facilitator. That office is staffed by an attorney licensed in California with mediation or litigation experience, or both, in family law.
The firm handles California matters only; its attorney is licensed in California. It does not take adoption matters.
If You'd Like to Talk Through Your Ventura or Santa Barbara County Case
Same-sex dissolutions in Ventura County and Santa Barbara County often depend on dates: when a partnership was registered, when a marriage took place, when a child was conceived, and when the relationship actually ended. A conversation with an attorney is the place to put those dates in order. It can also be a plain, no-obligation conversation about your situation. If your question is about adoption, the firm can discuss the related parentage, custody or divorce issues.
To talk it through, call LGBTDivorceLaw.com at (866) 343-4226 for a confidential consultation.