Late-breaking legal changes and fixes that affect

How to Solve Divorce Problems

Forms Updates. The companion CD contains forms that can be used with the free Adobe Reader. To check for new and fixed forms updates, click here.

Adobe Reader. The free Adobe Reader, available here, allows you to fill out and print forms, but you can't save what you entered so when you close the file your data will be lost.
The best alternative that we know of for Windows is the $30 Cute PDF Form Filler that allows you to fill out forms and save the data you entered. To buy it or get a free trial version, click here.

30% off for owners of old editions. If you bought your book directly from us, or if you send us the cover of your old edition, you get 30% off on the new book which includes the latest CD, too! Total price is $31.24 with tax and shipping. To order, call Nolo at (800) 464-5502, M-F, 9-5.

March 1, 2008 — New 6th Edition — What changed?

March 1, 2008 — New printing, new CD, 20 updated forms

Do not use older forms or older editions of this book! The companion CD for the 6th Edition contains the latest Judicial Council forms for use on your computer.

Family law forms include FL-342(A), FL-391, FL-393, MC-120, SUBP-025. To download (525 Kb), click here.

Sixteen Domestic Violence case forms. To download updated forms (6 Mb), click here.

Page 65—New privacy rules. On any document filed with the court or attached to any document filed with court, you should disguise all Social Security and account numbers by replacing them with asterisks and the last four numbers. For example, "****-**-1234" would replace someone's SS number. If the court should ever require the full numbers, they'll ask you to report them on form MC-120, which will be kept from public view. You do not disguise numbers on documents served on the other side.

Page 102—family pet. When applying for protective orders, you can now request custody of and protection for any family pet living with either party.

Page 230—Bifurcation. When moving for termination of relationship separately from determination of other issues, the court amendments to Family Code 2337(c) add new conditions that a judgment must or may require in granting the motion, including joinder of pension funds, maintenance of health coverage and so on. Be sure to read the new code section prior to undertaking a motion for bifurcation.

Alerts for the 5th Edition

July 1, 2007

FL-391 Information Sheet—Simplified Way to Change Child, Spousal, or Family Support and
FL-393 Information Sheet—How to Oppose a Request to Change Child, Spousal, or Family Support.
Revised. After July 1, 2007, do not use older versions of these forms.
To download, click here.

Seven revised Domestic Violence forms. After July 1, 2007, do not use older versions of these forms. They include: DV-100, 110, 120, 130, 160, 260, and 520.
To download (887 kb), click here.

New 5th Edition — What changed?

April 2007 — new printing, new CD, 13 new forms

13 new or revised forms. Do not use older forms or older editions of this book! The companion CD for the 5th Edition contains the latest Judicial Council forms for use on your computer.

Revised forms include: All six subpoena forms, FL-300 Order to Show Cause, FL-301 Notice of Motion, FL-310 Application for Order and Supporting Declaration, FL-344 Property Order Attachment to Findings and Order After Hearing.

Rules of Court have been reorganized and renumbered, so references to them in earlier editions are obsolete.

Page 66 - Colored paper. Some counties used to require that certain documents be filed on colored paper, but effective January 1, new Court Rules 1.31(f), 1.35(f) and 2.103 superseded local rules and all court documents are now to be filed on white recycled paper, at least 20-pound weight. If a clerk returns a document and requests it on colored paper, you can either refile it with a note calling the clerk’s attention to the above Rules of Court or you can just do as the clerk asks — sometimes that’s easier.