Question Details: My husband and I were both married in CA. We then moved to GA because because my husband was stationed there. Now we are both in the military. He lives in GA, I am deployed, and we both own a house in AL. We still pay taxes in CA and are both conisedered legal residents of CA. Can we still get a divorce in CA even though we haven't been physically living there for the past 2 1/2 years?
Unlikely. The legal principle in action here is called "standing." You have "standing" to appear before a particular court only if you've satisfied the requirements that entitle parties to pursue claims in particular jurisdictions. You wouldn't want someone other than one of the spouses in a marriage to have the right to sue in court for the dissolution of that marriage, right? Similarly, you wouldn't want to let spouses go shopping all over the country for friendly jurisdictions in which he or she would have the best chance of getting custody of the kids and as much property as possible. That's why family courts typically insist on residency requirements. A spouse has to have been resident of the jurisdiction for a certain period of time before he or she can bring a divorce action there. So the real question for you is not whether you (or even the state tax authorities of California) consider yourselves legal residents of California. The real question is whether you satisfy the residency requirements that give you legal standing to divorce your spouse in California. You need the advice of a California lawyer with expertise in family law matters to make that determination.

Are you a lawyer?
![]() |