Pick how you were served, enter the date, and see your response deadline. Free, no signup required. Covers the three most common methods: personal service, substituted service, and mail with a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt.
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Enter a date above to calculate your deadline
Related tools and guides
For the full walkthrough of serving papers in the first place, see how to serve divorce papers in California. If you were the one served and are not sure what to do next, start with our response page or the guide on what happens if you don't respond. For the bigger picture of what to expect after your deadline, see our divorce timeline estimator.
This calculator is for planning only and is not legal advice or an official determination of when you were served or what your deadline is. It applies Code of Civil Procedure sections 412.20, 415.20, and 12a to the date you enter, and, for mail with a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt, the rule stated on the California Courts Self-Help Guide. It does not verify that service was performed correctly, does not track court holidays, and does not cover service by publication, service outside California, or service on a business or registered agent. If your deadline is close or has passed, or if you are unsure whether service was valid, act quickly and consult a licensed California family law attorney. Virdix is a document preparation service, not a law firm.
California's baseline rule, Code of Civil Procedure section 412.20, gives a respondent 30 calendar days after service to file a written Response. The date that clock starts, however, depends entirely on how service happened. Personal service starts the clock immediately: 30 days from the date the papers were handed over. Substituted service, leaving the papers with someone else and then mailing a copy, is not legally complete until the 10th day after mailing under Code of Civil Procedure section 415.20(b), so the 30 day response period does not begin until that later date, which works out to about 40 days after the mailing date rather than 30. Service by mail with a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt is different again: it is only complete the day the person being served actually signs the Notice, and the 30 days runs from that signed date, per the California Courts Self-Help Guide.
Any deadline that lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or court holiday rolls forward to the next court day under Code of Civil Procedure section 12a. This calculator checks for weekends automatically. It does not track the specific court holiday calendar, which can vary slightly by county, so if your computed date happens to land on a holiday, add one more day or confirm with your county's Superior Court.
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Start my Response free30 calendar days from the date you are personally handed the papers, under Code of Civil Procedure section 412.20. If the 30th day falls on a weekend or court holiday, the deadline moves to the next court day under CCP 12a.
Substituted service means the papers were left with someone else at your home or work and then also mailed to you. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 415.20(b), that kind of service is not deemed legally complete until the 10th day after mailing. Your 30 day response window then runs from that deemed date, which works out to about 40 days after the mailing date, not 30.
The day you sign the Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt, not the day it was mailed to you. Per the California Courts Self-Help Guide, you then have 30 days from the date you signed it to file your Response. If you never sign and return it, service is not complete, and the other party will generally need to try personal or substituted service instead.
The petitioner may be able to ask the court to enter your default, which can let the case move toward judgment without your input on the terms. If your deadline has already passed, act quickly. See our guide on what happens if you don't respond to divorce papers for your options.
It automatically rolls a deadline forward if it lands on a Saturday or Sunday, per Code of Civil Procedure section 12a. It does not maintain a list of California court holidays, so if your computed date also happens to land on one, add one additional day, or confirm with your county's Superior Court.
No. It applies published statutory rules to the date you enter for general planning. It is not legal advice and does not review the specific facts of your case, including whether you were actually served correctly in the first place. Virdix is a document preparation service, not a law firm; for advice about your situation, consult a licensed California family law attorney.