California Divorce & Home Sale Report 2026

Updated October 2026. California courts received 107,146 marital filings (dissolution, legal separation and nullity) in fiscal year 2024-25, down 1.2% from the year before and 23% below FY 2015-16, according to the Judicial Council of California. The stakes are high: 55.9% of California’s occupied homes are owner-occupied (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024), and the statewide median single-family price was $901,420 in August 2026, according to the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.). This report explains the rules and options for the house.

How many Californians file for divorce, and where?

Filings have declined over the past decade and changed little in the past two years. Judicial Council of California figures show 139,806 marital filings in FY 2015-16, 115,164 in FY 2021-22, 108,436 in FY 2023-24 and 107,146 in FY 2024-25. The FY 2019-20 total (108,432) is not a clean comparison: the Judicial Council notes that court operations were limited between March and June 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Los Angeles County recorded 25,288 filings in FY 2024-25, followed by San Diego (10,729), Orange (8,712), Riverside (7,695) and San Bernardino (6,246), together more than half the statewide total (Judicial Council). Relative to ACS 2020-2024 household counts, the table above shows the highest rates in Kings (16.2 per 1,000 households), Del Norte (14.3) and Lassen (13.3) counties and the lowest in Alpine (2.3) and San Francisco (5.0); small counties can swing sharply from year to year.

Is the house community property or separate property?

It depends mainly on when and how the home was acquired. Property acquired during the marriage while living in California is generally community property (Family Code Section 760), while property owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance is separate (Family Code Section 770). The California Courts Self-Help Guide adds that earnings and acquisitions after the date of separation are generally separate too.

Many homes are a mix. In the Self-Help Guide’s example, a down payment from one spouse’s premarital earnings plus mortgage payments from earnings during the marriage leave the equity part separate and part community. Title matters too: the divorce summons warns that property acquired during the marriage in joint form is presumed to be community property for purposes of division (Family Code Section 2040(c)).

The court divides the community estate equally unless the spouses agree otherwise in writing or by oral stipulation in open court (Family Code Section 2550). A spouse who traces separate funds into a down payment, improvements or loan principal can generally be reimbursed, without interest or adjustment for changes in monetary value and up to the property’s net value, unless the right was waived in writing (Family Code Section 2640). A family law attorney should review title and payment records.

Can you sell the house while the divorce is pending?

Yes, but generally only with your spouse’s written consent or a court order. The divorce summons contains standard restraining orders: Family Code Section 2040 bars both spouses from transferring, encumbering, concealing or otherwise disposing of any property, whether community, quasi-community or separate, without the other party’s written consent or a court order, except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life. Under Family Code Section 233, the orders apply once the petition is filed and the summons is issued and served, and they last until judgment, dismissal or further court order.

When both spouses want to sell, a signed written agreement generally provides the consent; if they cannot agree, a judge can decide property issues at a hearing or trial (Self-Help Guide). The sale also does not have to wait for the judgment: a divorce cannot become final until six months after the summons and petition are served or the other spouse appears, whichever comes first (Family Code Section 2339), but the house can be sold sooner with consent or a court order.

What are the options for the house?

There are three main paths: sell and divide the proceeds, a buyout, or a deferred sale.

A buyout generally avoids a property tax reassessment: the Board of Equalization lists transfers between spouses, including under a divorce settlement or court order, among changes in ownership excluded from reassessment (Revenue and Taxation Code Section 63). For federal income tax, a transfer to a spouse, or to a former spouse incident to divorce (within one year after the marriage ends, or related to its end), generally has no recognized gain or loss, and the receiving spouse takes over the other’s adjusted basis (IRS Publication 504).

A deferred sale of home order, sometimes called a “Duke order,” temporarily delays the sale and gives a custodial parent exclusive use of the home to reduce the divorce’s impact on the children (Family Code Section 3800). The court must first find it economically feasible to keep up the loan payments, property taxes, insurance and the home’s condition (Section 3801), then weigh factors such as how long the child has lived there, school placement, each parent’s ability to find housing and the economic detriment to the other parent (Section 3802). The order states its duration and can be modified or ended by the court, and the resident parent’s remarriage creates a rebuttable presumption that further delay is no longer equitable (Sections 3803, 3807 and 3808).

How are taxes generally handled when divorcing spouses sell?

Each qualifying spouse can generally exclude up to $250,000 of gain on a main home, or $500,000 on a joint return if both spouses meet the residence requirement and at least one meets the ownership requirement (IRS Topic 701 and Publication 523).

Timing matters: you are treated as unmarried for the whole year if you have a final decree of divorce or separate maintenance by the last day of the tax year, and as married if you are only separated (IRS Publication 504), so the sale and judgment dates can affect whether a joint return and the $500,000 limit are available.

Two rules help a spouse who has moved out. If your spouse or former spouse is allowed to live in the home under a divorce or separation instrument and uses it as a main home, you can treat it as your residence while you remain a sole or joint owner. If the home was transferred to you by a spouse or former spouse, you can count the time your spouse owned it, though you must meet the residence requirement yourself (IRS Publication 523).

What practical steps keep a divorce home sale on track?

Put the key decisions in writing before listing:

• Get consent in writing first. While the case is pending, sign a listing or sale contract only with written consent or a court order.
• Agree on value and method: the agent, list price and how offers are accepted, or whether to seek cash offers.
• Assign carrying costs: who pays the mortgage, property taxes, insurance and repairs until closing, and who shows the home.
• Decide how proceeds are handled. Escrow follows written instructions signed by the sellers; if the division is unsettled, the agreement or a court order can have escrow hold the net funds, for example in a blocked account, until the spouses agree or the court rules.
• Raise reimbursement claims before escrow closes, and ask a CPA about timing.

Selling as-is to a cash buyer is one option alongside listing with an agent. It can reduce the decisions spouses must agree on, such as repairs and showings, but the same consent rules apply. Learn more about selling a house during a divorce.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology and sources

Filing counts are from the Judicial Council of California’s 2026 Court Statistics Report (FY 2024-25, with revised earlier years). Marital filings include dissolutions, legal separations and nullities and count cases filed, not divorces granted; county FY 2023-24 figures are as first published in the 2025 report. Rates per 1,000 households use U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 household counts (Census Reporter), and the median price is from C.A.R.’s August 2026 report.

Legal rules are summarized from the California Family Code, Sections 233, 760, 770, 2040 (amended by AB 1297 effective January 1, 2026; the property restraint is unchanged in the version operative January 1, 2027), 2339, 2550, 2640 and 3800-3810; the California Courts Self-Help Guide on property and debts and divorce papers; IRS Topic 701, Publication 523 and Publication 504; and the Board of Equalization’s change in ownership FAQs.

More research: browse all Cash Home Buyers CA research reports, including the California Home Selling Costs Report 2026, the California Free-and-Clear Homes Report 2026 and the California Mortgage Rate Lock-In Report 2026. If you are weighing a sale, read about selling a house during a divorce, learn how a direct cash sale works, or check where we buy.