Legal Question in Family Law in California

It depends on what the respondent is going to court for. The respondent could file a motion to vacate the default or default judgment, or set an OSC on a matter not addressed in your petition.

Mr. Roach is correct. The respondent can contest the default if there was any defect in service of process or any other aspect of the default proceedings. As he says, if any issues were not resolved by your default, the respondent can go in and ask that omitted issues be addressed. I would also add that the court retains jurisdiction over many aspects of divorce even once a "final" judgment is entered. Child custody and support are the number one thing that is never truly final until the children are grown up. Spousal support is also frequently under reserved jurisdiction to modify or terminate.