Depending on which state you’re in, the gap between filing for divorce and becoming divorced can be as short as a day or as long as almost two years.
While states like Arkansas enforce an 18-month separation trial between the day someone files and the day their divorce can move forward, Nevada residents aren’t subject to waiting any mandatory length, as long as one half of the couple can prove they’ve lived there for at least six weeks.
Between these extremes, California’s rule was somewhere in the middle—with a six-month waiting period—until a former Lompoc resident contacted her elected state representative about pursuing policy reform.
“Domestic violence … almost took my life a couple years ago,” said Laura Piña, who was hospitalized for about a month in 2024 after being shot, within less than three weeks of filing divorce papers.
Incarcerated since his arrest, Piña’s spouse at the time was charged with attempted murder, assault with a firearm, and other felonies he pleaded not guilty to amid ongoing court proceedings.
“I thank God for giving me a second chance at life, and for giving me a purpose,” Piña said. “Since then, … I wanted to be able to help and advocate for others so they don’t have to go through some of the same challenges that either I’ve experienced or seen firsthand.”
When Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) heard Piña’s story, he began working on legislation to grant California judges a new threshold of discretion—specifically, the leeway to bypass the state’s six-month waiting period in certain divorce cases.
“This was directly as a result of Laura reaching out to our office,” Hart told the Sun. “The idea that a six-month waiting period is required for a divorce, particularly in a situation where there’s domestic violence involved, is just another painful obstacle for somebody who’s trying to move forward in their life.”
Hart described his bill—Assembly Bill 1875, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Oct. 5—as recognizing that the immediate days and weeks surrounding a divorce can be particularly dangerous for victims of domestic violence.
It’s a sentiment one of the bill’s local co-sponsors, Domestic Violence Solutions, shares.
“I can tell you, anecdotally, that there are examples of folks who, because of that six-month period and requirement that there still be ties between spouses, that there have been incidents,” Executive Director Ken Oplinger said. “But we don’t really keep those sorts of statistics.”
Domestic Violence Solutions objected to some aspects of an early iteration of Hart’s bill, Oplinger said, before the Santa Barbara-based nonprofit committed to co-sponsoring the legislation.
“In the initial version of this bill, we had some concerns,” Oplinger said. “The primary one being that while in theory we liked the idea, we didn’t think there were enough safeguards to ensure that it wouldn’t be potentially used against a survivor in a negative way.”
For instance, Oplinger explained, in cases where “a survivor who was still in the process of trying to ensure that, at the dissolution of the marriage, there would be financial support both for the exiting spouse as well as any dependents that they might have.”
“If there was an effort to try to … rapidly end the divorce before those sorts of things were handled, that would obviously be something that would be detrimental to the survivor,” Oplinger said. “Especially for folks who don’t have the resources to try and take care of these things on their own, thinking that that’s the way to sort of solve this without that legal representation. It can be a problem.”
Through his discussions with Domestic Violence Solutions, Hart specified that the proposal must allow judges to provide relief at their discretion, instead of pursing legislation to simply eliminate the six-month waiting period.
“That’s the model that we went after, rather than just the blanket,” Hart said. “The judge has to determine that good cause exists. It’s not an automatic divorce requirement.”
While existing state law allows courts the discretion to extend the six-month gap when determining cause was shown, Hart’s bill grants courts the option to also either reduce or waive the waiting period when judges feel it’s appropriate.
“It just provides relief on a case-by-case basis,” Hart said. “[While] making sure that the financial arrangements are established and recognized, … making sure that material divorce issues are resolved.”
“But at the same time,” he explained, “somebody who’s an abuser of someone can’t just stall this out and continue to disrupt the victim’s life.”
When AB 1875 hit the Assembly floor in late August, it passed with 78 Assembly members for, and zero against. Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) was the sole member who did not vote on the legislation.
While Hart authored the bipartisan bill, 13 co-authors are also credited, including representatives on both sides of the aisle, such as Assemblymembers Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) and Stephanie Nguyen (D-Elk Grove).
Piña told the Sun she wants to continue advocating for domestic violence victims, including by possibly working with Hart again and other elected officials on additional legislative reform.
She now lives in Santa Barbara—where she was born and raised—and regularly commutes to both Lompoc and Santa Maria to teach psychology classes on Allan Hancock College’s two campuses.
Her housemate is a dog named Axel, the pit pull mix who’s stuck by her side for years, including on the day she was shot.
“We’ve definitely both been healing the last couple of years,” Piña said. “After this incident, my children packed up all my belongings, and I sold my place [in Lompoc] and I never went back.”
She described Axel and her three adult children as among her support system’s key players.
“I tell this to my children all the time, … there’s always something that can be better, but there’s always something that can be worse. And when you get a second chance of life, you appreciate things on a different level,” Piña said. “A lot of [my advocacy work] may not be applicable or help me in any way, but it can help others. I’m making that my mission instead of just retreating or retracting from the world.” m
Reach Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in November 12 – November 19, 2026.
