Question about divorce law in USA- advise?

[Calibandar]

A question for you guys. I have a friend who lives in California. She is married but her marriage has basically long been over and they've been talking about divorce for a long time.

She wants to divorce, and he is making it very hard on her. She filled out her half of papers but he refuses to do his, and has maintained throughout that he will not sign divorce papers.

He's said that his aim is to make her life miserable and that he will make it as hard on her as possible. She had hoped and tried for an amicable divoirce whereby she could reason with him and come to terms, but he continues to refuse. In the meantime he tries to bully her into submission.

My question is: What should her next steps be? How does this work? What can she do to be free of him? I'm not married myself and just don't know much about this topic.

It's hard to believe for me that if one person simply refuses to sign than that means the marriage cannot be ended. All very strange.

What should she do? I've told her, contact legal, but what sort of legal should that be, what are her options?

[lady narcissa]

In the United States, divorce is governed by state law.  Although there are many similarities among state laws regarding divorce, California is a community property state (unlike most other states) and there are many issues that are specific to that when it comes to divorce in California.  As such your friend should consult with an attorney licensed in the state of California who specializes in divorce.  Although there might be circumstances where it might be possible to go through a divorce without consulting with an attorney it certainly does not sound advisable in your friend's circumstance.

The California courts website has some decent basic information on their website regarding divorce in California that would be a good starting point.

http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-divorce.htm