Most California divorce cases primarily involve two parties: the spouses. Sometimes, however, another person or entity has an interest that is sufficiently connected to the divorce that the court may need that person or entity formally brought into the case.

This procedure is known as joinder.

Joinder can arise in several family law contexts, including disputes involving retirement plans, property interests, and contested parentage.

Why Would Another Party Need to Be Joined?

A divorce judgment can affect valuable financial and legal interests.

Sometimes those interests belong partly to someone who is not one of the spouses. Resolving the issue without that person’s participation could affect their rights without giving them an opportunity to be heard.

Joinder provides a procedure for bringing an appropriate third party into the family law case so that issues affecting that party can be addressed within the proceeding.

Whether joinder is required or permitted depends on who the third party is and the issue involved.

Retirement Plans Can Involve Joinder

Employee benefit plans are one area where joinder may arise.

Retirement benefits earned during marriage may contain a community property interest, and specialized procedures can be necessary to divide those benefits.

The source materials separately address joinder of employee benefit plans as part of California marital proceedings.

Not every retirement division necessarily follows the identical procedure. The particular plan and the orders needed to divide the benefit must be evaluated.

This is another reason retirement assets should be identified early rather than waiting until the final judgment is being prepared.

Joinder Can Also Matter in Parentage Disputes

Joinder is not limited to financial issues.

Suppose one spouse claims a child is a child of the marriage, while the other spouse disputes parentage and another person may be the child’s parent.

The source materials explain that the third-party putative parent should be joined so that all potential parents receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the court makes a parentage or nonparentage determination.

This protects the interests of people whose parental rights could otherwise be affected by a proceeding in which they were not participating.

Some Divorce Issues Extend Beyond the Two Spouses

Most family law disputes can be resolved between the original parties. But when another person’s or entity’s rights are directly involved, resolving the issue may require more than simply entering an order between the spouses.

Identifying third-party interests early can help determine whether joinder is necessary before a property, retirement, or parentage issue is resolved. That can prevent the parties from reaching the end of the case only to discover that someone whose rights are affected was never formally brought into the proceeding.