If the parties are in agreement, a judgment can be submitted to the court as quickly as the papers can be prepared. For most attorneys or parties, this means at least a few days. How long it takes the clerk to process the papers depends on the county, and can run to six weeks or more.
Under California law, the court cannot change the status of the parties until six months after service, or acceptance of service, of the summons. When the paperwork is done immediately, the judgment will contain a future date on which the parties’ status changes from married to single. No hearing is required. The parties simply become single once the date stated in the judgment passes.