To get an emergency custody order in California, you file a Request for Order and three supporting Judicial Council forms through the court’s ex parte process, give the other parent notice by 10:00 a.m. the court day before you file, and show the judge that your child faces immediate physical or emotional harm or an immediate risk of being taken out of state. Family Code Section 3064 sets that bar deliberately high because the judge may act before the other parent has a full chance to respond.1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3064 – Temporary Custody Order During Pendency of Proceeding Most requests succeed or fail on the declaration and the notice paperwork.
What You Have to Prove
Disagreements about schedules, discipline, or parenting styles will not get you an emergency order. Section 3064 requires a showing of “immediate harm to the child” or “immediate risk that the child will be removed from the State of California.”1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3064 – Temporary Custody Order During Pendency of Proceeding The statute names two categories that qualify as immediate harm:
- Recent or ongoing domestic violence by a parent.
- Recent or ongoing sexual abuse of the child.
Because the statute uses “includes, but is not limited to,” a judge can find immediate harm in other extreme circumstances, but the closer your facts sit to those two categories, the stronger the case. The court also considers whether a parent has illegal access to firearms or ammunition, including access that violates a restraining order, protective order, or condition of probation or parole.1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3064 – Temporary Custody Order During Pendency of Proceeding
The removal-from-California ground covers credible evidence that the other parent plans to leave the state with the child: plane tickets, statements of intent, a pattern of hiding the child’s whereabouts.
The Forms You File
California uses standardized Judicial Council forms for emergency custody requests. Prepare all of these before you go to the courthouse:
- Request for Order (Form FL-300). Check the “Temporary Emergency Orders” box on page 1, and check the “I request temporary emergency orders” box in item 2 on page 2.2California Courts. Ask for an Emergency Ex Parte Order
- Temporary Emergency Court Orders (Form FL-305). This is the order the judge signs. Fill it out with the specific orders you want.3California Courts. Request for Order Form FL-300
- Declaration Under UCCJEA (Form FL-105). Lists where the child has lived for the past five years and identifies any custody proceedings in any state. File a fresh FL-105 if anything has changed since a previous one.4California Courts. Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act UCCJEA FL-105
- Declaration Regarding Notice (Form FL-303). Documents how and when you notified the other parent.5California Courts. Declaration Regarding Notice and Service of Request for Temporary Emergency Ex Parte Orders FL-303
Make two copies of everything, including Form FL-305. You file the originals with the clerk and keep the copies for service and your records.2California Courts. Ask for an Emergency Ex Parte Order
Writing the Declaration
The declaration is where the case lives or dies. You write it in item 9 (“Facts to Support”) on page 4 of Form FL-300. If you need more room, check the “Attachment 9” box and continue on Form MC-025.2California Courts. Ask for an Emergency Ex Parte Order
California Rule of Court 5.151 requires you to describe the most recent incidents of immediate harm or immediate risk of removal, with the specific date of each incident. Describe the current custody arrangement and how the emergency order would change it. If a custody order already exists, attach a copy.6Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.151 – Request for Temporary Emergency Ex Parte Orders
The facts must be within your personal knowledge, and the declaration must make an affirmative showing of irreparable harm or immediate danger. You also have to disclose any previous ex parte applications on the same issue, even if based on different facts, and disclose that the emergency order would change the status quo. Omitting that disclosure can lead the court to award attorney’s fees to the other side to undo whatever changed.6Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.151 – Request for Temporary Emergency Ex Parte Orders
Attach whatever supporting documents you have: police reports, medical records, letters from a counselor or doctor, photographs. Black out Social Security numbers, account numbers, and other private information before filing.2California Courts. Ask for an Emergency Ex Parte Order
Giving Notice by 10:00 a.m.
Even in an emergency, you have to tell the other parent you’re coming. California Rule of Court 5.165 requires notice to the other party or their attorney no later than 10:00 a.m. on the court day before you submit your request.7Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.165 – Requirements for Notice Notice can go by phone, voicemail, fax, in person, or by electronic means if the court permits it. You then document what you did on Form FL-303.
Notice is separate from service. After the judge signs, someone other than you has to physically deliver the filed papers to the other party or their attorney under Rule 5.167 or the local court’s rules.
Shortening or Waiving Notice
If you gave notice but missed the 10:00 a.m. deadline, you can ask the court to approve shortened notice by explaining in your declaration what exceptional circumstances caused the delay.7Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.165 – Requirements for Notice
A judge can waive notice entirely in narrow circumstances. You file a separate declaration under penalty of perjury showing good cause: that notice would put the child or you in immediate danger, that notice would frustrate the purpose of the order (for example, tipping off a parent who might flee), or that good-faith attempts to give notice have been futile.7Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.165 – Requirements for Notice Even with a waiver, you still have to serve the other party with the filed documents afterward.
Where to File and What It Costs
If a family law case involving your child already exists in a California court, file the emergency request in that case. If no case exists, file in the county where the child lives. California generally needs the child to have lived in the state for the past six months to have jurisdiction, unless the child is younger than six months old.8California Courts. What You Can File to Ask for a Child Custody and Visitation Order If another state has an open custody case, you will usually have to go through that state’s courts.
Call the court’s family law facilitator or self-help center before filing. Local practice varies. Some courts have you leave papers with a clerk for the judge to review in chambers; others schedule a brief in-person appearance. Local forms and drop-off procedures differ too.2California Courts. Ask for an Emergency Ex Parte Order
The filing fee for a motion or order to show cause in a California family law matter is $60, unless this is your first filing in the case and you’re paying the initial filing fee.9Judicial Branch of California. Superior Court of California Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026 If you cannot afford it, request a fee waiver on Form FW-001. You qualify if you receive certain public benefits such as Medi-Cal, CalFresh, or CalWORKs; if your household income falls below the threshold on the form; or if you can show the court that paying would prevent you from covering basic needs like housing and food.10California Courts. Ask for a Fee Waiver Submit the fee waiver request with the emergency filing.
What Happens After You File
The judge reviews the paperwork and either grants the temporary emergency order or denies it. Some courts decide on the papers alone; others hold a short hearing where each side can speak briefly. The judge is looking only at immediate safety, not making a final custody decision.
If the judge grants the order, it takes effect immediately but stays temporary. Family Code Section 3062 requires the court to set a full hearing within 20 days and issue an order to show cause requiring the other parent to appear. That follow-up hearing is where the court takes testimony from both sides and decides whether to continue, modify, or dissolve the temporary order. If the other parent avoids service or hides the child, the court can extend the emergency order for up to another 90 days while service efforts continue.11Justia Law. California Family Code 3060-3064
A denial doesn’t end the case. The court can still set a regular hearing on the custody issues on the standard calendar.
Serving the Signed Order
Once the judge signs, have the order served on the other parent as soon as possible. Service has to be personal: another adult, not you, hands a copy of the orders directly to the other party.2California Courts. Ask for an Emergency Ex Parte Order Check items 4 and 7 on page 1 of your filed Request for Order for the specific service instructions the judge included. Speed matters. Law enforcement may need to see a served copy before they will enforce it.
When a Restraining Order May Fit Better
If the emergency involves domestic violence, a Domestic Violence Restraining Order can give you faster and broader protection. A DVRO can include temporary custody orders and can also require the abusive parent to stay away from you and the child, move out of a shared home, and surrender firearms.12California Courts. Domestic Violence Restraining Orders in California The DVRO process uses its own forms, and the 10:00 a.m. notice requirement under Rule 5.165 does not apply to requests under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.7Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.165 – Requirements for Notice If your situation involves both violence and a custody dispute, ask a family law facilitator whether filing for a DVRO alongside or instead of an emergency custody order fits your circumstances better.