Findings and Order After Hearing: Forms, Review Window, and Deadlines

A Findings and Order After Hearing is the signed, filed California court order that turns a family law judge’s oral ruling into something you can actually enforce, and finalizing one means moving a proposed order through California Rule of Court 5.125 on a calendar that runs in days, not weeks. Until the judge signs the written order and the clerk files it, wage garnishments, contempt proceedings, and other enforcement tools sit out of reach, no matter what the judge said from the bench.

The Forms

Every FOAH is built on Judicial Council Form FL-340, a short cover page that lists the court’s decisions after a hearing.¹ The substance lives in mandatory attachments that match what the judge ruled on:

FL-341 for child custody and visitation, including legal and physical custody and parenting time.
FL-342 for child support, including the monthly amount, the paying party, and when payments begin.²
FL-343 for spousal or partner support, specifying amount, frequency, and duration.

You can download these from the California Courts site or pick up printed copies at a courthouse self-help center. Before you fill anything in, pull together the department number, the name of the judge or commissioner, and the exact date and time of the hearing. Those details sit in the FL-340 header and let the clerk match your order to the correct minute order.

Drafting the Proposed Order

The court either prepares the FOAH itself or assigns the job to one party. In practice, judges almost always assign it, and the drafting party then has 10 calendar days from the hearing date to serve the proposed order on the other party for review.³ If the other party did not appear or the matter was uncontested, the drafting party can submit the proposed order directly to the court, though a copy still has to be served on the other side.

The written order has to mirror what the judge actually said. Work from your notes, the court’s minute order, or a transcript. Every dollar figure, every custody percentage, every start date needs to match the oral ruling. If the judge ordered $1,200 per month in child support beginning the first of the following month, that language goes into FL-342 word for word. Paraphrasing or “cleaning up” the ruling invites an objection and resets the clock.

The 20-Day Review Window

Once the proposed order is served, the receiving party has until 20 calendar days after the hearing to either approve the order by signing the “Approved as Conforming to Court Order” section, or serve written objections along with an alternate proposed order.³ The window runs from the hearing date, not from the date of service, so both sides share one clock.

If the receiving party signs and returns the order, the drafting party submits it to the court for the judge’s signature. The clerk files it and issues conformed copies bearing the court’s stamp. Those conformed copies are the enforceable version of the ruling. Many California courts accept electronic filing through their e-filing portals; some still require physical submission at the clerk’s window or drop box.

When the Other Party Does Not Respond

Silence does not stall the process. If the other party fails to respond within 20 calendar days of the hearing, the drafting party must submit the proposed order to the court without approval within 25 calendar days of the hearing.³ The submission has to include a cover letter stating the date the proposed order was served, the other party’s reasons for not approving (if known), any meet-and-confer attempts, and a request that the court sign the order.

If you are the party receiving a draft, treat the 20-day window seriously. Once the judge signs an order whose wording you never pushed back on, challenging that language later is much harder.

Resolving Disputes Over the Order’s Language

When the receiving party believes the draft does not match the ruling, Rule 5.125 lays out the dispute track. The objecting party serves written objections identifying what is inaccurate and prepares an alternate proposed order that follows the same sequence of findings and orders as the original draft, so the judge can compare them side by side.

After objections are served, both parties have 10 calendar days to meet and confer, by phone or in person, to try to resolve the disputed language. If they agree, the revised proposed order goes to the court within 10 calendar days of that meeting. If the meet-and-confer fails, each party has 10 calendar days after the meeting to submit their own version of the FOAH, along with a copy of the minute order or hearing transcript and a cover letter explaining the specific points of disagreement with references to the record.³

The judge then reviews both drafts against the court’s records and signs whichever version accurately captures the oral ruling. A certified transcript of the hearing carries far more weight here than either party’s notes.

Why a Signed FOAH Matters

An unfiled FOAH creates a gap between what the judge ordered and what you can enforce. A wage garnishment for child or spousal support cannot be processed by an employer on the strength of your account of what happened in court. The employer needs the signed document.

Contempt proceedings run the same way. To hold someone in contempt for violating a court order, the order has to be specific enough that the person knew what was required. A signed FOAH with detailed terms about payment amounts, custody schedules, and deadlines provides that specificity. An oral ruling captured only in a minute order leaves room for arguments that the terms were unclear.

Tax treatment of support can also turn on having the signed order in hand. For spousal support ordered under a divorce or separation instrument executed after 2018, payments are neither deductible by the payer nor taxable to the recipient. The IRS defines alimony by reference to payments made under a “divorce or separation instrument,” which includes court decrees and written separation agreements, so voluntary payments outside a qualifying written instrument may not receive consistent treatment.⁴ Getting the FOAH signed removes ambiguity about whether support is being paid under a qualifying court order.

Getting a Transcript

If a court reporter was present at your hearing, you can request a certified transcript. That transcript is the most reliable way to verify your proposed order against the judge’s actual words, and it is what the judge will reach for if the parties submit competing drafts. Expect to pay a per-page rate, with faster turnaround costing more.

Not every California courtroom has a live court reporter. Some departments use electronic recording, and in some cases no official record is made. If no reporter was present and no recording exists, the parties’ notes and the court’s minute order are all you have to draft from. That makes your own note-taking during the hearing worth more. If you know your case involves contested issues likely to produce disagreement over the written order, consider arranging a private court reporter or requesting one through the court in advance.

Key Deadlines at a Glance

Rule 5.125 runs on calendar days, not business days. Missing a deadline usually means losing your say over the final written order.

Day 10 after the hearing: the drafting party serves the proposed order on the other side, or submits it directly to the court if the other party did not appear.
Day 20 after the hearing: the receiving party either approves the order or serves written objections with an alternate proposed order.
Day 25 after the hearing: if no response came back, the drafting party submits the unapproved order to the court with a cover letter.
10 days after objections are served: the parties meet and confer to try to resolve disputed language.
10 days after the meet-and-confer: if the dispute is unresolved, each party submits a competing order with supporting documents.

Keep a conformed copy of your filed FOAH permanently. You will need it for any future modification of custody or support and for any enforcement action if the other party fails to comply.³

1
California Courts. Findings and Order After Hearing (FL-340)
2
California Courts. Child Support Information and Order Attachment (FL-342)
3
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2026 – Rule 5.125. Preparation, Service, and Submission of Order After Hearing
4
Internal Revenue Service. Alimony and Separate Maintenance