How to File for Emergency Custody in California
Updated: Sep 6
You file for emergency custody in California by bringing an ex parte Request for Order, which means an FL-300 filed with a request for Temporary Emergency Orders on form FL-305, supported by a declaration showing that your child faces immediate harm or an immediate risk of being removed from the state. You must give the other parent notice by 10:00 a.m. the court day before you go in, unless the court excuses notice, and a judge in Riverside County or San Bernardino County will usually rule on the papers within a day or two. The key word is immediate. If the problem is serious but not urgent, the court will set it for a regular hearing instead.
What counts as an emergency for custody purposes in California?
Family Code section 3064 tells judges to refrain from making ex parte custody orders unless there is a showing of immediate harm to the child or an immediate risk that the child will be removed from California. That is the whole test, and it is a demanding one. The statute goes on to explain that immediate harm includes a parent who has committed domestic violence when the acts are recent or part of a demonstrated pattern, and it includes sexual abuse of the child. Judges read the statute narrowly because an ex parte order changes where a child lives based on one side of the story.
In practice, the situations that satisfy the standard tend to look like this. A parent is arrested with the child in the car and the child is left with a stranger. A parent relapses and is using drugs around the child, with a fresh police report, a hospital record, or a text message admitting it. A parent announces plans to move to another state or country with the child in the next few days, backed by a plane ticket, a lease, or a message saying so. A child discloses physical abuse to a teacher or doctor and a report is made. A parent has no housing and is sleeping in a car with a young child in extreme heat. The common thread is that waiting weeks for a noticed hearing would leave the child in real danger.
What does not qualify as an emergency?
Ex parte requests are denied far more often than they are granted, and most denials come from requests that describe a real problem without any urgency. A parent keeps returning the child late. The other household is messy or chaotic. The child says the other parent yells. One parent enrolled the child in a school without agreement. The other parent has a new partner you dislike. A custody order was violated once. These are legitimate reasons to file a regular Request for Order, and some are grounds for contempt, but none of them will move a judge to change custody without a hearing.
Which forms do you file for emergency custody orders?
The core of the packet is the Request for Order, form FL-300. You check the boxes for child custody and visitation and, in the section for ex parte relief, you state that you are requesting temporary emergency orders. You attach form FL-311, the Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time) Application Attachment, which lays out the exact custody and parenting time you want the court to order. You attach form FL-305, Temporary Emergency (Ex Parte) Orders, which is the proposed order the judge will sign if the request is granted. The FL-305 should be filled out with the specific orders you want, such as the child to remain with you pending the hearing, no removal of the child from California, and any exchange or supervision terms.
The declaration is what wins or loses the request. Under Rule of Court 5.151, an ex parte application must be supported by a declaration that lays out the facts showing irreparable harm, immediate danger, or another statutory basis for granting relief without notice. The declaration should be written in first person, in chronological order, with dates, names, and attached exhibits. If there is a police report, attach it. If there are photographs of injuries, attach them with the date each was taken. If there are text messages threatening to leave the state, attach screenshots that show the sender and the date. A declaration full of conclusions like "he is dangerous" or "she is unstable" will fail; a declaration with three dated incidents and documents to back them up has a chance.
Do you also need a case already open?
An ex parte request is made inside an existing family law case. If you are married and no case exists, you file a Petition for Dissolution or Legal Separation on FL-100 at the same time, along with the summons, FL-110, and the Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, FL-105. If you were never married, you open a parentage case with FL-200 and the same UCCJEA declaration. The court will not make custody orders in a vacuum; the ex parte packet rides on top of the petition. If the emergency involves domestic violence, a Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order on DV-100 is often the better vehicle because it can include custody orders and the temporary restraining order standard is designed for exactly that situation.
How does the notice requirement work under Rule 5.165?
Rule of Court 5.165 requires the party seeking ex parte orders to notify the other party, or their attorney if they have one, no later than 10:00 a.m. on the court day before the ex parte appearance. The notice must tell them the date, time, and department where the request will be presented, what relief is being requested, and that they may appear to oppose it. You then complete the declaration regarding notice that is required by Rule 5.167 and file it with your papers. That declaration must state when, how, and to whom notice was given, or explain why notice should be excused.
Notice can be excused only in limited situations. Rule 5.165 allows the court to proceed without notice if giving notice would frustrate the purpose of the order, if the applicant would suffer immediate and irreparable harm before the other side could be heard, or if the applicant made a good faith effort to give notice and could not reach the other party. The most common example is a parent who has credible evidence the other parent will leave the state the moment they learn a court date is coming. Even then, judges expect a real explanation, not a generic statement that notice was not practical.
What happens after you file an ex parte request in Riverside or San Bernardino?
Both Riverside County Superior Court and San Bernardino County Superior Court have written procedures for family law ex parte requests, and those procedures change over time, so check the court website and the department's current instructions before you file. In general terms, you file the packet through the court's electronic filing system or at the clerk's window, you pay the current filing fee set by the Judicial Council unless a fee waiver applies, and you deliver a courtesy copy to the assigned department. Riverside family law matters are heard at several courthouses and San Bernardino matters at the San Bernardino Justice Center and other branches, and each department may have its own submission cutoff.
Most ex parte custody requests in the Inland Empire are decided on the papers without oral argument. The judge reads the FL-300, the declaration, the exhibits, the notice declaration, and any written opposition the other parent managed to file. If the other parent appears, the judge may take brief statements but will not hold an evidentiary hearing. The result is one of three things. The judge grants the temporary emergency orders and signs the FL-305, and the case is set for a noticed hearing, typically within a few weeks. The judge denies the emergency orders but sets the matter for a regular hearing on the underlying request. Or the judge denies the request outright because it does not present an emergency, and you are left to file a regular Request for Order if you want relief.
What orders do judges actually grant?
Judges try to make the narrowest order that addresses the danger. If the risk is removal from the state, the order may simply prohibit either parent from taking the child out of California and require that passports be held. If the risk is a parent's substance use, the order may give the other parent temporary sole physical custody with supervised visitation for the impaired parent, or may condition parenting time on testing. If the risk is domestic violence, the judge may issue a temporary restraining order and custody orders together. It is unusual for a judge to cut off all contact with a parent on an ex parte basis unless the evidence of abuse is strong and documented.
Temporary emergency orders stay in effect only until the noticed hearing. At that hearing, the other parent files a Responsive Declaration on FL-320, both sides may present evidence, and in most Inland Empire custody disputes the parties will be sent to child custody recommending counseling under Family Code section 3170 before the judge makes longer-term orders. The custody counselor interviews both parents, sometimes the child, and writes a recommendation the judge will read. Emergency orders that were granted on one parent's declaration can and do get undone at that stage if the full picture looks different.
What should the declaration include to have a real chance?
Start with who the child is, who has had the child and under what order, and what the current custody arrangement is. Then describe the emergency in dated, specific paragraphs. State what you personally saw or heard, and identify the source of anything you learned from someone else. Attach documents and refer to them by exhibit letter. Explain why the harm cannot wait for a noticed hearing. Tell the court exactly what order you want and why that order, rather than a broader one, is enough to protect the child. Finish with your notice declaration, showing the 10:00 a.m. notice was given or explaining why it should be excused.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast can I get an emergency custody order in California?
In Riverside County and San Bernardino County, an ex parte custody request is usually decided within one to two court days of filing, and sometimes the same day if the papers are submitted early and the department can review them. The timeline is driven by the notice rule, which requires notifying the other parent by 10:00 a.m. the court day before, so the fastest realistic path is preparing the packet today, giving notice this morning, and appearing tomorrow.
Do I have to tell the other parent before I file for emergency custody?
Yes, in most cases. Rule of Court 5.165 requires notice by 10:00 a.m. the court day before the ex parte request is heard, and Rule 5.167 requires a declaration explaining how notice was given. The court can excuse notice if it would put the child at risk, if you would suffer irreparable harm before the other side could respond, or if you tried in good faith and could not reach the other parent, but you must explain that in writing.
Can I get emergency custody if there is no custody case yet?
You can, but you must open a case at the same time. That means filing a petition for dissolution or legal separation if you are married, or a petition to establish parentage if you are not, together with the UCCJEA declaration on form FL-105, and then filing the ex parte Request for Order in that case. If domestic violence is involved, a DV-100 request can also include custody orders.
What happens if the judge denies my emergency custody request?
A denial of ex parte relief is not a final decision on custody. The judge will often still set the matter for a noticed hearing on your underlying Request for Order, and you can present your evidence and go through custody recommending counseling like any other custody case. If the judge denied the request entirely, you can file a regular FL-300 and serve it with the normal notice period.
How long do temporary emergency custody orders last?
Temporary emergency orders on FL-305 remain in effect only until the noticed hearing, which is typically set within a few weeks. At that hearing the court hears from both parents and decides whether to continue, change, or end the orders. Emergency orders are not meant to create a lasting custody arrangement, and judges are careful not to let one parent gain an advantage simply by filing first.
Gramling Law Group handles emergency custody requests and other custody matters throughout Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and the Inland Empire, with flat-fee and limited-scope options that include preparing and filing an ex parte packet on short notice. Call (909) 654-4575 or contact us through this website to schedule a consultation.
This article is educational and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It addresses California law only.
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Phone: (909) 654-4575
Serving the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County, and all of Southern California except San Diego in family law and criminal defense.
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