Back to: California Family Law
NOTES & RESOURCES
- Go directly to download the Request for Order FL-300 form.
- Go directly to download the Request for Order FL-300s form in Spanish.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Make a Temporary Emergency Order into a Long-Term Order
Hi, thank you for using My Court Coach. I’m Jylan and I’ll be your instructor as we talk about how to turn or make a temporary emergency order into a long-term order. We’re talking about getting long-term orders immediately after a temporary emergency order is granted. To do that, you’ll use this Request for Order form FL-300.
So we’re talking about this form in the context of a temporary emergency order. If the court has granted your temporary emergency order already, then the court is also asking you to come back a second time for it to further discuss or decide the underlying issues behind your temporary emergency order. Then this is the form that you need to make sure you complete.
If there’s an existing long-term order in place and you’re actually trying to change it — and I’m not saying the temporary emergency order, no, but a regular order that existed prior to the temporary emergency order — if that order exists, and you’re trying to change it, you would need to check off this box. Again, this is not to check off the box to change the temporary emergency orders. It is to change any orders that existed before the emergency orders went into effect. So that’s when you would check off this box.
Now, if otherwise you didn’t check off this box and now the issues under the temporary emergency orders are likely to be one of the issues that are on this form because the court’s had you come back a second time to discuss why the temporary emergency orders are either in place or why should they should be removed or restricted or whatever it might be. It gives the other party an opportunity to be heard fully on that issue.
Identify the Issues You Want to Bring Up in Court
So for the child custody and visitation, you would check off that box boxes if those two issues are related to your temporary emergency order. Same goes for spouse support, child support, domestic violence orders, attorney’s fees and costs, property control, or some other issue like issuing the passport, for example.
Those boxes would need to be checked in order for the court to actually hear your issues at the upcoming hearing. I’m presuming that this form would be used for a temporary emergency order that has been granted. It must be granted because this box is checked. It means that there is an emergency order in place and it relates to one of these issues.
You’d have the notice which named the other party the orders are being made against, and then the date, the time the department and where this hearing’s going to happen. This is necessary because the other party has an opportunity or should get the opportunity to be heard as to why the court should change the emergency orders that are in place.
You don’t worry about this section at all, because it is a court order and it specifically states for court use only.
Restraining Orders
When it comes to the restraining order information, if there’s already a restraining order in place, then you must complete the section. You have to state who the restraining order is against or what parties it’s against. You also have to include whether it’s a criminal order for a family or juvenile order or some other protective order of some sort. You would have to list that on this form. The court has to be notified of that.
Child Custody and Visitation
Then, if you’re requesting child custody and visitation, you would check off these boxes. Make sure that you list each child under your custody and visitation requests, as well as their date of birth. Then who has legal custody and physical custody. Orders that you are requesting can be found in one of these forms or as follows. Then the orders that you’re requesting that are in the best interest of the children.
Let’s say child welfare services is involved and that’s why you’re requesting what you’re requesting. Now there’s a safety plan or something in place. So you’re requesting that the court make changes to the current order. You have to tell the court, what exactly is that change?
We have these boxes: child custody and visitation. Those are two very different things. Child custody relates to legal custody and physical custody. Physical custody is whom the child lives with legal custody is who decides the health education and essentially the overall welfare of the child. So those boxes also need to be checked here if you’re trying to make changes to both. If you’re only trying to make changes to legal custody, then you would only check off legal custody. You’d only fill out number one here.
Now, you’ll use the date that the legal and physical custody was filed. That means the date that the court actually signed off on the order, not the day of your hearing when the court made the order. There’s a difference there. The date that the custody was actually filed, that would go here and then the date for the visitation order would also go here. If there’s any parenting time, visitation time, that filing date would go here and then what the court ordered.
Child Support
As to child support, same thing. The child support you’d have to check off that box and list each child. Then whether you’re requesting guidelines, support or some other amount you want to change the court order for child support that’s filed on a specific date.
Then where it says the child support is as follows you write what the current child support order is. You’d have to complete this form called an Income and Expense Declaration. Where it says the court should make or change the support orders because of…, where whatever reason that is related to the emergency. Remember you have to think of immediate irreparable harm to you, your child or property in order for the court to make that change. You would write the reasons why in this box and then spousal or domestic partner support. Fill out the amount requested, what you want changed, what you want the court to end. The request is to modify a spousal support after entry of judgment means after the court has entered a final order in your case for dissolving your marriage and support has been made as part of the dissolution of marriage. Then you would go ahead and check off this box.
You would also complete your Income and Expense Declaration. Then the court should make those changes. It has to, again, be related to immediate irreparable harm to you, your property, or your child.
Property Control
On to property control. There’s this box right here, and it says, “I request temporary emergency orders.” This would be heard on your emergency hearing date. You would check off this box if you are in fact requesting the temporary emergency order that’s related to this property control. You’re basically asking that the court give either the petitioner, the respondent or other party temporary use, possession, and control of the property that you two own or are buying, leasing or renting. That information would go here. This might include a house, a car, a boat, whatever it might be. That should go here.
Who Pays for the Property
In the next section, the petitioner, respondent or the other parent has to be ordered to make the following payments on the debts or liens associated with those properties. You would list who it’s paid for, like Wells Fargo on for the mortgage, and the amount on the mortgage and then the due date. If this is changing a current order relating to the property, then you have to type in the date in which the court actually filed the orders related to that.
I want to go back to the “I request a temporary emergency order” box. You checked off this box and you already had your emergency hearing and the court may or may not have granted you the emergency order, right? We’re filling this out in the context that the court had already awarded you the emergency order. Remember we’re talking about how to make a temporary emergency order into a long-term order. If they’ve already awarded you the property control, then you already have the court orders associated with that. But again, the other party has the ability to defend themselves as to why these emergency orders should not be in place. So it’s very important that this box is in fact checked if the court did grant you the emergency emergency orders. So if this box is not checked, then it’s because you didn’t go to an emergency hearing.
Attorney’s Fees and Costs
On to attorney’s fees and costs. If that’s related to the immediate harm to you, your child or property, then you would also fill this portion out and tell the court what exactly and how much that you are requesting an attorney’s fees. You’d have to complete an Income and Expense Declaration, a specific request for attorney’s fees and costs, and a declaration to support those attorney’s fees and costs.
Domestic Violence
Now, this is for the domestic violence order. It specifically says, you’re not going to use this form for a domestic violence restraining order. You’re not going to be requesting it through this form. So this is to show that already a restraining order has been filed that’s already in place, and it was filed on this particular day. You’re asking the court to either change it or end it. They’re changing the personal conduct orders, the stay away orders, the move out orders, or any other protective orders that are listed in the restraining order. You would have to tell the court what it is that you’re requesting for it to change, and the reasons why you want it to change or end. Then, the court can entertain that at your hearing.
Other Orders
Other orders requested. So like I said, this could be issuing a passport, selling the house, etc. Those sorts of requests can also be listed in here.
Deadline for Serving this Request for Orders on the Other Party
As for time for service, more likely than not the court has granted you what they call an “order shortening time” to expedite your hearing, to advance your hearing a little bit earlier. The other party also has an opportunity to respond in writing, if they so wish. So, this order is needed because the court has a hearing date that’s coming up in, let’s say a week from now. You have to make sure that the other party has a copy of this in time for the hearing, because there are statutory deadlines associated with filing and serving by delivering a Request for Order form, this FL-300. So if the court grants you to come back in a week, then you need also less time to provide this notice, this Request for Order to the other party.
If your hearing is, let’s say, next Friday, then you want to ask the court to allow you to serve it by Monday. So here it says I urgently needs to serve this Request for Order no less than [number] of court days before the hearing. Court days are very different than calendar days. Court days are the equivalent to business days, but because the courts don’t take all of the holidays that are out there, it is referred to as court days instead. For instance, MLK Day or President’s Day are days that the courts might not have as a business day. Therefore you would not count that towards your court days. So if your hearing is on Friday and there’s no court holidays next week and you are asking the court to give you until Monday to provide this paperwork, then you’re essentially asking for permission to give the other party notice of the hearing four court days before the hearing. And that’s your new deadline for serving the other party: four court days before the hearing before that following Friday.
This order is essentially a given because you’re only filling out this form because temporary emergency orders have already been filed and have been ordered. So this portion of your Request for Order form would have already been granted, just very recently. And now you want to make the temporary emergency order into a long-term order. You need to make sure that you are requesting to be able to file this Request for Order within a short period of time. You have to explain why you need it to be less than that.
A reason can be that the other party is moving in X amount of days and if I’m not able to serve it to them in this many days, then I won’t be able to serve them at all. Maybe someone’s leaving the country.
Facts to Support Your Request
Then lastly, the facts to support section. This refers to the facts that you need to support why you’re requesting this second hearing for the emergency order. Your facts need to be listed here. If it can’t be completed within this section, then you have to attach sheet Attachment 10 or any document really that is going to identify that this is an attachment to this FL-300.
Review
To review, right now we’re just talking about how to use this document after getting the court just now granted you temporary emergency orders. Immediately after having granted you temporary emergency orders, the court is now having you come back a second time. That second time date and time is listed on here for you and the other party to come back.
We’re talking about how to make a temporary emergency order into a long-term order.
Generally these Request for Orders when they are associated with temporary emergency orders, are related to child custody and visitation. Very rarely would it be related to spousal support or child support or attorney’s fees. Sometimes they might be related to property control, but most of the time it’s really related to child custody and visitation. As for a domestic violence order, if both parties agree that it should be changed, then the court might grant that to you on a temporary basis. But like I said, child custody and visitation is more likely than not the temporary emergency order that the court would in fact issue and would see as in immediate urgency to do something about it. So I would be more focused on using this form for those purposes.
Let’s say you requested it for property control because the other party is trashing your house because they don’t want to sell it and therefore you need emergency orders to prevent them from doing that. Then, you could check off this box when you are providing the court a blank Request for Order and ask them to check off this, “I request temporary emergency order” section. It’s not necessarily required to complete this Request for Order form for property control. And then also check off this, “I request temporary emergency orders” because you’re filling out this form when you already have the emergency orders in place.
(18:40)
I hope that you found this to be helpful and thank you.