Back to: California Family Law
NOTES & RESOURCES
- To discover how to find Judicial Council forms, go to Section 1, Lesson 3.
- Go directly to the California courts website to search for Judicial Council forms.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Common Family Law Judicial Council Forms
Hi, thanks for using My Court Coach. I’m Kimberlina and I’ll be your instructor as we talk about how to read a judicial council form.
First, you want to confirm that you have the right judicial council form. You can find the judicial council form number in the top right-hand corner, as well as the bottom left hand corner.
And you’ll also see that the applicable family law code section is also in the bottom right hand corner. When you begin filling out the form, you’ll notice that there’s a section that’s for court use only. That is when you file it. And they actually input an emblem of the court here to confirm that it’s been filed.
You’ll have your case number filled out in the bottom right hand corner. You’ll also fill out your name and your address. And where it says attorney for, if you’re self-represented, you’ll just type “self represented.” Otherwise this will be filled out by your attorney. If not, you fill out your name, your address, and you’ll put “self-represented” in this section.
You’ll actually put the county where you’re filing the address of the court. Usually the mailing address is the same and the city in the zip code, the branch name will also be listed.
Where to File Your Judicial Council Forms
You can find the proper court by going to California directory, and you can go to Find Your Court and then type in your zip code. Now, pull up the ones closest to you, wherever it’s being filed, where you intend to file. You’ll see that the name of the branch is listed at the top. And you’ll fill in that information in your judicial council form here.
Unique Judicial Council Forms
Some judicial council forms look slightly different where they don’t have the same format. In this instance, you’ll still find the form name and number at the top and at the bottom left. You’ll also find the code section in the bottom right-hand corner. In this section here, be filled out the respondent’s name, the person that you are filing the action against, and the petitioner’s name. If you’re the one filling out the action, that would be your name here. Case number, and then the seal of the clerk’s office is stamped here. So you leave that blank.