GETTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDERS, WHICH FORMS TO FILE IN CALIF. - VIDEO #67 (2021)

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Second video in a seven part series explaining how to get domestic violence restraining orders to protect you and your children using the DVPA in California. This video explains which court forms to fill out to get the process started.

There are three types of domestic violence restraining orders. If you and/or your children have been the victim of domestic violence and you report the matter to the police, a police officer will come to your home and interview you and any witnesses. The officer will also likely interview the other person. If the police officer concludes that an immediate and present danger of domestic violence exits and that an emergency protective order is necessary to prevent the occurrence or recurrence of domestic violence, then an “Emergency Protective Order” or “EPO” can be issued immediately, day or night. This “EPO” is the first type of restraining order.

An EPO cannot grant all of the types of orders that are available under the DVPA, but an EPO can include a “Personal Conduct Order”, a “Stay-away Order”, a “Move-out Order”, a “Child Custody Order”, and a “No Guns or Other Firearms or Ammunition Order”.

An EPO will typically expire in just 5 days. EPOs are short-term solutions. If you need a restraining order that is going to last longer than 5 days, then you need to complete a court form called a“Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order”, which goes by the number DV-100, and file it with the court. Typically, you are going to file the DV-100 with the court before the EPO expires so there will be no gap in the protective orders.

When you file the DV-100 with the court, the court will set a hearing date. The hearing may not be scheduled to occur for several weeks or more. If, after reading your DV-100, a judge believes one or more restraining orders need to be issued immediately for your protection or for the protection of children, then the court will issue “Temporary Restraining Orders” or “TROs”. A TRO is the second type of restraining order. TROs can be issued immediately by the court, in as little time as one day, without any hearing. TROs remain in effect from the time the judge reviews your DV-100 until the day of the hearing.

At the hearing, after the court has heard both sides, the court can issue regular restraining orders that can last up to five years. We will call these restraining orders that a judge issues after a hearing and which can last for up to five years, “ROs”, and they are the third type of domestic violence restraining order.

The first court form you are going to fill out to start your application for domestic violence restraining orders is called a “Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order”, which is DV-100.

If you want restraining orders to protect not only you, but also members of your household, you can list the other people you want protected in item #3 on page 1 of the DV-100.

Most of the DV-100 form consists of a list of the various types of restraining orders and other orders you can request. You can look through the various orders that are listed on pages 2 through 4, and check the box or boxes for the orders you want.

When you fill out the DV-100, you want to pay special attention to item #27 on page 5 of the form. In item #27, you describe how the other person has abused you and/or your children. You start with the most recent act of abuse and then describe other acts of abuse.

If you are asking for temporary restraining orders to be issued immediately, the court is looking for recent, serious acts of abuse. The more recent the abuse and the more serious the abuse, the more likely it is that the court will grant your request for temporary restraining orders. If a gun or other weapon was involved in any way, be sure to mention it in your paperwork.

Whether or not you have to fill out additional forms depends on the types of restraining orders you are requesting. If, in your DV-100, you asked for any kind of financial relief, such as a request for child support, a request for spousal support, a request that the other party pay certain debts, or a request for attorney fees, then you are also going to need to fill out and file an Income & Expense Declaration, which is FL-150.

If, in your DV-100, you asked for child custody or visitation orders, then you are also going to need to attach to your DV-100, a form called, “Request for Child Custody and Visitation Orders”, which is DV-105.