California FL-105 (UCCJEA Form): Filing, Confidentiality, Updates

Form FL-105 is the Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, a mandatory California court form you file with any family or probate case that asks a judge to make orders about a child. It gives the court a five-year residential history for each child so the judge can confirm California has jurisdiction under Family Code Section 3421.¹ Leave it out or fill it in sloppily, and your case stalls before the judge ever looks at the merits.

When You Have to File FL-105

Any California case that could produce a custody or visitation order needs this declaration. That covers divorce, legal separation, and annulment petitions involving minor children, paternity and Uniform Parentage Act cases, and domestic violence restraining order requests that ask for custody or visitation.²

The same form carries a second number, GC-120, and is required in probate guardianships of a minor under Probate Code Sections 1510(f) and 1512.² File it with your initial petition. The clerk may reject the filing without it, and a judge who accepts the case anyway will usually hold things up until the declaration is on file.

The form exists because California can only make custody orders if it qualifies as the child’s home state or meets one of the other narrow conditions in Section 3421. A home state, under Family Code Section 3402, is the state where the child lived with a parent or person acting as a parent for the six consecutive months immediately before the case was filed; for a child under six months, it is where the child has lived since birth.³ The addresses you list on FL-105 are the evidence the judge uses to make that call.

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull this material together for every child in the case before you open the form:

Each child’s full legal name, date of birth, and city and state of birth.
Every address where the child has lived for the past five years, with start and end dates. If a child is younger than five, cover the entire life from birth.
The name and current mailing address of every adult who lived with the child at each of those addresses.
Details of any other court case anywhere involving the child, including family law matters, guardianships, juvenile proceedings, dependency, and adoptions.²
Whether anyone who is not a party to your case has physical custody of the child or claims custody or visitation rights.

Gaps are the most common problem. If dates are hazy, dig through old leases, utility bills, school enrollment records, or medical files. Blank spots get noticed, and the other side’s attorney will press on them.

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

Download Form FL-105 from the California Courts website or pick up a paper copy at a courthouse self-help center.⁴ The caption at the top takes your name, the other party’s name, and the case number. If this is your initial filing, leave the case number blank; the clerk assigns one when you file.

Section 2 asks for each child’s name, date of birth, and birthplace. Section 3 is the residential history. If you have one child, or multiple children who have all lived at the same addresses for the past five years, complete Section 3a on the main form. If children have lived in different places, attach Form FL-105(A) and give each child’s history separately, using as many copies as needed and numbering the pages consecutively.⁵

Section 4 asks whether you have participated in, or know about, any other court case involving custody or visitation of any child on the form. That includes California and out-of-state proceedings: family law, guardianship, juvenile, and adoption. Check every box that applies and give the case details. Section 5 asks whether a non-party has physical custody of the child or claims custody or visitation rights.

You sign at the bottom under penalty of perjury. Read every line before you sign. If you genuinely do not know a date or an address, say so on the form rather than inventing one.

Keeping Your Address Confidential

If you are fleeing domestic violence or child abuse, you do not have to put your address on this form where the other party can see it. Family Code Section 3429 makes any address unknown to the other party confidential when domestic violence or child abuse is alleged, and bars disclosure in court filings.⁶ The form has a checkbox for this. When you check it, you list only the state you live in and omit the street address and city.²

For broader protection, California’s Safe at Home program through the Secretary of State’s office gives you a substitute mailing address that state, county, and city agencies accept in place of your real one.⁷ Enroll before you file. Once a real address appears in a court record, pulling it back is difficult.

Filing It With Your Petition

FL-105 is filed alongside your initial petition and summons at the superior court clerk’s office. Bring the original and at least two copies. The clerk keeps the original and stamps and returns your copies.

There is no separate fee for FL-105, but filing the underlying petition costs $435 in most counties.⁸ Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco add a courthouse construction surcharge that pushes the total closer to $450. If you are also asking for temporary emergency orders, expect another $60 to $85.⁹

Some counties use electronic filing for family law cases; there is no uniform statewide mandate. Check your local court’s website or self-help center to find out whether e-filing is available or required where you are filing.

If You Cannot Afford the Fee

Submit Form FW-001 with your petition to ask the court to waive the fee. You qualify automatically if you receive Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKs, SSI, SSP, or General Assistance.¹⁰ You also qualify if your gross monthly household income falls below the 2026 limits:

1 person: $2,660
2 people: $3,606.67
3 people: $4,553.33
4 people: $5,500
5 people: $6,446.67
6 people: $7,393.33

Add $946.67 for each additional person in households larger than six.¹¹ If your finances improve after the waiver is granted, you must notify the court within five days on Form FW-010.

Your Duty to Update the Form

Filing FL-105 once is not the end of it. California Rule of Court 5.52 imposes a continuing duty to inform the court if you learn about any other custody proceeding, in California or elsewhere, involving a child named in your case. When that happens, file an updated UCCJEA declaration and have it served on the other party.¹² Family Code Section 3429(d) sets the same obligation in statute.⁶ The rule does not set a specific deadline; act as soon as you know. Sitting on information that another court has a case about your child damages your credibility and risks conflicting orders.

What Happens If You Lie on the Form

Your signature on FL-105 is under penalty of perjury. Deliberate false statements are a felony under Penal Code Section 126, punishable by two, three, or four years in state prison.¹³ A judge who catches an inaccuracy on this form will start questioning everything else you have filed, which is a bad place to be in a custody fight. If you are unsure about a date or an address, say so on the form instead of guessing.

1
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3421 – Jurisdiction to Make Initial Child Custody Determination
2
Judicial Council of California. FL-105/GC-120 – Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
3
California Legislative Information. California Family Code FAM 3402 – Definitions
4
California Courts. Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)
5
Judicial Council of California. FL-105(A)/GC-120(A) – Attachment to Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
6
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3429 – Confidentiality of Addresses
7
California Secretary of State. Safe at Home
8
Judicial Council of California. Superior Court of California Statewide Civil Fee Schedule – Effective January 1, 2026
9
California Courts. File Your Petition and Summons – Child Custody and Support
10
California Courts. Ask for a Fee Waiver
11
Judicial Council of California. FW-001 – Request to Waive Court Fees
12
Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.52 – Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)
13
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 126 – Perjury and Subornation of Perjury