To fill out California Form FL-320, the Responsive Declaration to Request for Order, copy the case header exactly from the FL-300 you were served, check the box for each request the other party made and mark whether you consent, oppose, or want something different, write the facts supporting your position under Item 10, and sign under penalty of perjury. If any request involves money, attach a financial disclosure. Then file the packet and have someone serve it on the other party at least nine court days before the hearing.1California Courts. Information Sheet: Responsive Declaration to Request for Order
Before You Open the Form
Pull out the FL-300 papers you were served and keep them next to you. You will copy the case number, the petitioner and respondent names, and the court’s branch name and address straight from that document. A mismatched case number can route your response to the wrong file, and you may not find out until the hearing.
Read every checked box on the FL-300 carefully. Your response has to address each request the other party made. Silence on a request can be read as having nothing to say about it.
Note the hearing date on the FL-300 and count backward. You need nine court days between service on the other party and the hearing, and if you plan to serve by mail you need to add five more days for delivery.
Download the current form from the California Courts website or pick up a copy at the clerk’s office. The current version was revised July 1, 2025.2Judicial Council of California. Responsive Declaration to Request for Order
Is FL-320 Even the Right Form?
FL-320 is for responding to a Request for Order on FL-300 — matters like custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, property control, or attorney’s fees.3California Courts. Responsive Declaration to Request for Order (FL-320) It is not the form for other situations you might confuse it with:
- To respond to a domestic violence restraining order petition (DV-100), use Form DV-120, not FL-320.
- To respond to a request to change or end a restraining order (DV-300), use Form DV-320.
- To ask the court for something the other party did not request, file your own separate Request for Order rather than adding it to FL-320.4Judicial Council of California. Information Sheet: Responsive Declaration to Request for Order
Filing a response is not mandatory, but if you skip it the judge decides on what the other party submitted alone. That usually means the other side gets the orders they asked for.
Filling In the Form Section by Section
Header and Case Information
The top block of FL-320 mirrors the top block of the FL-300. Copy the court name and street address, the petitioner’s full name, the respondent’s full name, and the case number exactly as they appear on the papers you received. If your address or phone number has changed, put your current contact information in the attorney/party block.
Responding to Each Request
The body of the form lists the same categories that appear on FL-300: child custody, visitation, child support, spousal or domestic partner support, property control, and attorney’s fees and costs. For each category the other party checked, check the corresponding box on your form and mark whether you consent to the request, oppose it, or want the court to order something different. Leave a category blank only if the other party did not raise it.
Two categories deserve a note on how the court will actually decide them, because that shapes what you should write:
- Child support is calculated from California’s guideline formula using both parents’ incomes. Your financial disclosure carries more weight than any dollar figure you propose.
- Spousal support is weighed against the factors in Family Code 4320, including length of marriage, each party’s earning capacity, and the marital standard of living.5California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 4320 – Factors to be Considered in Ordering Support
- Attorney’s fees under Family Code 2030 turn on the disparity in each party’s ability to pay for legal representation.6California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 2030
Item 10: Facts Supporting Your Response
Item 10 is where you explain, in your own words, why you are consenting, opposing, or proposing something different. Write it as testimony. You will sign under penalty of perjury, and anything inaccurate can undermine your credibility at the hearing.
Stick to specific, provable facts. If you oppose a custody change, describe the child’s current routine and how the proposed schedule would disrupt school pickup, medical appointments, or bedtime. If you oppose a support change, point to the pay stubs and returns you are attaching.
Your declaration text cannot exceed ten pages unless the court grants permission or the declaration is from an expert witness.7Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 5.111 – Declarations Supporting and Responding to a Request for Court Order The ten-page limit applies only to the narrative portion. The Judicial Council form itself, your Income and Expense Declaration, exhibits, and any memorandum of points and authorities do not count.8Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.112.1 – Declaration Page Limitation; Exemptions
If you run out of room on the form, continue on Form MC-031 (Attached Declaration) and note on FL-320 that you have done so.9California Courts. Attached Declaration MC-031
Financial Documents You Have to Attach
If the FL-300 asks for child support, spousal support, or attorney’s fees, you must attach a current financial disclosure. The standard form is the Income and Expense Declaration (Form FL-150).10California Courts. Income and Expense Declaration
You may use the simpler Financial Statement (Form FL-155) only if the sole financial issue is child support and your income comes entirely from common sources like wages, Social Security, unemployment, or disability benefits. You cannot use FL-155 if spousal support or attorney’s fees are at stake, or if you are self-employed.11Judicial Council of California. Financial Statement (Simplified)
Attach the following to whichever financial form you use:
- Pay stubs from the last two months, with Social Security numbers redacted.
- Your most recent federal tax return. Bring a copy to the hearing as well.
- If you are self-employed, a profit and loss statement for the last two years or the Schedule C from your most recent federal return.12Judicial Council of California. Income and Expense Declaration
- Itemized monthly expenses on the financial form itself: housing, utilities, healthcare, childcare, and other regular costs.
Black out Social Security numbers on every document. The court does not need the full number, and leaving it visible creates identity-theft risk for you and your children.
Filing the Response
Take your completed FL-320, financial disclosure, all attachments, and the signed proof of service to the court clerk’s office. Bring at least two extra copies so the clerk can stamp them as conformed copies for your records and for the other party.
There is generally no filing fee for FL-320. The exception is if this is the very first paper you have filed in the case, in which case you owe a first appearance fee.13California Courts. Request for Order (Form FL-300) If you cannot afford the fee, file a Request to Waive Court Fees (Form FW-001) at the same time. You qualify if you receive certain public benefits, your income is low, or paying the fee would prevent you from covering basic needs.14California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees (FW-001)
Some counties require attorneys to e-file family law documents, while self-represented litigants can usually choose between e-filing and filing in person. Check your court’s local rules before the deadline.
Serving the Other Party
Filing is only half the job. You must also have a copy served on every other party in the case, and service must be completed at least nine court days before the hearing.15California Courts. How to Serve Your Responsive Declaration A court day is any day the court is open, typically Monday through Friday excluding court holidays.
You cannot serve the papers yourself. The server must be at least 18 and not a party to the case.16California Courts. Serving Court Papers A friend, coworker, relative, or professional process server can do it.
With personal service, the server hands the papers directly to the other party or their attorney and then completes a Proof of Personal Service (Form FL-330) recording the date, time, and address.17Judicial Council of California. Proof of Personal Service The nine-court-day deadline still applies, but there is no mail-time add-on.
With service by mail, the server places copies in a sealed envelope, mails them, and completes a Proof of Service by Mail (Form FL-335).18Judicial Council of California. Proof of Service by Mail The server must live or work in the county where the mailing takes place. The papers must go out at least five days earlier than the nine-court-day deadline to account for delivery.19California Courts. Serve Your Responsive Declaration to Set Aside Count backward from the hearing date carefully.
Before the Hearing: Meet and Confer
California requires the parties and their attorneys to meet and confer before the hearing on a Request for Order, in person, by phone, or as the court directs. Both sides must make a good-faith attempt to settle as many issues as possible, even if only partial agreements come out of it.20Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.98 – Meet-and-Confer Requirements; Document Exchange
Both sides also have to exchange all documentary evidence they plan to rely on at the hearing. If you show up with documents the other party has never seen, the judge can refuse to consider them. The meet-and-confer requirement does not apply in cases involving domestic violence.
If You Need More Time
If you were served late, need to complete mandatory child custody mediation first, or have other good cause, you can ask the court to reschedule using Form FL-306 (Request to Reschedule Hearing) with a proposed order on Form FL-309. File no later than five court days before the hearing, and serve the other party at the first reasonable opportunity.21Judicial Council of California. Request to Reschedule Hearing (Form FL-306) Do not use FL-306 to reschedule a domestic violence restraining order hearing; that process has its own rules.