Domestic violence laws in California span both the civil and criminal systems, giving survivors restraining orders, firearm removal, housing and job protections, and criminal prosecution of the abuser, while defining abuse broadly enough to cover stalking, financial control, and isolation along with physical assault. The core statute is the Domestic Violence Prevention Act in the Family Code, backed by criminal penalties in the Penal Code and specific protections scattered through the Civil and Government Codes.
What Counts as Domestic Violence
Under Family Code section 6203, abuse includes any intentional or reckless attempt to cause bodily injury, any sexual assault, and placing someone in reasonable fear of imminent serious harm to themselves or another person.1California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6203 – Abuse The statute says plainly that abuse is not limited to physical injury.
A judge can also act on non-physical conduct. Family Code 6320 lets a court restrain someone for harassing, stalking, threatening, destroying personal property, making unwanted contact online or by phone, or disturbing the other person’s peace.2California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6320
Coercive Control
“Disturbing the peace” is defined to include coercive control: a pattern of conduct that unreasonably interferes with another person’s free will and personal liberty.2California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6320 The statute lists specific examples:
- Isolating the victim from friends, family, or support networks
- Depriving the victim of basic needs like food, sleep, or medical care
- Monitoring or controlling movements, communications, finances, or daily decisions
- Using force, threats, or intimidation (including immigration threats) to compel or prevent conduct the victim has a right to engage in
- Controlling reproductive choices through force or intimidation
Coercive control can happen directly, through a third party, or through technology like connected devices, text messages, and social media. Courts weigh the totality of the circumstances.
Whose Relationship Qualifies
Family Code 6211 limits domestic violence protection to abuse committed against a current or former spouse, a current or former cohabitant, someone the person is or was dating or engaged to, a co-parent, a child of either party, or a relative by blood or marriage within the second degree.3California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6211 – Domestic Violence California generally treats registered domestic partners the same as spouses. Cohabitation means more than sharing an address; courts look at shared finances, joint property, length of the relationship, and whether the couple held themselves out as a couple.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 13700 – Definitions A casual roommate does not qualify; a long-term unmarried partner does.
Restraining Orders
California’s protective orders come in three forms that build on each other.
An Emergency Protective Order is available 24 hours a day. A responding officer can call a judge from the scene and get one that takes effect immediately and lasts five to seven calendar days.5California Courts. Guide to Protective Orders It is a bridge, not a long-term fix.
A Temporary Restraining Order covers the gap until a court hearing, usually within about 21 to 25 days. You file form DV-100, describing the most recent abuse first with specific dates and facts.6California Courts. California Courts Self Help Guide – Section: Request a Domestic Violence Restraining Order A judge can issue the TRO on the written declaration alone, without the other side present, if there is reasonable proof of a past act of abuse.7California Legislative Information. California Family Code FAM 6300
A Restraining Order After Hearing can last up to five years once both sides have had a chance to be heard.8California Courts. After a Judge Grants You a Restraining Order You can renew it for another five years or permanently without having to prove any new abuse, as long as you file the renewal within three months before the current order expires.9California Legislative Information. California Family Code FAM 6345
What the Order Can Do
A judge can order the restrained person to stay a specific distance from your home, workplace, school, and vehicle. A move-out order can force the abuser out of a shared residence immediately, even if their name is on the lease or deed. The court can also give you exclusive care of household pets and bar the restrained person from going near them.2California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6320
Firearms Surrender
Anyone subject to a domestic violence protective order is prohibited from owning, possessing, buying, or receiving any firearm or ammunition for the full duration of the order. If an officer serving the order asks for immediate surrender, the restrained person must comply on the spot. Otherwise, they have 24 hours to turn in all firearms to local law enforcement or sell or transfer them to a licensed dealer, with proof of compliance filed on form DV-800.10California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6389
Knowingly keeping a firearm in violation of the order is a separate crime, punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.11California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 29825 A federal misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence triggers a separate, often permanent firearms ban under federal law.
Criminal Charges and Penalties
Prosecutors, not victims, decide whether to file charges. Once police report an incident, the District Attorney can proceed even if the person who was hurt asks them not to.
When an incident leaves any wound or injury (a “traumatic condition”) caused by physical force, prosecutors usually charge Penal Code 273.5, corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant. It is a wobbler, chargeable as a felony or misdemeanor. A felony carries two, three, or four years in state prison and fines up to $6,000; a misdemeanor carries up to a year in county jail. A prior conviction for domestic battery or certain assaults within the past seven years increases the potential prison term to two, four, or five years, with fines up to $10,000.12California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 273.5
When no visible injury results, the standard charge is domestic battery under Penal Code 243(e)(1), always a misdemeanor, with up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000.13California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 243 – Battery
Mandatory Probation Terms
Penal Code 1203.097 sets probation conditions that apply automatically to any domestic violence conviction. Probation runs a minimum of 36 months. The defendant must complete a 52-week batterer’s intervention program with weekly two-hour sessions, finished within 18 months and with no more than three excused absences. There is a minimum $500 fee, which the court can reduce or waive for inability to pay.14California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.097
Child Custody After a Domestic Violence Finding
If a court finds a parent committed domestic violence within the past five years against the other parent, a child, or the child’s sibling, Family Code 3044 creates a presumption that giving that parent sole or joint custody would harm the child. The abusive parent must rebut the presumption by a preponderance of the evidence, and the usual preference for frequent contact with both parents cannot be used to overcome it. Courts weigh completion of a batterer’s intervention program, compliance with probation and restraining orders, any required substance abuse or parenting classes, and whether the parent is unlawfully holding firearms in violation of a protective order.15California Legislative Information. California Family Code FAM 3044
If some visitation is granted, the court can require it to be supervised, meaning a neutral third party watches and listens to every interaction and has authority to end the visit over safety concerns.16California Courts. Guide to Supervised Visitation Professional supervisors are recommended in domestic violence cases. Courts can also arrange exchange of the child through a trusted third party so the parents never have to meet in person.
Housing, Employment, and Address Confidentiality
A tenant can end a lease early without penalty when the tenant, a household member, or an immediate family member is a victim of domestic violence. The tenant gives the landlord written notice attaching a protective order, a police report, documentation from a qualified professional like a domestic violence counselor, or other reasonable verification.17California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.7
Employers of any size cannot fire, demote, or retaliate against an employee who takes time off to get a restraining order, attend court, or address personal safety. Employers with 25 or more employees must grant broader leave for medical or mental health treatment, shelter stays, safety planning, relocation, or victim assistance services, and employees can use existing paid sick leave for those same purposes.18California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.8 Retaliation complaints go to the California Civil Rights Department.
When police respond to a domestic violence call, state law requires them to give the victim a written card listing local shelters, counseling, and 24-hour hotlines.19California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 13701
Survivors worried about being tracked through public records can enroll in the Safe at Home program through the Secretary of State’s office. Participants receive a substitute mailing address that state and local agencies must accept in place of their real address.20California Secretary of State. Applicants Enrollment goes through a designated enrolling agency and requires California residency and status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or human trafficking who fears for their safety.
A Warning for Non-Citizens
A California domestic violence conviction can trigger deportation under federal immigration law, which classifies crimes of violence against a spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, or co-parent as deportable offenses, and separately lists violation of a protection order as its own ground for removal.21Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens It can also permanently bar lawful permanent residence or naturalization. A no-contest plea is treated the same as a guilty plea in immigration court, and even a misdemeanor domestic battery can be classified as a crime involving moral turpitude. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should talk to an immigration attorney before entering any plea.