A California domestic violence restraining order is a civil court order you request by filing Form DV-100 in the superior court, and if a judge grants it after a hearing it can order the other person to stay away from you, move out of a shared home, have no contact with you, surrender firearms, and follow temporary custody and support orders for up to five years. There is no filing fee.1California Courts. File Your Request for a Domestic Violence Restraining Order
A domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) is one of four restraining order types in California. It is the right choice when the person you need protection from is someone you have a close personal relationship with. If your situation doesn’t fit, a different category (civil harassment, elder abuse, or workplace violence) may apply instead.
Who Can Get a DVRO
You can request a DVRO if the person you need protection from is a current or former spouse, someone you are dating or used to date, a cohabitant, or a close family member such as a parent, child, or sibling. You also qualify if the two of you share a child.1California Courts. File Your Request for a Domestic Violence Restraining Order
If the person threatening you doesn’t fit any of those categories (a neighbor, a coworker, a stranger), a DVRO is not the correct form. A civil harassment restraining order under Code of Civil Procedure 527.6 covers that situation instead.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 527.6 – Harassment
What a DVRO Can Order
A DVRO is more than a no-contact rule. The judge can direct the restrained person to:
- Stay a specified distance away from you, your home, your work, your children, and your children’s school
- Have no contact with you by any means, including phone, text, email, or social media
- Move out of a home the two of you share
- Surrender any firearms and ammunition
- Follow temporary child custody and visitation orders
- Pay temporary child support or spousal support
Because custody and support can be built into the same order, a DVRO often does the work of several separate court filings at once in a family situation.
The Three Stages and How Long Each Lasts
Protection usually arrives in layers rather than all at once. The system is designed to get something in place quickly and then confirm it after both sides have been heard.
Emergency Protective Order
An emergency protective order (EPO) is the fastest option, but you don’t request it. A law enforcement officer, usually responding to a 911 call, asks a judge for it when there are reasonable grounds to believe you face immediate and present danger of domestic violence.3California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6250 – Emergency Protective Orders A judge is available around the clock. The EPO expires on the fifth court business day or the seventh calendar day after it was issued, whichever comes first.4Judicial Council of California. Emergency Protective Order Form CLETS-EPO That short window exists so you have time to file your own petition for longer protection.
Temporary Restraining Order
When you file your DVRO petition, you can ask the judge for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that takes effect right away, before the full hearing. The judge decides based on your paperwork alone because the other side has not yet been served. A TRO lasts until the hearing, which the court must schedule within 21 days, or up to 25 days if there is good cause to extend.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 527.6 – Harassment
Restraining Order After Hearing
At the hearing, both sides can present evidence, call witnesses, and argue. If the judge finds the evidence supports continued protection, the DVRO can last up to five years. If no expiration date is written on the order, it defaults to three years. You can request renewal within three months before the order expires, and you do not need to prove any new abuse has occurred since the original order was issued.
How to File
Start with Form DV-100, the Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order, available free on the California Courts website.5California Courts. Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order DV-100 Describe what happened in detail: dates, places, exactly what the other person said or did, and any injuries. Vague descriptions make the judge’s job harder.
Supporting evidence makes a real difference. Police reports, medical records, photographs of injuries, threatening text messages, voicemails, and statements from people who witnessed the abuse all help the judge evaluate the risk. You do not need a lawyer, but having one helps if you expect the other side to contest the order.
After filing, the restrained person must be personally served with copies of the petition, any temporary order, and the hearing notice at least five days before the hearing.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 527.6 – Harassment You cannot serve the papers yourself. Someone 18 or older who is not involved in the case has to do it: a friend, a professional process server, or the county sheriff. If the person is actively evading service, you can ask the court to authorize an alternative method.
Once the order is granted, the court enters it into the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS), which lets any officer verify the order instantly during a stop or a response call.6Judicial Council of California. Confidential CLETS Information for Law Enforcement If you include your date of birth on the confidential CLETS form, the order also enters the federal database, which makes it enforceable if either of you crosses state lines.
Firearm Surrender Is Mandatory
A DVRO automatically triggers firearm restrictions, and many people are surprised by this. California law requires anyone subject to a protective order to surrender all firearms and ammunition immediately on being served, or within 24 hours if law enforcement doesn’t collect them at the scene.7California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 6389 – Relinquishment of Firearms The person can turn weapons over to local law enforcement or sell or store them with a licensed gun dealer, and must file a receipt with the court within 48 hours. Failing to file that receipt is itself a violation of the order.
Federal law adds a parallel ban. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(8), a person subject to a qualifying restraining order issued after a hearing is prohibited from possessing any firearm or ammunition.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Knowingly possessing a firearm while subject to a California restraining order is a separate crime under Penal Code 29825, punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.9California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 29825 – Possession of Firearm While Subject to Restraining Order
Custody and Visitation
If you have children with the person you are seeking protection from, the DVRO can set temporary custody and visitation in the same order. California law tells judges not to issue custody or visitation orders that conflict with a restraining order unless they specifically find that no consistent arrangement is possible and the alternative is in the child’s best interest.10California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 3031 – Custody and Visitation Orders
When visitation is granted despite a restraining order, the judge must spell out the exact time, place, and method of exchanging the child, specifically to limit contact and protect confidential addresses like domestic violence shelters. The court can require a third person to be present during visits or suspend visitation entirely if the child’s safety requires it.
What Happens If the Order Is Violated
Any knowing, intentional violation of a restraining order is a misdemeanor, whether it involves physical contact or just a prohibited text message. The base penalty is a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in county jail, or both.11California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 273.6 – Violation of Protective Order Penalties go up from there:
- A violation that causes physical injury carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
- A second violation within seven years involving violence or credible threats can be charged as a felony with state prison time.
- A second violation within one year that causes physical injury carries a mandatory minimum of six months in jail and can also be charged as a felony.
Law enforcement can arrest without a warrant if there is probable cause to believe a violation occurred. If probation is granted, the court can require the defendant to pay up to $5,000 to a domestic violence shelter and reimburse the victim for counseling costs tied to the violation.
Taking Time Off Work for Court
Your employer cannot fire, demote, suspend, or retaliate against you for taking time off to obtain a restraining order or other injunctive relief related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Labor Code 230 protects that time.12California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 230 – Time Off for Victims
Give reasonable advance notice when you can. If an emergency makes advance notice impossible, you can provide documentation after the fact: a court order, a police report, or a note from a licensed medical professional or domestic violence counselor. Your employer must keep that information confidential. If retaliation happens anyway, you have one year from the violation to file a complaint with the California Labor Commissioner, and you can seek reinstatement and back pay.
Changing or Ending the Order
Either the protected person or the restrained person can ask the court to modify or end a DVRO. You file the request with the same court that issued the original order.13California Courts. How to Ask to Change or End the Restraining Order The court schedules a hearing where both sides can argue. The judge looks at whether the restrained person has complied with the order, whether the original threat still exists, and whether circumstances have genuinely changed. A restrained person asking to terminate an order faces a hard argument if the protected person opposes it; courts are reluctant to lift protection when the person who sought it still feels at risk.