To get temporary orders without notice in Arizona, you file a verified motion under Rule 48 of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure showing specific facts that you, your child, or your property will suffer irreparable harm before the other party could be heard at a normal hearing. These are often called ex parte orders, and judges grant them sparingly because the other side temporarily loses the chance to respond before the court acts.
First, Check What the Automatic Injunction Already Covers
The moment anyone files a petition for dissolution, legal separation, or annulment in Arizona, ARS 25-315 triggers a preliminary injunction that binds both spouses. It prohibits transferring, hiding, or selling joint or community property outside the normal course of business. It prohibits harassing or assaulting the other party or any children. It prohibits removing children from Arizona without written consent. And it prohibits dropping the other party or children from existing insurance coverage.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-315 – Preliminary Injunction; Effect
The injunction binds the petitioner immediately on filing and the other spouse once served or otherwise informed, and it stays in place until the court enters a final decree or dismisses the case.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-315 – Preliminary Injunction; Effect If what you need is already prohibited by this injunction and the other party has notice of it, you may not need a separate emergency motion at all. Rule 48 is for the gap: situations the automatic injunction doesn’t reach, or where it isn’t yet in effect against the other person.
What You Must Prove
Rule 48 requires your verified motion to establish two things:
- Specific facts showing that irreparable harm will result to you, a minor child, or separate or community property before the other party can be heard in opposition.
- A written certification from you or your attorney describing what efforts, if any, were made to give notice, and the reasons why notice should not be required.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 48 – Temporary Orders Without Notice
“Specific” is doing real work in that rule. The judge will read your paperwork alone in chambers with no testimony and no cross-examination, so vague statements like “I’m afraid” or “my spouse is wasting money” will not clear the bar. You need dates, dollar amounts, locations, direct quotes, and witness names.
Situations that commonly meet the standard include a credible threat that one parent will take the children out of state, evidence that a spouse is rapidly draining accounts or liquidating assets beyond what the automatic injunction covers, and immediate safety risks involving domestic violence or child abuse. The thread tying them together is urgency that a scheduled hearing days or weeks out cannot address.
What to File and Where
You cannot file a Rule 48 motion by itself. An underlying family law case must already be pending or be filed at the same time, whether that is a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, Legal Separation, Annulment, or a post-decree petition.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 48 – Temporary Orders Without Notice
Three documents go together for the emergency request itself:
- A verified motion. This is the heart of the filing. It lays out the specific facts, signed under penalty of perjury. Precise dates, times, locations, exact words spoken, and witness names belong here.
- A proposed form of order. This is the draft order you want the judge to sign, stating exactly what relief you are asking for, whether temporary legal decision-making, a freeze on specific accounts, or a prohibition on a particular act.
- A notice of hearing. Because the ex parte order is only a bridge to a full hearing, you must set and notice the follow-up hearing at the same time.
County Superior Court self-service centers publish the forms. Maricopa County, for example, provides a specific “Motion for Temporary Order Without Notice” through its self-service center.3Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. How to Request an Emergency Modification of Legal Decision-Making and Parenting Time with No Advance Notice Form numbers and local procedures vary, so check the county where your case is filed.
File with the Clerk of the Superior Court in that county. If the emergency motion is filed with a new petition, you pay the petition’s filing fee. In a case already pending, a post-adjudication domestic relations filing carries a total fee of $102.4Arizona Judicial Branch. Superior Court Filing Fees If you cannot afford the fee, Arizona offers waivers and deferrals; the Application for Deferral or Waiver of Court Fees and Costs is filed with supporting documentation.5Arizona Judicial Branch. Fee Waivers and Deferrals
How the Judge Decides
Once the clerk files your paperwork, the assigned family court judge reviews the motion and proposed order privately. There is no hearing. You are not present, and neither is any attorney. The decision rests entirely on what you wrote.
The judge either signs the order (sometimes with modifications), in which case it takes effect immediately and you are responsible for having it served, or denies it. A denial does not end your case. You can still pursue the same relief through a regular motion with notice under Rule 48(a), which gives the other side advance warning and sets an accelerated hearing. Your underlying petition stays active either way.
If the Order Is Granted
A temporary order without notice is not a blank check. Rule 48 requires the order itself to spell out the specific harm it is meant to prevent, explain why that harm is irreparable, and state why the court granted it without first giving the other party notice.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 48 – Temporary Orders Without Notice If the signed order is missing those findings, raise it with your attorney or the court before trying to enforce.
The order does not enforce itself. You must have the other party served with the order and the notice of the follow-up hearing as soon as possible after entry.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 48 – Temporary Orders Without Notice A process server or sheriff’s deputy typically handles this. The order is only enforceable against someone who has been served or has actual knowledge of it.
These orders are short-lived by design. They expire at the date and time set for the follow-up hearing unless the court extends them for good cause. If the hearing does not happen and no extension is granted, the order simply lapses.
Bond is unlikely. Unlike federal temporary restraining orders, Rule 48(d) does not require you to post security unless the court specifically finds one appropriate, and in family law matters judges rarely require it.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 48 – Temporary Orders Without Notice
The 10-Day Follow-Up Hearing
An ex parte order is a temporary measure, not a final resolution. The court must set an evidentiary hearing within 10 days after the order is entered, unless it extends that deadline for good cause, and the other party can also request an earlier hearing.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 48 – Temporary Orders Without Notice
At that hearing both sides present evidence and testimony. The other party finally gets to challenge your claims and tell their side. Prepare for this hearing with the same seriousness you brought to the original motion, because the judge decides whether to extend, modify, or dissolve the temporary orders based on what both sides present. The court must issue its ruling within 21 days after the hearing.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 48 – Temporary Orders Without Notice
People sometimes treat the initial order as a win and show up underprepared. The other side will arrive with their own evidence, and the judge starts fresh. Bring documentation, witnesses when possible, and a clear explanation of why the temporary protections should continue.
Risks of Filing Without a Real Emergency
Judges can award attorney fees and costs against a party whose petition was not filed in good faith, was not grounded in fact or law, or was filed for an improper purpose such as harassment or inflating the other side’s legal costs.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-324 – Attorney Fees A false or exaggerated emergency filing is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility in family court, and that lost credibility tends to color the judge’s view of everything you do afterward in the case.
If You’ve Been Served With an Order
Violating a temporary order can lead to a contempt finding, fines, and other sanctions. In the parenting-time context, ARS 25-414 requires the court to impose at least one consequence for a violation without good cause, which can include contempt, makeup parenting time, mandatory parent education or counseling at the violator’s expense, or civil penalties of up to $100 per violation, plus the other parent’s court costs and attorney fees.7Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-414 – Violation of Visitation or Parenting Time Rights; Penalties
If you believe the order was wrongly granted, the correct response is to request an earlier hearing under Rule 48, not to ignore it. Even an order you disagree with has to be followed until the court modifies or dissolves it, and defying it undermines your position when the follow-up hearing arrives.