ORS 107.097: Oregon Status Quo and Emergency Ex Parte Orders

ORS 107.097 is the Oregon statute that lets either parent ask the court for a temporary custody or parenting time order while a divorce, separation, or custody case is pending. It creates two separate tools. The first, under subsection (2), is a status quo protective order that freezes the child’s current living arrangement so neither parent can disrupt it. The second, under subsection (3), is an emergency ex parte order that can grant immediate custody or parenting time when a child faces real danger. Both are temporary measures meant to hold a child’s life steady until the court can make a final decision.¹

The Status Quo Protective Order

A status quo order under ORS 107.097(2) locks in the child’s existing routine. You file an affidavit or sworn declaration describing the arrangement the child is currently living with, and if the court signs the order, both parents are restrained from changing it.¹ Once in place, the order prevents either parent from:

Changing the child’s usual residence.
Disrupting the child’s daily schedule, including school and activities.
Interfering with the other parent’s established parenting time.
Hiding the child from the other parent.
Taking the child out of Oregon without written permission from the other parent or a court order.

The restrictions apply equally to both parents and stay in effect until the court enters a final custody or parenting time ruling.

What the Court Treats as the Status Quo

ORS 107.097 pulls its definition of the child’s “usual place of residence” from ORS 107.138. That is the place where the child was living when the motion was filed and had lived continuously for the three consecutive months before that, not counting time spent with the noncustodial parent during regular parenting time.² Oregon Judicial Department forms echo that three-month lookback and ask the filing parent to describe the children’s residence and schedule across the preceding three months.³

That window matters. A parent cannot engineer a last-minute change — moving the child, pulling them out of a school routine — and then ask the court to call the new setup the status quo. The judge is looking at the arrangement that existed over the previous three months, not whatever happened last week.

The Emergency Ex Parte Order

ORS 107.097(3) is the more urgent track. Under this subsection the court can grant custody or parenting time without first giving the other parent notice, but only when two things happen. The requesting parent must appear in court and present a sworn affidavit or declaration alleging the child is in immediate danger, and the judge has to independently find, based on the evidence presented, that the danger is real.¹

Courts set a high bar for “immediate danger.” Disagreement about bedtimes, screen time, or lifestyle choices will not clear it. Judges are looking for specific evidence of harm or imminent risk: documented physical abuse, severe neglect, a parent incapacitated by substance abuse, credible threats to take the child and flee. Your affidavit needs dates, specific incidents, and concrete detail. Characterizations and conclusions do not substitute for facts.

One small point worth knowing: the statute lets the court consider “the testimony of the other party, if the other party is present.” The order is called ex parte because no advance notice is required, but if the other parent happens to be at the courthouse they are allowed to speak. The court is not obligated to notify them or wait for them before ruling.

Documents You Need to File

Courts are strict about complete paperwork, and missing pieces can delay the order by days or longer. Three categories of documents matter.

The Motion and Supporting Declaration

You file the motion itself with a supporting affidavit or declaration signed under penalty of perjury. For a status quo order, your declaration should walk through the child’s exact schedule over the past three months: which parent has the child on which days, pickup and drop-off times, school, activities. For an emergency order, the declaration needs specific dates, times, and descriptions of the incidents that created the danger. “I fear for my child’s safety,” by itself, is not going to move a judge.

The UCCJEA Affidavit

Every Oregon custody proceeding requires a Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act affidavit listing where the child has lived, and with whom, for the past five years. This establishes that Oregon has jurisdiction.⁴ Oregon is the proper forum if it has been the child’s home state for at least six consecutive months before the filing.⁵ The Oregon Judicial Department publishes a fillable form.⁶

Filing Fees

If you are opening a new domestic relations case, the circuit court filing fee is $301.⁷ If you cannot afford it, deferral and waiver applications are available on the Oregon Judicial Department’s website.⁸ If you are filing the temporary motion inside an existing case, there is no additional filing fee for the motion, but you still need to budget for service.

Filing With the Court

Bring the completed documents to the circuit court clerk in the county where your case is filed. Many Oregon counties hold daily ex parte sessions for emergency and time-sensitive motions. Multnomah County, for example, schedules domestic relations ex parte at 8:30 AM and 1:30 PM each day.⁹ Times vary by county, so check with your local clerk.

Serving the Other Parent

A signed order is not yet enforceable against the other parent. You have to arrange for them to be served with a certified copy. Oregon law requires that service be done by a competent person at least 18 years old who lives in Oregon or the state where service occurs and is not a party to the case.¹⁰ In practice, that means a county sheriff’s deputy or a private process server.¹¹

A sheriff charges $45 for serving papers on one or two parties at the same address.¹² Private process servers set their own fees, which run higher for rush jobs or hard-to-locate parties. After service, the server files a proof of service with the court. The court cannot take further action on the order until that proof is on file.

Challenging a Temporary Order

If an order is entered against you, you can ask for a hearing at any point while the order is in effect. There is no filing deadline. Once you request the hearing, the court has to make reasonable efforts to hold it within 14 days, and must hold it no later than 21 days after the request is filed.¹

At the hearing both parents can present evidence and call witnesses. The judge decides whether the emergency danger actually existed, whether the status quo was described accurately, and whether the order should continue, change, or end. These hearings cover only the temporary arrangement. They do not resolve final custody, property, or support.

If you are the parent who obtained the order, be ready to back up every statement in your original declaration. Judges take seriously any suggestion that a parent stretched the facts to secure an ex parte order. If you are the parent challenging the order, focus your evidence on the specific claims in the other parent’s affidavit and bring documentation showing where they were inaccurate.

What Happens if a Parent Violates the Order

Ignoring a temporary custody order is contempt of court under Oregon law. Contempt covers willfully disobeying, resisting, or obstructing any court order.¹³ A parent who violates a status quo or emergency custody order can face two kinds of sanctions.

Remedial sanctions push for compliance and compensate the other parent. They can include jail for up to six months or until compliance, daily fines of up to $500 or one percent of annual gross income (whichever is greater), reimbursement of the other parent’s attorney fees, and any other remedy the court considers effective.¹³

Punitive sanctions punish past violations. For each separate act of contempt, the court can impose a fine of up to $500 or one percent of annual gross income, up to six months in jail, forfeiture of any profits gained through the contempt, or probation and community service.¹³

Inability to comply is a recognized defense, but you have to prove it. Just saying you could not follow the order is not enough. And beyond the sanctions themselves, violating a temporary order damages your credibility with the judge who will eventually decide final custody. Judges value compliance with their orders, and a parent who ignores one rarely benefits.

When ORS 107.097 Is Not the Right Statute

A few situations look like they belong under ORS 107.097 but are governed elsewhere, and the distinction matters because the procedure and timing are different.

If the other parent is on active military duty, federal law layers on top of state custody rules. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a parent on active duty can request that the court pause the case; the court must grant a stay of at least 90 days when the servicemember submits a letter explaining how military duties prevent appearance and a letter from the commanding officer confirming leave is not authorized.¹⁴ And under 50 USC 3938, no court may treat deployment or potential deployment as the sole factor in a custody decision; a temporary order based solely on deployment must expire no later than the end of the deployment period.¹⁵

If the parents live in different states, interstate rules control which court can act. The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act at 28 USC 1738A requires every state to enforce custody orders from another state’s courts when those orders followed the Act’s jurisdictional rules, and federal law overrides any conflicting state statute.¹⁶ On the state side, Oregon’s UCCJEA gives the child’s home state priority, which is why the UCCJEA affidavit documenting the past five years of residence is required in every Oregon custody case.⁵

1
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 107.097 – Ex Parte Temporary Custody or Parenting Time Orders
2
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 107
3
Oregon Judicial Department. Pre-Judgment Status Quo Packet
4
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 109.767 – Information to Be Submitted to Court
5
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 109.741 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction
6
Oregon Judicial Department. Affidavit Re UCCJEA Information When No Prior Order Exists
7
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 21.155 – Domestic Relations Filing Fee
8
Oregon Judicial Department. Fees
9
Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Multnomah County. Supplementary Local Rules Fourth Judicial District
10
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure
11
Oregon Judicial Department. How to Serve (Deliver) Legal Papers in Oregon
12
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 21.300 – Sheriff and Process Server Fees
13
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 33 – Contempt of Court
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3938 – Child Custody Protection
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1738A – Full Faith and Credit Given to Child Custody Determinations