In California, the Family Code governs domestic violence through the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, which defines abuse broadly in Sections 6203 and 6320 and authorizes civil restraining orders for people in intimate or family relationships. The definition reaches past physical violence to cover threats, harassment, stalking, and coercive control. Filing costs nothing, you don’t need a lawyer, and an order from a Family Code judge can force the other person to leave your home, stay away from you and your children, surrender firearms, and lose the presumption that they should share custody.
How the Family Code Defines Abuse
Family Code 6203 defines abuse as intentionally or recklessly causing bodily injury, committing sexual assault, placing someone in reasonable fear of serious bodily injury, or engaging in any conduct a court could prohibit under Family Code 6320.
That last clause is where the definition opens up. Family Code 6320 lets a court order a person to stop molesting, attacking, striking, threatening, harassing, telephoning, destroying personal property, or “disturbing the peace” of the other party. Disturbing the peace is defined as any conduct that destroys the other person’s mental or emotional calm, whether done directly, through someone else, or through technology like text messages or tracking apps. The statute expressly includes coercive control: a pattern of behavior that unreasonably limits a partner’s free will and autonomy by isolating them, controlling finances, monitoring their movements, or regulating daily decisions.
You don’t need a visible injury to qualify. A partner who confiscates your phone to cut you off from friends, drains a shared account to keep you dependent, or installs spyware to track your location is committing abuse as the Family Code defines it.
Who Can Seek a Family Code Order
The Domestic Violence Prevention Act covers a defined set of relationships. You can file for a domestic violence restraining order if the other person is:
- Your current or former spouse or registered domestic partner
- Someone you live with or used to live with as more than a roommate
- Someone you are dating or used to date
- Someone with whom you share a child
- A close family member, such as a parent, sibling, child, grandparent, or in-law
If your relationship with the person doesn’t match any of these, the Family Code route is closed to you, but a civil harassment restraining order under a different statute may still be available. That order uses a different form and a somewhat higher legal standard.
The Restraining Orders the Family Code Authorizes
Three tiers of protective orders are available, each matched to a different level of urgency. Any of them can prohibit contact, order the restrained person to stay away from your home, school, and workplace, and require firearm surrender.
Emergency Protective Orders
When a law enforcement officer responds to a domestic violence call and finds you in immediate danger, the officer can contact a judge at any hour and obtain an Emergency Protective Order under Family Code 6250.1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 6250 No paperwork from you is required. The order takes effect right away, can require the other person to leave a shared home, and can grant temporary custody. It lasts five to seven business days, which is meant to give you time to file for the next step.
Temporary Restraining Orders
You request a Temporary Restraining Order yourself. A judge reviews the request, usually within one business day, and can issue the TRO without first notifying the other person if the papers show enough evidence of a threat under Family Code 6320.2California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 6320 A TRO typically runs 20 to 25 days, lasting until the court hearing where a judge decides on a longer order. If you miss that hearing, the TRO expires.
Restraining Orders After Hearing
After a hearing where both sides can present evidence and testimony, the judge can issue a longer-term order. Under Family Code 6345, if the judge sets no specific end date, the order lasts three years by default. The judge can also set any duration up to five years. Before it expires, you can request a renewal for another five years or permanently, and the judge can grant that renewal without requiring proof of any new abuse.3California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 6345
How to File
There is no filing fee for a domestic violence restraining order in California, and you don’t need an attorney.4California Courts Self Help Guide. Domestic Violence Restraining Orders in California File in the superior court of the county where you live or where the abuse occurred.
Start with the Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order, Form DV-100. It asks for a detailed description of what happened, specific incidents, and the protections you want the court to order.5courts.ca.gov. DV-100 Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order Specifics matter. Dates, locations, what was said, what was done, whether anyone else saw it.
You also complete the Confidential CLETS Information form, CLETS-001. This feeds the order into California’s statewide law enforcement database so any officer who stops the restrained person can verify and enforce it.6California Courts. CLETS-001 Confidential Information for Law Enforcement Providing the restrained person’s date of birth also enters the order into the federal database, which matters for enforcement if they travel out of state.
After a judge reviews and grants your TRO, the restrained person must be personally served with copies of the order and the hearing notice before the hearing. The sheriff or marshal will serve the papers at no cost, or you can hire a professional process server. Someone 18 or older who is not you must do the serving. You then file proof of service, Form DV-200, with the court.7California Courts. DV-200-INFO What Is Proof of Personal Service (Domestic Violence Prevention)
If the restrained person is hiding or genuinely cannot be located after reasonable efforts, you can ask the court for permission to serve by alternative means, such as publication. Courts rarely grant this and usually want documentation of your attempts first. If service hasn’t happened by the hearing date, ask for a continuance. Don’t skip the hearing, because your TRO will lapse and you’ll lose protection.
Firearm Surrender
Any person served with a domestic violence restraining order must surrender all firearms within 24 hours, either to local law enforcement or to a licensed firearms dealer. A receipt proving they did so must be filed with the court within 48 hours.8courts.ca.gov. Firearms Relinquishment in Family and Juvenile Law Restraining Orders California also reports active restraining orders to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, so any attempt to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer will be denied at the point of sale.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
Federal law adds a second layer. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), a person subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order issued after a hearing with notice is barred from possessing any firearm or ammunition, if the order restrains them from threatening an intimate partner or child and either contains a credible-threat finding or expressly prohibits the use of force.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts The two prohibitions are independent, so a violation can be prosecuted under either or both.
What the Order Does to Custody
A Family Code finding of domestic violence changes the entire custody analysis. Under Family Code 3044, if a judge finds that a parent committed domestic violence against the other parent, the child, or the child’s sibling within the previous five years, there is a legal presumption that giving that parent sole or joint physical or legal custody would be detrimental to the child.10California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 3044
The presumption isn’t automatic disqualification. It flips the burden onto the accused parent, who must affirmatively show that custody would serve the child’s best interests. Judges typically look for completion of a batterer intervention program, ongoing counseling, and a sustained period without new incidents.
While a restraining order is in effect, courts usually limit the restrained parent to supervised visitation, either at a professional visitation center or with a neutral third party present. These arrangements can continue indefinitely if the parent does not demonstrate rehabilitation. Professional supervised visitation centers charge hourly fees, and the court can order the restrained parent to pay those costs.
In the most serious cases, where a child faces ongoing danger, the court can terminate parental rights under Family Code 7820. That requires clear and convincing evidence that continued contact would be harmful to the child.11Justia. California Family Code Chapter 2 Circumstances Where Proceeding May Be Brought
Where the Order Reaches
A California restraining order is enforceable in every state, the District of Columbia, and tribal jurisdictions. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2265, each jurisdiction must give full faith and credit to a properly issued protective order from another state, and law enforcement there must treat it as if their own court had issued it.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders You don’t have to register the order in the other state for it to apply, though entering it in the CLETS and federal databases through the CLETS-001 form speeds verification during a police encounter.
Related Protections Worth Knowing
The Family Code governs the civil side only. Domestic violence is also prosecuted criminally under the Penal Code — through charges like corporal injury to a spouse (PC 273.5), misdemeanor domestic battery (PC 243(e)(1)), and stalking (PC 646.9) — and officers can arrest a suspect at the scene without a warrant under Penal Code 836, regardless of whether the victim wants to press charges. Violating a Family Code restraining order is itself a separate crime under Penal Code 273.6.13California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 273.6 A criminal case can proceed on its own track, in parallel with your restraining order.
If keeping your location private is part of your safety plan, California’s Safe at Home program, run by the Secretary of State, gives enrolled survivors a substitute mailing address usable for voter registration, driver’s licenses, utility accounts, and government interactions. State and local agencies are required to keep your real address out of public records. Enrollment is free, and local domestic violence advocacy centers can help you apply.14California Secretary of State. Safe at Home