§ 583.161.Dismissal of Petition Filed Pursuant to Sections 299, 2250, 2330 Or 7600, Family Code

Some family-law petitions don't fit the ordinary dismissal-for-delay framework, because the case may stay open for years to administer ongoing support or protective orders. This section shields petitions filed under specified Family Code sections — covering parentage actions and related proceedings — from dismissal under this chapter whenever certain protections remain active.

The exemption applies if a child support, custody, or visitation order is in place and hasn't been terminated by the court or by operation of law under the listed Family Code sections; if a spousal support order remains in place and hasn't been terminated by the court; if a domestic violence restraining order issued under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act remains in effect; or if an issue in the case has been bifurcated and a separate trial on it has already been conducted under Family Code § 2337 or the California Rules of Court.

In each of those situations, the underlying support obligation, protective order, or bifurcated proceeding keeps the case alive in a way that makes the ordinary delay-based dismissal rules a poor fit — so this section takes those cases outside the chapter's reach while those circumstances persist.