Rule 5.151.Request for temporary emergency (ex parte) orders; application; required documents

These are the emergency orders rules, and they govern ex parte applications in family law cases unless a statute or rule says otherwise. They do not apply to ex parte applications for domestic violence restraining orders unless specifically stated.

The purpose provision defines the boundary. Emergency orders exist for matters that cannot wait for the regular calendar — orders to prevent immediate danger or irreparable harm to a party or the children, orders to prevent immediate loss or damage to property subject to disposition, and procedural orders such as shortening time for a hearing or for service, or rescheduling a hearing or trial.

The packet is prescribed: a Request for Order identifying the relief; where relevant, a current income and expense declaration or simplified financial statement with a property declaration; the proposed Temporary Emergency (Ex Parte) Orders; and a written declaration regarding notice based on personal knowledge. Points and authorities only if the court requires them.

What the declaration must contain is the heart of the rule. It must state facts within the declarant’s personal knowledge showing why the matter belongs on an emergency footing rather than the regular calendar, and make an affirmative factual showing of irreparable harm, immediate danger, or another statutory basis for relief without notice or on shortened notice. The applicant should disclose all previous applications on the same issue and any orders made on them, even on different facts. And there is a duty to disclose that the order would change the status quo — where that is not disclosed, the fees and costs of restoring the status quo may be awarded against the applicant.

Custody applications carry their own checklist: a full, detailed description of the most recent incidents showing immediate harm to the child or an immediate risk of removal from California, with the date of each incident; the existing custody and visitation arrangements and how the request would change them; a copy of the current orders, or an explanation of where and with whom the child lives if there are none; and a UCCJEA declaration if one has not been filed or the information has changed. A separate subdivision addresses a child who is in California to obtain gender-affirming health care or mental health care, requiring the application to be filed with or after an appropriate petition or a registration of an out-of-state custody order.

Notice itself has required contents: the specific relief to be requested, the date, time and place of presentation, the date, time and place of any hearing, and an attempt to find out whether the other party will appear or file opposition. The accompanying declaration must state either what notice was given and how, or the good faith efforts made without success, or the reasons the applicant should not have to give notice at all.