Rule 5.440.Related cases

The same family can generate several proceedings at once, and the risk is two judges making incompatible orders about the same children. Where resources permit, courts should identify related cases to avoid that and to use court resources effectively.

A pending family law case is related to another case — pending, dismissed with or without prejudice, or already disposed of by judgment — if they involve the same parties or the parties’ minor children, if they turn on issues governed by the Family Code or the Probate Code’s guardianship provisions, or if hearing them separately would likely require substantial duplication of judicial resources.

One safeguard travels with the disclosure. Where identifying a related case reveals information about a juvenile dependency or delinquency matter involving the children, the clerk must file that information in the confidential portion of the court file — except for forms providing custody and visitation orders meant for the family court file. Courts should also coordinate government child support cases with related family matters so far as possible.