Family FAQs

Read the page on child support on this website. The necessary forms are linked to that page. Click on the form name to open, complete and print the form.

If you do not have an attorney and need help with filing out forms, you can visit our Self-Help Center Office personally with a copy of all the papers in your Court file.

Try calling DCSS (Department of Child Support Services) toll-free at 1-866-901-3212 . They may be able to help with collecting the unpaid child support (called "arrears").

The DCSS web page on collecting/enforcing child support has information about different options available, such as income withholding.

The Court's Self-Help Center can help with filing a motion to determine arrears and ask for a wage assignment, so the arrears amount is paid directly from the employer to the person owed the child support.

The DCSS (Department of Child Support Services) will try to collect the money.

You can wait to be contacted by DCSS or you may choose to contact them yourself at 1-866-901-3212.

You may open a case for custody and support of minor children. It is not a divorce or legal separation case.

Please visit the Court's Self-Help Center/Family Law Facilitator's Office to receive these forms and instructions for completing and filing them in court.

Once you have opened a case, you can be given an appointment to come in with the other parent to write up your agreement and file it as an order of the Court.

The public can access the Dissomaster programs at the Self-Help Computer in the Clerk's Office at the Family Justice Center Courthouse.

Staff assistance is available during working hours at the Self-Help Center to answer questions.

An online calculator is also available on the Dept. of Child Support Services website .

How can I get custody of my children back after they've been in foster care?

If the case was in this county, you should contact Dependency Legal Services to get answers to your questions (408-995-0442 ). Also see information on our Juvenile Dependency web pages.

If your case is in another county, you need to contact the attorney who represented you in that county.

How can I change custody from one county to another?

You have two options:

(1) File a motion to change custody in the divorce case in the other county, or

(2) File to move the case to Santa Clara County ("change venue") and THEN file a motion to change custody once the case has arrived here (this can take a few months - time for the hearing in the other county and additional time to transport the file).

If you need help filling out the paperwork, you may want to go to our Self-Help Center office in downtown San Jose. If you wish to consult with an attorney or get other legal aid, check our Free & Low-Cost Legal Help web page.

How does someone apply for grandparent visitation rights?

The person should visit the Court's Self-Help Center in downtown San Jose for help applying to the Court to have visitation time with grandchildren. The Self-Help Center may be able to provide the forms and help with filling them out, to ask the Court to make a new visitation order, without charge for the assistance.

The issue of grandparent's rights can be very complicated, however, and the Self-Help Center may not always be able to help. It is a good idea to have a consultation with a private attorney (see local Bar Association website ).

The person will need to bring:

• the son or daughter's court case number, if there is one, and
• the most recent visitation order for the children (Copies may be obtained from Family Justice Center Courthouse if the case is not confidential. Note that there is a copying fee.)

How can I enforce visitation rights when my spouse has full custody?

Enforcing visitation orders can be challenging. There are very few resources that can help you enforce this type of order, so it is best to try some of these things first, in this order:

• Does your order need updating?
  Sometimes when an order is a few years old and the parents' situations have changed, the current schedule doesn't work well for one or both parents. It may be time to agree about a new schedule, or file a motion with the Court to come up with a new schedule that works better. Sometimes agencies won't help with enforcing an older visitation order.
   
• Do you have an enforceable order?
  Make sure you have a court order that is very specific - with exact days and times when exchanges of the children will take place. If your order is not very specific -for example - it refers to "reasonable visitation" or "at times agreed to by the parents' - then you will need to first apply to the Court for an order that is enforceable.
   
• Could the order be made easier to enforce?
  Sometimes a simple change of the exchange location can make the order easier to enforce. For example, instead of exchanging the children at the parents' homes, the children can simply be picked up and dropped off at school or childcare. In more extreme cases the parties can be ordered to exchange the children at a professional supervising agency. There is a fee for this, but they will track when the parents drop off and pick up the children.
   
• Contempt action
  This means you are asking the Court to issue criminal-type punishment (like jail time) on the parent who is not following the visitation order. These are very difficult actions to win because your "burden of proof" is very high and because the other person will be appointed a free attorney if they can't afford one. You should consider hiring a private attorney for this type of action. The Court's Self-Help Center doesn't help with contempt actions.

How can I get copies of a divorce case?

To get copies of divorce documents, go to the courthouse and ask for a copy, or send a request through the mail.

To visit the courthouse or send a request by mail, see directions, addresses and business hours on the Family Justice Center Courthouse page.

To ask for a copy by mail, send us:

• Your written request, click here for the Family Records Copy Request Form .
• A check payable to the Superior Court, and
• A self-addressed stamped envelope with sufficient postage.

To know the amount of the check, look under "Preparing a copy of any record, proceeding or paper on file" in the certification and copy fees section of the local fee schedule linked to the Court's Fees page. There is an additional charge for a certified copy. See "Certified copy of marriage or domestic partnership dissolution record (requested by any other applicant)" in the certification and copy fees section of the fee schedule.

To locate your divorce papers, the Court will need the case number. If you do not know your divorce case number, you can try looking up your case online by doing an index search on the Court's Case Information Portal , searching for your or your spouse's name ("party name") at the time of the divorce. Generally, divorce records for the last 10 years are on this website.

If you cannot find your case online, the Court can look up this information for a small fee. See "Searching records or files, for each search longer than 10 minutes" in the certification and copy fees section of the local fee schedule for the current amount of this fee.

Mail your request, check and envelope to the mailing address on the Family Justice Center Courthouse page. Or, bring the information to the counter at the Clerk's Office at the Family Justice Center Courthouse.

Which county should I file for divorce in, since I've moved? (Spouse still in this county)

You or your spouse must live in a county for 3 months and in California for 6 months before you can file for a divorce in that county. If you or they don't meet residency requirements in your county, you can file for legal separation, then file an amended petition for divorce in the county in which you live once there residency requirements are met.

Can our Self-Help Center help with cases in another county? The Self-Help Center can usually help you to file in any county in California. If we can't, we'll let you know. You'll need to research the "local rules of court" for the other county in question.

Processing legal forms can be very complicated. In order to best help you, we need for you to visit our Self-Help Center (in downtown San Jose) personally.

If you are not able to visit our Center, you could:

• contact a private attorney in this county or your own county (low cost consultations in Santa Clara County can be scheduled by calling the Santa Clara County Bar Association at 408-971-6822 )
• visit the legal aid websites listed on our Free & Low-Cost Legal Help page
• purchase a self-help book from a local bookstore or on the internet.

How can I get help with my divorce?

Visit the Divorce page on this website.

Also, you can visit the state court Self-Help website on divorce .

If you need help filling out the paperwork, you may want to go to our Self-Help Center office in downtown San Jose.

If you wish to consult with an attorney or find out about legal aid, see our Free & Low-Cost Legal Help web page.

How can a Family Law case (such as a divorce case) be dismissed?

See the document How to Dismiss Your Case , and use the forms listed in the document, which you can download from the Judicial Council state forms page.

See the Restraining Order section of this website.

How can I sign up for a court-ordered anger management class?

You can view the Family Court Services prepared list of Domestic Violence Accountability Programs and contact these agencies.

How can I find the Family Law Request for Order Form?

In Family Law, the Request for Order forms are located at the State Court forms website .

• Click to open the FL-300 Request for Order form .
• Click to open the Information Sheet for Request for Order

In some legal situations, the forms required are specific and it is easy to figure out the one you need.

In other situations, it is more complicated, and hard to know which form to use. You can check with an attorney, or visit our Self-Help Center in downtown San Jose.

Find additional legal aid on our Free & Low-Cost Legal Help web page.

Where is the form (FL-450) that I need as an employer, to give to an employee when I withhold child support?

See form FL-450 , "Request for Hearing Regarding Earnings Assignment," on the state form website . This form allows employees to request a hearing if they object to the Income Withholding for Support (form FL-195 ) or the Earnings Assignment Order for Spousal or Partner Support (form FL-435 ).

What form do I use to request the removal of a child's court-ordered attorney?

You need to file a Request for Order asking for removal of a child's (minor's) attorney. See the State Court forms web page for these forms. (Also see our FAQ on the Request for Order form.)

If you need help filling out the paperwork, you may want to go to our Self-Help Center office in downtown San Jose.

If you wish to consult with an attorney or find out about legal aid, see our Free & Low-Cost Legal Help page. For more information, see the FAQ on locating family forms.

• Forms
  • Local Forms: Our forms page lists all local forms. Local Family forms begin with the prefix FM. Click here to go to the Local Forms page.
  • State Forms: Click here to go to State Court (Judicial Council) Forms page . Tip: use the dropdown box to choose the rule or form you want. Choose one the choices started with "Family Law" such as "Family Law - Dissolution, Legal Separation and Annulment" for divorce forms, for example.
• Fees
  • Local Fees: Click here to go to the Local Fees page.
  • State Fees: Click to visit the State Fee Schedule page .
• Rules of Court - Rules of Court are procedures the Court requires parties to follow when they start a Court case. Counties may have Local Rules of Court in addition to the State Rules of Court.
  • Local Rules: Click here to go to the local Family Rules of Court in Santa Clara County.
  • State Rules: Click here to go to the State Family Rules of Court .

How can I get a paternity test, for child support?

Generally speaking, if DCSS (Department of Child Support Services ) is suing someone for paternity, the party being sued can request the court order genetic testing.

If the court does so, both parties would be required to test, as would the child. If you have been served with papers by the DCSS office, you should have a blank answer attached to the summons and complaint.

If you need help filling out the paperwork, you may want to go to our Self-Help Center office in downtown San Jose.

How do I change the father's name listed on my child's birth certificate?

If there is NO father's name on the birth certificate and you and the other parent aren't married, there are two ways to add the father to the child's birth certificate.

1. You can open a parentage case with the Court. Once the legal parents are established by the Court, follow the procedure on the State Dept. of Public Health website to request that the birth certificate be amended to include the father's name.
    
2. You and the other parent can sign a Voluntary Declaration of Parentage .

If you want to CHANGE the father's name on the birth certificate, the situation is more complicated.

If the father's name is already on the birth certificate that means he either signed the birth certificate, was married to the mother when the child was born, or was already determined to be the legal father by the Court.

For help with this, visit a private attorney (see the local Bar Association website ), or visit the Court's Self-Help Center for more information.

How can I view and/or copy my court file?

If your case isn’t sealed, you can see your files in person after you show a picture ID.

If your case was sealed, no one can see your files without a court order.

The Court's Case Information Portal contains Family Law case information for cases that are not sealed or confidential.

If the case has a “CP” prefix it is a confidential paternity file and can only be viewed in person by the people who are part of the case and their lawyers, after they show a picture ID.

(You can search the Case Information Portal by case number, case type, party name, etc. (Click the "information page" link on the home page of that website for more help.)

For information on how to obtain copies of your family case records by mail, click to go to the Divorce Records FAQ above.

How much do I have to pay for copies and certification? See the "Records Related Fees" section of the current local fee schedule.

I need to get a copy of change of address form. I have already filed the necessary preliminary papers for my divorce, but I now live in France, and cannot process it without a change of address form. See Form & Filing FAQs.

 I would like to find out how to obtain legal guardianship of a child. See Guardianship page in the Probate section of this website.

What do I do if my spouse didn't go to the mediation orientation?

You may need to file a motion to get back into Court to tell the Judge what is happening.

First, you need to allow enough time for the other parent to comply with the order to attend Orientation. For example, if something has come up and the other parent needed to reschedule, you need to allow that to happen.

We can help you file a motion at the Court's Self-Help Center. In order to best help you, we need for you or a family member to visit our Self-Help Center Office (in downtown San Jose) personally with a copy of all the papers in your court file. Then we can review your entire file and tell you what forms you need to fill out next in your case.

If you are not able to send someone to visit our Center, you could:

• Contact a private attorney (you can get a low-cost consultation by calling the Santa Clara County Bar Association at 408-971-6822 ),
• Visit the forms page on the state court website (any legal forms you need are available free there)
• Purchase a self-help book from a local bookstore or on the internet

See the document How to Dismiss Your Case, and use the forms linked to the document.