Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.451 · Chapter 1. Contact and Coordination

Contact after adoption agreement

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)

(a) Applicability of rule

This rule applies to any adoption of a child filed under Family Code section 8714, 8714.5, 8802, 8912, or 9000.

(b) Preparing the agreement

Any agreement must be prepared and submitted on Contact After Adoption Agreement (form ADOPT-310) and include all terms required under section 8616.5

(1) The court that grants the petition for adoption and approves the contact after adoption agreement retains jurisdiction over the agreement.

(2) Any petition for enforcement of an agreement must be filed on Request to: Enforce, Change, End Contact After Adoption Agreement (form ADOPT-315).

(3) Any petition for modification or termination of an agreement must be filed on Request to: Enforce, Change, End Contact After Adoption Agreement (form ADOPT-315).

(d) Costs and fees

The fee for filing Request to: Enforce, Change, End Contact After Adoption Agreement (form ADOPT-315) must not exceed the fee assessed for the filing of an adoption petition.

Notes and commentary — not rule text

History

(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2024; previously amended effective January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2013.)

(Subd (b) relettered and amended effective January 1, 2024; adopted as subd (c); previously amended effective January 1, 2003; and January 2013.)

(Subd (c) relettered and amended effective January 1, 2024; adopted as subd (d); previously amended effective July 1, 2001, January 1, 2003, July 1, 2003, January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2013.)

(Subd (d) relettered and amended effective January 1, 2024; adopted as subd (e) previously amended effective July 1, 2001, January 1, 2003, July 1, 2003, and January 1, 2013.)

Rule 5.451 amended effective January 1, 2024; adopted as rule 1180 effective July 1, 1998; previously amended and renumbered as rule 5.400 effective January 1, 2003; previously amended effective July 1, 2001, July 1, 2003;January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2018; previously renumbered effective January 1, 2013.

Source of truth

Edition: As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
Official file: https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/five/rule5_451
Text hash: sha256 d71b609e85a3a025294fd9aab507982678888e58c5cc027cdd7739c39c12a994
Composed by: compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph

This rule cites

Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.

Family Code

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.