Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.50 · Article 1. Summonses, Notices, and Declarations
Papers issued by the court
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Issuing the summons; form
If a summons is required to commence a family law case, the clerk of the court must issue the summons using the same procedure for issuing a summons in civil actions, generally.
(1) The clerk of the court must:
(A) Issue a Summons (Family Law) (form FL-110) for divorces, legal separations, or annulment cases involving married persons or domestic partnerships;
(B) Issue a Summons (Uniform Parentage-Petition for Custody and Support) (form FL-210) for parentage or custody and support cases;
(C) Issue a Summons (UIFSA) (form FL-510) when a party seeks to establish or enforce child support orders from other states;
(D) Process a Summons and Complaint or Supplemental Complaint Regarding Parental Obligations (form FL-600) as specified in rule 5.325.
(E) Issue Summons—Gestational Carrier Agreement (form SUR-110) when parties file Petition to Determine Parental Relationship (form SUR-100); and
(F) Issue Joint Summons—Joint Petition (form FL-710) when parties file a joint petition for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership or legal separation as specified in Family Code sections 2330(c) and 2331.
(2) The clerk of the court must not give the original summons to the petitioner, but must maintain it in the court file, except for support cases initiated by a local child support agency.
(b) Automatic temporary family law restraining order in summons; handling by the clerk of the court
Under Family Code section 233, in proceedings for dissolution, legal separation, or nullity of a marriage or domestic partnership and in parentage proceedings, the clerk of the court must issue a summons that includes automatic temporary (standard) restraining orders.
(1) The summons and standard restraining orders must be issued and filed in the same manner as a summons in a civil action and must be served and enforced in the manner prescribed for any other restraining order.
(2) If service is by publication, the publication need not include the standard restraining orders.
(c) Individual restraining order
(1) On application of a party and as provided in the Family Code, a court may issue any individual restraining order that appears to be reasonable or necessary, including those automatic temporary restraining orders in (b) included in the family law summons under Family Code section 233.
(2) Individual restraining orders supersede the standard family law restraining orders in the Family Law and Uniform Parentage Act summonses.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2026.)
(Subd (b) amended effective July 1, 2026; previously amende effective January 1, 2016.)
(Subd (c) amended effective January 1, 2016.)
Rule 5.50 amended effective July 1, 2026; adopted effective January 1, 2013; previously amended effective January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2026.
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_50
- Text hash
- sha256 f77495d7b358605318690d968e2fa8f4975a7a1c7810039311d96116107a5b4e
- 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
- The Judicial Council's PDF of Title 5 (last modified July 20, 2026) prints this rule differently: the PDF also prints “Subd (b) amended effective July 1, 2026: previously amended effective January 1, 2016”. The rule page's text is shown.
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.