Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.9 · Article 3. Appearance by Telephone
Appearance by telephone
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Application
Subdivisions (b) through (d) of this rule are suspended from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2027. During that time, the provisions in rule 3.672 apply in their place. This rule applies to all family law cases, except for actions for child support involving a local child support agency and cases governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act. Rule 5.324 governs telephone appearances in governmental child support cases. Welfare and Institutions Code section 224.2(k) governs telephone appearances in cases under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
(b) Telephone appearance
The court may permit a party to appear by telephone at a hearing, conference, or proceeding if the court determines that a telephone appearance is appropriate.
(c) Need for personal appearance
(1) At its discretion, the court may require a party to appear in person at a hearing, conference, or proceeding if the court determines that a personal appearance would materially assist in the determination of the proceedings or in the effective management or resolution of the particular case.
(2) If, at any time during a hearing, conference, or proceeding conducted by telephone, the court determines that a personal appearance is necessary, the court may continue the matter and require a personal appearance.
(d) Local rules
Courts may develop local rules to specify procedures regarding appearances by telephone.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2026; previously amended effective January 1, 2021, January 1, 2022, and August 4, 2023.)
Rule 5.9 amended effective January 1, 2026; adopted effective January 1, 2013; previously amended effective January 1, 2021, January 1, 2022, and August 4, 2023.
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_9
- Text hash
- sha256 505a3a0b3ff0ad95f137999c89fa038c1f5f16752c1661aa5fffb99411ab2db2
- 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.
Welfare and Institutions 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.