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Chapter VI, Rules 6.1 to 6.9: Orders to Show Cause and Motions including Requests for Orders (Preamble); new cases assigned to a specific judicial officer for all purposes, the Notice of Case Assignment served with the case initiating documents, and reassignment (6.1); a declaration from parties who retain non-attorney third parties to prepare their pleadings (6.1.1); documents complying with California Rules of Court, rule 2.100, et. seq., and specifying the division and hearing date (6.1.2); hearing dates assigned by the Court at the submission of motions (6.1.3); a Qualified Domestic Relations Order approved by the plan (6.1.4); the consequences of a failure to comply (6.2); continuances - notice at the earliest opportunity and a written notice at least three (3) court days before the hearing, a trial continuance in writing, and calendar conflicts (6.3 to 6.3.3); remote appearances via CourtCall, LLC without advance notice except for an evidentiary hearing or trial, and remote civil proceedings in child support cases in Division A limited to digital audio appearances (6.3.5); ex parte matters noticed in the Family Law Division (6.4); proof of service filed before the matter is called (6.5); juvenile case file documents treated as confidential (6.6); stipulations and judgments (6.7); an initial Status Conference in approximately 180 days, the mandatory Family Centered Case Resolution Conference, and a Mandatory Settlement Conference 30-60 days before trial (6.8 to 6.8.3); and requests for the costs of appraisers, accountants and experts on a declaration of need and projected cost (6.9).
California > Fifth Appellate District > Kern County > Superior Court of California, County of Kern
Chapter VI. Family Law Rules Preamble References in these rules to Orders to Show Cause and Motions shall also be deemed to apply to Requests for Orders. (Effective 1/1/3) All parties and attorneys in family law proceedings are expected to be familiar with and to comply with California Rules of Court, rule 5.83 and the procedural milestones set forth therein. Rule 6.1 Case Assignments and Reassignments (Effective 7/1/23) (a) Notice of Assignment and Service of Notice. New cases are assigned to a specific judicial officer for all purposes. The litigant will receive a Notice of Case Assignment when the case is filed. A copy of this notice must be served on the parties with the case initiating documents. Assignments of family law cases are for all purposes within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6(a)(2). Assignments of family law cases as a result of a disqualification, recusal, or unavailability of another judicial officer will be assignments for all purposes within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6(a)(2). (b) Reassignment. Nothing in these rules shall prevent the court from reassigning a case to a different judge, in which case the court shall notify the parties of the assignment. (c) Reassignment Due to Change of Judicial Officer in a Department. All family law case reassignments initiated by the court as a result of the change of a judicial officer in a department, are posted online and also on the courthouse electronic monitors or in the courthouse lobbies, and will be noticed through the court’s case management system at least 30 days in advance of the reassignment. The court will mail case-specific notice to all self-represented litigants. Rule 6.1.1 Pleading Filed by Self-Represented Litigants – Pleading Prepared by Third Parties (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/17; rev. 1/1/20; renum. 7/1/23) Parties who retain the services of non-attorney third parties (e.g. typing services or paralegals) to prepare their pleadings must submit a declaration to the court with the following information: (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/20) (a) Name, including Doing Business As (DBA) and Legal Document Assistant (LDA) number, address, and telephone number of person preparing the pleadings; (b) Amount of compensation paid to third party for the preparation of the pleadings; and (c) Authorization pursuant to Family Code section 7643, if access to Confidential Uniform Parentage Act action is requested. (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/17) Rule 6.1.2 Forms of Documents Presented for Filing (Effective 1/1/10; rev. 1/1/17; rev. 1/1/20; rev. 7/1/22; rev. 1/1/23; renum. 7/1/23) (a) All pleadings shall comply with California Rules of Court, rule 2.100, et. seq., 2.256(b), and 3.1110, et. seq. All documents and/or pleadings submitted in which a matter is set for hearing must specify the division, hearing date, and time underneath the title of the document and/or pleading. (Effective 1/1/10; rev. 1/1/17; rev. 1/1/20; rev. 1/1/23) (b) Unless they are submitted by a self-represented party, exhibits must comply with Rule 3.1110(f), which requires electronic bookmarks with links. Where there is a single attachment or exhibit, the index requirement is inapplicable. All documents must contain a titled cover sheet between attachments, schedules, and/or exhibits. (Effective 1/1/10; rev. 1/1/17; rev. 1/1/23) (c) The page limits set forth in California Rules of Court, rule 5.111 shall not apply to evidentiary attachments to pleadings or to the submission of exhibits to be used at any hearing in which at least one of the parties is appearing remotely. A party may apply to the court ex parte, with written notice of the application to the other parties, for permission to exceed the page limitation in rule 5.111. The application must state reasons why the additional are necessary. Parties should not attach copies of pleadings already contained in the Court file to any new pleading. (Effective 1/1/20; rev. 7/1/22) (d) The Court shall endorse and/or conform up to three (3) copies of all submitted documents for filing. (Effective 1/1/10; rev. 1/1/17; renum. 1/1/20) Rule 6.1.3 Obtaining a Hearing Date (Effective 1/1/10; rev. 1/1/17; renum. 7/1/23) Hearing dates are obtained at the time of the submission of motions, including, but not limited to Orders to Show Cause, Notices of Motion, or Requests for Order. Hearing dates are assigned by the Court. Rule 6.1.4 Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDROs) (Effective 1/1/20; renum. 7/1/23) No Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) may be submitted for approval unless the order includes a signature by a plan representative approving it, or there is documentation that the plan has approved the order. Rule 6.2 Failure to Comply with Rules (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/26) Failure of a party or parties to comply with these rules may result in one or more of the following on the request by the other party or on the court’s own motion: (a) Removal of the matter from the calendar; (b) A continuance of the hearing; (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/26); (c) An award of attorney’s fees and costs against the non-complying party, the party’s attorney, or both, without the necessity of filing an Income and Expense Declaration, or any noticed motion; (d) An order based solely upon the pleadings properly before the court; and (e) An Order to Show Cause why monetary sanctions, issue sanctions, evidence sanctions, or terminating sanctions should not be imposed; (Effective 1/1/26) (f) Such other orders as the court deems appropriate. (Effective 7/1/03; renum. 1/1/26) Rule 6.3 Continuances (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/07; rev. 7/1/14) Rule 6.3.1 Request for Orders, Orders to Show Cause, and Motions (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 7/1/10; rev. 7/1/18) (a) Notice of a request for continuance must be given to the other party at the earliest opportunity. If a written notice is not presented to the adverse party at least three (3) court days prior to the date set for the hearing and a continuance is granted, an award of attorney fees may be ordered to the nonmoving party. (b) Continuance of Request for Orders, Orders to Show Cause, and motions by stipulation may be presented in written form to the Clerk’s Office prior to the hearing date or may be requested orally of the court at the time set for the proceeding, provided counsel for all parties are present. (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 7/1/18) (c) Stipulations for Continuances may be presented on the date of the hearing so long as all counsel or self-represented litigants have signed. In such cases, not all parties or counsel need to be present and no filing fees will be required for stipulations so presented and submitted on the date of hearing. (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 7/1/10) Rule 6.3.2 Trial (Effective 7/1/03) Any request for a continuance of a trial date shall be submitted in written form signed by the attorney, the party, or both. In the event of a stipulation to continue the trial date, both counsel must sign the stipulation. The proposed stipulation must be accompanied with a detailed explanation of the reason for the continuance. The stipulation must be submitted to the Family Law Department not less than five (5) days before the trial date. The new date must be approved by the Court before the Stipulation is submitted. Rule 6.3.3 Calendar Conflicts (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/06) In the event of a calendar conflict preventing or delaying a hearing, the attorney with the conflict shall notify the Court and, to the extent possible, the opposing counsel or unrepresented party, at the earliest opportunity. If notice is not given, the Court may award attorney’s fees. Rule 6.3.4 Attorney Late Line Call-In Protocol (Effective 1/1/07; rev. 7/1/09; renum. 1/1/13) See Rule of Court 1.1.2, page 1. Rule 6.3.5 Remote Court Appearances (Effective 3/7/22; rev. 1/1/25; rev. 7/1/26) (a) Remote proceedings other than an evidentiary hearing or trial. A party wishing to appear remotely in any Family Law proceeding other than an evidentiary hearing or trial, including conferences and law and motion hearings, is permitted to appear via CourtCall, LLC without advance notice to the court or other parties. By appearing remotely those persons will be deemed to have requested a remote appearance. Instructions for the CourtCall procedures can be found on the court’s website. Each judicial officer retains the discretion to require a party to appear in person at a conference, hearing, or proceeding, as authorized by Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75. (Effective 3/7/22; rev. 1/1/25) (b) Remote proceedings for an evidentiary hearing or trial. Remote proceedings for evidentiary hearings or trials in all divisions shall be noticed and conducted as authorized by Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75 and California Rules of Court, rule 3.672. (c) Remote civil proceedings in Department of Child Support Services cases in Division A of the Metropolitan Division of the Superior Court are limited to digital audio appearances through CourtCall, LLC. (Effective 3/7/22; rev. 1/1/25) (d) This rule shall be in effect until January 1, 2027. (Effective 3/7/22; rev. 1/1/25; rev. 7/1/26) Rule 6.4 Ex Parte Matters (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 7/1/09; rev. 7/1/25) Ex Parte matters are noticed in the Family Law Division. (a) An ex parte application and order, including notice thereof, must comply with California Rules of Court, rules 5.151-5.169, except for good cause shown or as otherwise provided by law. In a Domestic Violence Prevention Act proceeding, an application may be made without notice pursuant to Family Code section 6300. (b) Notice shall be given to all counsel and all opposing parties, if not represented by counsel, by 8:30 a.m. the court day before the scheduled hearing. A copy of the paperwork for the Ex Parte hearing shall be submitted to the Clerk’s Office by 12:00 p.m. the court day before the scheduled hearing. Copies of all paperwork turned in to the Clerk’s Office must be served on all counsel and all opposing parties, if not represented by counsel, by 1:00 p.m. the day before the scheduled hearing. (c) The court may make emergency orders based on the documents submitted or conduct a hearing before ruling on an ex parte application. Rule 6.5 Return of Service (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 7/1/18) (a) Requests for Orders, Orders to Show Cause, and Notices of Motion shall be calendared when filed. Proof of service must be filed before the matter is called. If there is no proof of service filed, yet both parties appear and agree to proceed, the court, in its discretion, may hear the matter. (b) If a party receives cash aid such as CalWORKs/TANF or Medi-Cal, and a Request for Order, Order to Show Cause, or Notice of Motion is filed relating to child support, the moving party must serve a copy of their moving papers on the Department of Child Support Services (local child support enforcement agency). 1. Prior to filing an enforcement motion, the obligee must comply with the requirements of Family Code section 17404. (Effective 7/1/18) Rule 6.6 Confidential Documents (Effective 1/1/13; rev. 7/1/18) All documents obtained from any juvenile case file or from any child welfare agency must be treated as confidential by all parties and attorneys in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code sections 827, 827.10, and California Rules of Court, rule 5.552. Any party who seeks to file with or present to the Family Court any juvenile case or child welfare agency document or record must first present a request to file such documents under seal. Any pleading filed with the Family Court which attaches, recites, or quotes from any juvenile case or child welfare agency record without a prior request and order to file under seal, may be stricken from the Family Court file or ordered to be placed in a confidential portion of the file. (a) It is the responsibility of the person filing the document to redact confidential information or to utilize the Confidential List of Identifiers form pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 1.201. (Effective 7/1/18) Rule 6.7 Stipulations and Judgments (Effective 7/1/03; rev. 1/1/10; renum. 1/1/13; rev. 1/1/25) (a) Stipulations Written stipulations resolving all or part of issues to be litigated are encouraged and have priority. While a matter is trailing, the court should be kept informed of the status of settlement negotiations. 1. Written stipulations resolving all or part of issues to be litigated are encouraged and have priority. While a matter is trailing, the court should be kept informed of the status of settlement negotiations. 2. Stipulated Judgments or Judgments containing a Marital Settlement Agreement must include signatures from all parties and their respective attorneys, if any. Parties and/or Counsel may waive signatures and submit the terms of a stipulated Judgment on the record pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6. (Effective 1/1/10) 3. Parties requesting to vacate or otherwise terminate personal conduct or stay-away orders issued under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act cannot do so by Stipulation and must file a noticed motion and appear before the Court to request relief. (Effective 1/1/10) (b) Proposed Judgments (Effective 1/1/25) 1. When the Court directs a party to prepare and file a judgment, the party must do so within 20 days of being ordered to do so and must first serve the proposed judgment on opposing party for approval as to form and content. Once approved, the judgment must be filed with the Court. If the party ordered to prepare the judgment fails to do so, or if the opposing party files objections to the proposed judgment within ten days of service, the opposing party may prepare and submit a proposed judgment to the Court, along with proof of service on the other party. 2. At the time the Court orders the preparation of the judgment, it will also schedule an order to show cause regarding the entry of judgment. If the approved judgment is received before this hearing, no appearance is required. 3. If no proposed judgment is received when ordered, sanctions may be imposed. Rule 6.8 Case Status Conferences, Family Centered Case Resolution, and Settlement Conferences (Effective 1/1/13) These rules apply to all cases filed after January 1, 2013, seeking Dissolution of Marriage; Nullity; Legal Separation; Termination of Domestic Partnership; and establishment of paternity under the Uniform Parentage Act. The parties and attorneys are expected to comply with the procedural milestones set forth in California rules of Court, rule 5.83. Rule 6.8.1 Status Conference (Effective 1/1/13) (a) When the Petition is filed, the Clerk of the Court shall set an initial Status Conference in approximately 180 days. The notice of the initial Status Conference date shall be provided to the Petitioner at the time the Petition is filed. The Petitioner shall serve a copy of the Notice on the Respondent along with the Petition. (b) If the Response is filed after the initial Status Conference, the Court shall provide to all parties notice of the next Status Conference. If the next Status Conference is set more than 90 days after the Response is filed, the Court may advance the Status Conference to a date that is closer to 60 calendar days after the Response is filed. (c) If the Petition has been served and proof of service filed, a Response has been filed or default entered, and Preliminary Declarations of Disclosure have been served, any party may file a Request and Order to Change Status or obtain a Case Resolution Conference Date and request a new Status Conference date or a Family Centered Case Resolution Conference (FCCRC). Preliminary Declarations of Disclosure are not required in cases filed under the Uniform Parentage Act. In any action, if a final and complete Judgment has been entered, the Status Conference will be vacated. (d) The purpose of the Status Conference is to review the status of the case and progress toward resolution, including whether the procedural milestones described in California Rules of Court, rule 5.83, subd. (c)(4), have been met. (e) At the Status Conference the Court may do any of the following: 1. Refer the case to mediation; 2. Consider the procedural steps to reach disposition in the case; 3. Set time limits and deadlines, including but not limited to service of process and filing proof of service, entry of default, service of preliminary declarations of disclosure, or submission of judgment; 4. Appoint an attorney for a minor child upon the stipulation of the parties or schedule a hearing for this issue to be considered; 5. Schedule a FCCRC, hearing, or trial on all or some issues; 6. Schedule a further Status Conference; 7. Put on the record stipulations of the parties resolving all or some of the issues in the case, and terminate the marital status if the parties are in agreement and all appropriate milestones have been met; 8. Take any other actions permitted by law that would promote a just and efficient disposition of the case. (f) Attorneys and self-represented parties shall attend each Status Conference unless excused in advance by the Court, the case has been dismissed, or a Judgment resolving all issues has been filed. Parties who are represented by an attorney are not required to attend a Status Conference unless ordered by the Court to appear. (g) Appearance at a Status Conference may be made via teleconference, provided that the party or attorney has made arrangements with CourtCall, LLC, for such an appearance and that the Court has not ordered the party or attorney to appear in person. At least ten calendar days before the scheduled Status Conference, the attorney or party must arrange for the telephonic appearance and pay the required fee for CourtCall’s services. On the day of the Status Conference, those appearing by telephone must call the toll-free conference line designated by CourtCall at least five minutes before the Status conference. (h) If the procedural milestones described in California Rules of Court, rule 5.83, subd. (c)(4), have not yet been met, the Status Conference will be continued for no more than 60 days upon a showing of due diligence by the Petitioner. (i) If no party appears at a scheduled Status Conference without leave of Court obtained in advance, a further Status Conference will be scheduled. The Clerk shall provide notice of the Status Conference, notifying the parties that if they fail to appear at the next Status Conference, the case may be subject to dismissal. If both parties fail to appear at the next Status Conference, notice will be given that the case is subject to dismissal unless identified action is taken. (j) Parties who are participating in mediation or who are actively negotiating a settlement of their case will be exempt from the Status Conference for 180 days, if they file notice of the same with the Court. If the Judgment or a Request for Dismissal is not filed within 180 days of the filing of the notice, the Court will proceed with the Status Conference. (k) Parties who are attempting reconciliation will be exempt from the Status Conference for 180 days, if they file notice of the same with the Court. If a Judgment or Request for Dismissal is not filed within 180 days of the filing of the notice, the Court will proceed with the Status Conference. Rule 6.8.2 Family Centered Case Resolution Conference (Effective 1/1/13) (a) Attendance at the Family Centered Case Resolution Conference (FCCRC) is mandatory. Personal appearance by the parties and attorneys is encouraged. However, if a party is out of state or must travel long distances to attend the FCCRC, consideration will be given to allow the party to appear by counsel or telephonically, if the party is self-represented. (b) At the FCCRC the Court may set the matter for further FCCRC, Status Conference, Settlement Conference, or Trial and a Mandatory Settlement Conference. Rule 6.8.3 Mandatory Settlement Conference (Effective 1/1/13; rev. 7/1/18) (a) When a matter is set for trial, a Mandatory Settlement Conference will be scheduled 30-60 days prior to the trial. (Effective 1/1/13; rev. 7/1/18) (b) At least five (5) days prior to the Mandatory Settlement Conference, the parties shall exchange and file current Income and Expense Declarations and a Settlement Conference Statement that identifies all issues in detail, and that party’s position with respect to each issue in all cases involving monetary issues. The Settlement Conference Statement shall include points and authorities, if appropriate. An updated Income and Expense Declaration will not be required if there are no remaining issues of child support, spousal support, or attorneys’ fees. (c) A request to continue a settlement conference is within the discretion of the court and requires a showing of good cause. Rule 6.9 Appointment of Expert Witnesses (Effective 7/1/03; renum. 1/1/13) Requests for costs for appraisers, accountants and experts will not be considered in the absence of a specific showing by declaration of the need for expert assistance, and the projected cost of the examination requested. Projected costs must be established by the declaration of the expert, which must include a general breakdown of anticipated costs.
Chapter VI. Family Law Rules Preamble References in these rules to Orders to Show Cause and Motions shall also be deemed to apply to Requests for Orders. (Effective 1/1/3) All parties and attorneys in family law proceedings are expected to be familiar with and to comply with California Rules of Court, rule 5.83 and the procedural milestones set forth therein. Rule 6.1 Case Assignments and Reassign
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-14 (California T4 Kern build 2026-10-14) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-kern/docs/general/local-rules-court-effective-7126.pdf (the court's rule book, its cover “LOCAL RULES OF COURT SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF KERN July 1, 2026”, as fetched 2026-10-14; 1712899 bytes, sha256 374bf0cba1a66f90bd6bea59ca9523d5149362ef14f0d1edc454e76ac5738a83; 138 pages; this part PDF pages 72 to 78, printed pages 71 to 77) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow): the rules (PDF pages 14 to 128) composed as one text and cut at the chapter headings (“Chapter I. General Rules” to “Chapter IX. Court Communication Protocol for Domestic Violence and Child Custody Orders”) and, in Chapters I, III, VI, VII and VIII, at rule or section headings (“Rule 1.8”, “Rule 1.12”, “Rule 3.14”, “Rule 6.10”, “Rule 7.4”, “Section Three – Proceedings”, “Section Six – Attorney Competency Standards”, “Rule 8.10”), each matched once as a whole line; every page's running header (“SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF KERN”, named) and printed page number (“13” to “127”) removed as chrome - 230 chrome lines; lines reflowed into the rules' paragraphs, each chapter heading, rule heading, Preamble, section heading and lettered or numbered subdivision starting a line; Rules 1.17 and 1.21's ruled tables (PDF pages 32 and 33, 38 and 39) set a row a line, its cells left to right (the composer's table rows); the strike report (review/strike-report-2026-10-14.txt) finds no struck run; 27 whitespace-only fixes (build/book-fixes.json: 7 line breaks the reflow left before a reference or an inline list item at the paragraph's own margin, rejoined; 19 runs of rows the reflow ran together, split - Rule 1.8.1's two fee tables and the court's mailing address, Rule 3.3.1's regional courts and their telephone numbers, Rule 3.6(a)'s scale of fees, and the side heading “Preamble” of Chapters VI and VII; 1 word the page break split at its hyphen, closed up - “20-calendar-day”); the vertical-gap, short-line, page-break, false-break, structural-break and row-join audits (review/book-gap-audit-2026-10-14.txt, review/book-short-lines-2026-10-14.txt and its run after the fixes, review/book-extra-audits-2026-10-14.txt) list candidates read one by one (build/book_fixes.py) - the rest kept as printed; proof 1 (whitespace-only) and proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) pass. The cover (PDF page 1), the table of contents (2 to 13) and the index (129 to 138) belong to no card; Appendix A, a separate document, is decided in the document catalog (held for the table lane, with a review task). Review note: Rule 6.3.5(c) limits remote civil proceedings in child support cases in Division A to digital audio appearances through CourtCall; Standing Order STO-23-0007 (July 7, 2023; held) says “Parties should follow the procedures set by the Kern County Department of Child Support Services if their remote appearance has been approved by the Court.”
Division XI: information forms for data processing (Rule 11.2); required action - action taken on all calendared cases and a future date always set (Rule 11.19); and pro tem judges - an attorney named as a plaintiff in a civil or small claims case may not sit as a judge pro-tem during the case or within six months following its resolution, nor one named as a defendant in two or more such cases (Rule 11.22). Rules 11.1, 11.3 to 11.5, 11.7 to 11.18, 11.20 and 11.21 are repealed, and Rule 11.6 (voluntary arbitration; see Local Rule 10.2) was repealed and renumbered.
Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.