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Chapter 7, Family Court Rules, Part 1 (General Rules): attorney fees and costs under Family Code section 271 or the sanctions of Local Rule 103 for failure to comply with the rules (700); matters set under Local Rule 301, dropped, continued or sanctioned for failure to be in the courtroom on time, and no matter calendared on the Family Law and Motion Calendar when both sides are represented by counsel without first calling opposing counsel to clear a hearing date (701); no more than ten (10) typewritten, double-spaced pages of declarations without prior approval under rule 5.111, fifty (50) pages of exhibits per declaration and five (5) pages for a reply or closing declaration (702(A)); medical, psychological, educational, mediation, probation and civil investigation reports and financial and real property records deemed business records without foundation unless a genuine objection is made, and legible, tumbled photocopies of Judicial Council forms (702(B) and 702(C)); no matter taken off calendar after service without notice to the responding party, who must agree where it has requested affirmative relief (703); continuances under Local Rule 304, an Order to Show Cause continued only by a Stipulation and Order or an Application and Order for Reissuance on form FL-306, and contempt orders to show cause and judgment debtor examinations not reissued and, after service, not continued without a court appearance (704); a matter that will take more than twenty (20) minutes may be continued to accommodate the calendar (705); a Case Management Conference set not more than one (1) year after the petition, a Case Management Conference Statement filed and served no less than seven (7) days before, and the parties or counsel present and prepared to address discovery, disclosure, experts, settlement and trial dates (706); ex parte and emergency requests under rules 3.1200 through 3.1207 on a declaration showing irreparable harm or immediate danger, assigned to a Court Commissioner unless a written objection is timely submitted (707); a Declaration Regarding Notice and Service of Request, the fee or a fee waiver and two (2) copies, notice by 10:00 a.m. on the preceding court date, applications and any opposition submitted by 10:00 a.m. on the noticed date, a response on mandatory form FL-320, decisions in most circumstances without a hearing, and the moving party serving the filed order (707(B)); temporary custody orders only on a declaration stating the date of separation, prior orders, the parent the child resides with and specific facts of danger, with an accompanying order restricting all parties from removing the child from California (707(C)); short notice orders for exclusive use of a vehicle only on a declaration, and for payment of obligations only with financial facts and an Income and Expense Declaration, copies conformed to modified orders, and set-aside requests under the same procedures (707(D) to 707(G)); Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders under Family Code section 2040, in dissolution, annulment and legal separation actions, against removing a minor child from the state, changing insurance or disposing of property, each party notifying the other of extraordinary expenditures at least five (5) days before, and in Uniform Parentage or Petition for Custody and Support matters against removing a child from the state (708); and the court clerk authorized to issue family law Orders to Show Cause without temporary orders or an Order Shortening Time and to set the hearing date (709)
CHAPTER 7: FAMILY COURT RULES Part 1 – General Rules RULE 700 – Enforcement Failure to comply with these rules may result in an award of attorney fees and costs pursuant to Family Code section 271 and/or any of the sanctions set forth in Superior Court of Kings County, Local Rule 103. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 701; amended and renumbered 7/1/08) RULE 701 – Setting Matters for Hearing A. All family law
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-15 (California T4 Kings build 2026-10-15) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-kings/docs/local-rules/kingscountylocalrules_07-01-26.pdf (the court's rule book, its cover “SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF KINGS Local Rules of Court (July 1, 2026)”, as fetched 2026-10-15; 1404126 bytes, sha256 5afc44ac2f5fa421cca2659bfcef2f97cc69851872a6b71f3834afa29c1bc7e3; 136 pages; this part PDF pages 86 to 92, page numbers 79 to 85) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow): the rules and the appendix (PDF pages 8 to 112) composed as one text and cut at the chapter headings, and within Chapters 1, 3, 5 and 7 at a part or rule heading (“RULE 126 – Submission of Documents for Filing”, “RULE 310 – Joining Motions of Other Parties”, “Part 2 – Rules Applicable to Felony Cases and Misdemeanor Cases Joined or Consolidated with a Felony for Trial”, “RULE 710 – Applications for Family Law Court Orders”, “RULE 720 – Custody Orders and Agreements”, “RULE 732 – Experts Pursuant to California Evidence Code § 730”, “Part 2 – Child Support and the Kings County Department of Child Support Services”, “APPENDIX A”), each matched once as a whole line; the three rules whose instructions print example case numbers - Rule 125 (E-Filing Rules), Rule 309 (Legal Research Copy) and Rule 731 (Judicial Notice in Family Law Matters - Department 4) - cut out as parts of their own and held from publication (a case number's form, even an example's, is never published); every page's running head (“KINGS COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT – LOCAL RULES”, named) and footer lines (the chapter's name, “Appendix A” and “Page 1” to “Page 105”, named) removed as chrome - 314 chrome lines; lines reflowed into the rules' paragraphs, each rule number and lettered or numbered subdivision starting a line; the strike report (review/strike-report-2026-10-15.txt) finds one blank struck run in the book, on PDF page 115 (the Index by Number, outside the rules); 3 whitespace-only fixes (build/book-fixes.json: Rule 102's definition of “CASA” split from the definition before it; Rule 604's “within Rule 5.546 of the California Rules of Court” rejoined to its sentence; the Juvenile Court Rules' CASA contact's two lines split); the vertical-gap, short-line, page-break, false-break and structural-break audits (review/book-gap-audit-2026-10-15.txt, review/book-short-lines-2026-10-15.txt, review/book-extra-audits-2026-10-15.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 7), the Index by Number (113 to 119), the Subject Matter Index (120 to 126) and the List of Effective Dates (127 to 136) belong to no card.
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.
California > Fifth Appellate District > Kings County > Superior Court of California, County of Kings
CHAPTER 7: FAMILY COURT RULES Part 1 – General Rules RULE 700 – Enforcement Failure to comply with these rules may result in an award of attorney fees and costs pursuant to Family Code section 271 and/or any of the sanctions set forth in Superior Court of Kings County, Local Rule 103. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 701; amended and renumbered 7/1/08) RULE 701 – Setting Matters for Hearing A. All family law matters must be set pursuant to Superior Court of Kings County, Local Rule 301. Failure to be in the courtroom on time may result in the matter being dropped from the calendar, the matter being continued and/or the imposition of sanctions. B. No matter shall be calendared on the Family Law and Motion Calendar when both sides are represented by counsel without first calling opposing counsel and attempting to clear a hearing date, unless notice is otherwise excused by these rules or if opposing counsel represents the Department of Child Support Services. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 710; amended and renumbered 7/1/08; amended 7/1/20) RULE 702 – Presentation of Documents All documents submitted in family law matters must comply with California Rules of Court as to motion practice, as well as the following: A. In accordance with California Rules of Court, rule 5.111, the court will not consider more than ten (10) typewritten, double-spaced pages of declarations without prior approval. This restriction does not apply to exhibits submitted with the declaration(s). However, no more than fifty (50) pages of exhibits (including dividers) shall be attached to any declaration. No reply or closing declaration shall exceed five (5) pages (not including exhibits). B. No foundation will be required for medical, psychological, educational, mediation, probation, civil investigation reports, records of a financial institution, and records related to the purchase or sale of real property. All such documents will be deemed to be business records without authentication unless a party asserts a genuine objection predicated upon a good faith factual belief that the records are not authentic. In the event of such an objection, the court may allow for a continuance to allow the proffering party to establish authenticity to the satisfaction of the other party or to procure a witness or other evidence for this purpose. The court may sanction a party pursuant to Family Code section 271 if it finds that an objection as to authenticity was not made in good faith. C. Photocopies of forms adopted by the Judicial Council and used in family law matters must be legible and tumbled if two sided. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 711; amended and renumbered 7/1/08; amended 7/1/12; amended 7/1/20; amended 7/1/21) RULE 703 – Matters Off Calendar After service of the moving papers, no matter shall be taken off calendar without notice to the responding party. The responding party must agree to take any matter off calendar when the responding party has requested affirmative relief. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 712; amended and renumbered 7/1/08; amended 7/1/20) RULE 704 – Continuances A. Continuances must comply with Superior Court of Kings County, Local Rule 304, an Order to Show Cause will only be continued with a Stipulation and Order or by submitting an Application and Order for Reissuance of Order to Show Cause [Judicial Council Form Number FL-306]. B. An Order to Show Cause Re: Contempt and Order for Examination of Judgment Debtor will not be reissued. If an Order to Show Cause Re: Contempt or Examination of Judgment Debtor is not served, the moving party shall take the hearing off calendar. If a new hearing date is sought, a new Order to Show Cause Re: Contempt or Application for Examination of Judgment Debtor must be submitted to the court. C. After service of an Order to Show Cause Re: Contempt or Order for Examination of Judgment Debtor, a continuance will not be granted without a court appearance. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 714; amended and renumbered 7/1/08) RULE 705 – Hearings Estimated to Take More Than 20 Minutes After consulting with counsel for the parties or self-represented parties, if it is apparent to the presiding family law judge or commissioner that a matter will take more than twenty (20) minutes, such matter may be continued by the court to accommodate its calendar. Nothing contained herein shall alter, modify, or amend applicable notice requirements set forth in the California Family Code, including Family Code section 215. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 715; amended and renumbered 7/1/08; amended 1/1/12; amended 7/1/20) RULE 706 – Case Management Conference All dissolution of marriage, legal separation, nullity of marriage, and uniform parentage actions may be set for a family centered case resolution plan conference, herein referred to as a “Case Management Conference.” Unless otherwise ordered by the court, a Case Management Conference shall be set not more than one (1) year after the filing of the initial petition. A. Case Management Conference Statement No less than seven (7) days before the date set for the Case Management Conference each party shall file and serve a Case Management Conference Statement. 1. Attendance at conference Parties shall be present at the Case Management Conference unless represented by counsel, in which case, counsel shall appear. Appearance may be in person or by telephone if timely arranged. The parties or the attorneys shall be fully prepared to discuss identification of disputed issues, the timetable for disposition of the case by settlement or trial and be sufficiently familiar with the facts of the case so that the court may make necessary orders. B. Orders at Case Management Conference The parties shall address, if applicable, and the court may take appropriate action with respect to, the following: 1. Whether any matters (e.g., the bankruptcy of a party, pending criminal matters impacting issues in the case, a pending juvenile action concerning a child, or custody orders from another jurisdiction) affect the court’s jurisdiction or processing of the case. 2. Whether discovery has been completed and, if not, the date by which it will be completed. 3. What discovery issues are anticipated. 4. Whether an issue in the case should be bifurcated or a hearing should be set for a motion to bifurcate. 5. A date or dates by which Final Declarations of Disclosure are to be exchanged and the Declaration of Service of Declaration of Disclosure and Income and Expense Declarations filed. 6. Whether to refer the parties to Family Court Services in cases in which custody or visitation (or both) is at issue and no evaluation or private mediation is pending. 7. The need for selection and compensation of joint experts by stipulation or motion. 8. The need for, selection, and compensation of a Special Master by stipulation or appointment pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 638 and 639. 9. The need for an order for attorney fees and costs by stipulation or motion. 10. A date for Mandatory Settlement Conference. 11. Whether to set a Recommendation Conference in cases involving child custody and visitation in cases that have a child custody evaluation pending. 12. If a trial date has not been previously set, the date by which the case will be ready for trial. Each side shall have available at the conference all necessary information as to unavailable dates as to the parties, their attorneys, and any retained experts. 13. The estimated length of trial. 14. Setting a trial date. 15. Any other matters that should be considered by the court or addressed in its case management order. 16. Whether to set a further Case Management Conference. 17. Whether to tailor or modify the requirements of Local Rule 721 as it relates to the case. 18. The stipulation of the parties and consent of the court to place the matter in further case management pursuant to Family Code sections 2450 and 2451. (Eff. 7/1/08; amended 1/1/12) RULE 707 – Ex Parte Requests for Orders (Temporary Restraining Orders, Orders Shortening Time) and Related Hearings The procedural and notice requirements for requests for ex parte orders, Temporary Restraining Orders, and other emergency requests are set forth in California Rules of Court, rules 3.1200 through 3.1207. Any application under this section must make an affirmative factual showing in a declaration containing competent testimony based on personal knowledge of irreparable harm, immediate danger, or any other statutory basis for granting relief on short notice. An order requested will issue only upon a factual showing that great or irreparable injury will result to the applicant before the matter can be heard upon a regularly noticed motion (Fam. Code § 241). A. Assignment and Stipulation to Commissioner Ex Parte Requests for Temporary Emergency Orders are assigned to a Court Commissioner for determination. Any objection to such judicial assignment must be submitted in writing by the petitioner at the time of his/her filing of the Ex Parte Request for Temporary Emergency Order. Any objection to such judicial assignment by respondent must be submitted in writing by the deadline for the filing of his/her Response (Judicial Council Form FL-320). The failure to submit a timely written objection to the assignment of a Court Commissioner, shall be deemed a stipulation to such judicial assignment. (Cal. R. Ct., rule 2.186(d)(1).) B. Procedure and Notice 1. Orders filed in the Family Law Court must be accompanied by a Declaration Regarding Notice and Service of Request. California Judicial Council Form FL-303 or Kings County Superior Court Local Form 303 are available for this purpose, but the use of either form is not mandatory. Except for applications for orders filed under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, all applications must be submitted with the appropriate fee or fee waiver, the original application, and two (2) copies of the application. The court will file all applications submitted (including applications pertaining to domestic violence) whether temporary orders are issued. 2. Except as provided in Family Code section 6300, unless notice of the application for an ex parte order (including an application for an order shortening time) or a Temporary Restraining Order would result in great irreparable injury to the applicant before the matter can be heard on notice, the applicant shall give the other party the notice required by law. Any party seeking to have a Request for Temporary Emergency (Ex Parte) Order decided by the court without service of notice upon the opposing party must include a declaration setting forth sufficient facts to support the waiver of notice. Any Request for Temporary Emergency (Ex Parte) Order which does not include the required declaration may not be considered by the court. 3. If the applicant for a Temporary Restraining Order is a minor under 12 years of age, an application for appointment of guardian ad litem and order appointing guardian ad litem shall accompany the application. 4. All ex parte requests for an Order Shortening Time (OST) shall be submitted in compliance with the application and notice requirements set forth in this rule. Before submitting an application for an OST, the applicant shall contact the opposing counsel or party and request a list of dates counsel or party is unavailable and include that information with his/her own unavailability on the declaration of notice. 5. All ex parte applications shall be submitted to the court by 10:00 a.m. on the date for which notice was provided. Any ex parte applications submitted after 10:00 a.m. will be held and not considered until the next day. Notice shall be provided no later than 10:00 a.m. on the preceding court date. Notice shall include a copy of the Request for Order that is being submitted on an ex parte basis along with all supporting documents that accompany the ex parte application. 6. Any opposition to the ex parte request shall be submitted no later than 10:00 a.m. on the date for which notice was provided. Judicial Council Form FL-320 is a mandatory form. A copy of any response filed with the court must be served by mail on all other parties to the case. 7. Ex parte applications will be forwarded to the assigned judicial officer for determination immediately upon the earlier of the filing of Judicial Council Form FL-320 and/or the lapsing of the deadline for the filing of a response by the responding party. 8. Ex parte applications filed in the Family Law Court which include the required Declaration Regarding Notice and Service of Request will in most circumstances be determined by the assigned judicial officer without a hearing and the decision based only upon the Request and any timely-filed response. 9. Once the ex parte application is ruled upon, it will be filed and made available for pick-up by the moving party. The responsive Declaration will also be filed and made available for pick-up by the responding party. The moving party must serve the filed order(s) within the time limitation specified in the orders. C. Requests Related to Child Custody No order granting temporary custody of a minor child will be granted without a supporting declaration stating the following: 1. The date of separation, or if a custody order has previously been issued, a copy of that order (if from another County or State), a summary of the custody/visitation practices of the parties in the past, and if there is an existing Juvenile Court order regarding custody, a copy of that order. 2. The name of the parent the child/ren is/are currently residing with. If different from any prior order or practice, how that parent obtained custody; and 3. If a short notice (ex parte) change in status quo is requested, clear and specific facts demonstrating that the health and welfare of the child/ren will be in danger without a change of custody (including flight from the area). A temporary order for child custody will not issue without an accompanying order restricting all parties from removing the child/ren from California except for good cause shown. D. Exclusive Use of Vehicle – A short notice (ex parte) order granting exclusive use of a vehicle will not be granted unless a declaration demonstrates that the opposing party has suitable transportation available, or requires no such transportation, or such order is necessary for the immediate best interests of the child/ren, and who has current possession of the vehicle. E. Payment of Obligations – A short notice (ex parte) order requiring the payment of obligations will not issue without financial facts justifying the order, plus a completed Income and Expense Declaration with at least an estimate of opposing party’s gross income. F. Modified Orders – If the court modifies any requested orders, it is the responsibility of the applicant, or attorney, to conform all copies with the changes before filing and service. G. Set Aside of Ex Parte Orders – If a responding party requests an ex parte or emergency short notice order be set aside prior to the date set for hearing, any such request must comply with the procedures for ex parte requests set forth above. (Eff. 1/1/99 as Rule 717; amended and renumbered 7/1/08; amended 7/1/20; amended 7/1/25) RULE 708 – Family Law Temporary Restraining Orders at Initial Filing A. Pursuant to Family Code section 2040, in actions for dissolution, annulment, and legal separation, certain temporary restraining orders issue automatically (Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders [ATROs]). These orders are mutual and bind both the petitioner and respondent. The ATROs remain in effect until modified. They include, but are not limited to: 1. Removing the minor child/ren of the parties from the state without the prior written consent of the other party or an order of the court; 2. Cashing, borrowing against, canceling, transferring, disposing of, or changing the beneficiaries of any insurance or other coverage including life, health, automobile, and disability held for the benefit of the parties and their minor child/ren; and 3. Transferring, encumbering, hypothecating, concealing, or in any way disposing of any property, real or personal, whether community, quasi-community, or separate, without the written consent of the other party or an order of the court, except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life. Each party shall notify the other party of any proposed extraordinary expenditures at least five (5) days before incurring those expenditures and account to the court for all extraordinary expenditures made after service of the summons on that party. However, nothing shall preclude the use of community property to pay reasonable attorney fees in order to retain legal counsel in the action. B. Under Uniform Parentage or Petition for Custody and Support matters, certain temporary restraining orders issue automatically (ATROs). These orders are mutual and bind both the petitioner and respondent. They include: 1. Removing from the state, the minor child/ren for whom the action seeks to establish a parent-child relationship, without the prior written consent of the other party or an order of the court. (Eff. 7/1/08) RULE 709 – Requests for Orders to Show Cause Issued by the Clerk For the convenience of counsel and litigants who are self-represented, the court clerk has been authorized to issue family law requests for Orders to Show Cause not requesting temporary orders or an Order Shortening Time for hearing or service. The court clerk may set the Order to Show Cause for a hearing date. (Eff. 7/1/08; amended 7/1/19)
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.