Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California

Re: How do I get a Restraining Order in California

Thanks for your posting and I'm sorry to hear about your situation. You need a restraining order to stop further conduct from this woman across the street from your ex husband.

To obtain a restraining order, you must fill out and "file" certain forms with a California superior court. After you fill out your forms requesting the orders, a judge will review the forms and can grant you a temporary restraining order that usually lasts three weeks. If the judge grants your request, you file the forms with the court clerk. After you file your forms, you must have the forms "served on" � personally delivered to � the person to be restrained within a specific time period. After the person is served, you must file a Proof of Service with the court. The person to be restrained may then file a response to your request. On a date and time given to you by the court, you must attend an Order to Show Cause hearing on your request for a restraining order. If your request is granted, the judge will sign the restraining orders. You must file these orders with the court clerk and serve the orders on the restrained person. If the person was present at the hearing, you can mail the orders to the person. You then will have a restraining order.

The first step to obtaining a restraining order under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act is to obtain the forms that you will file with the court. All California courts use the same basic set of forms, although some courts add other local forms.

The California courts� basic forms can be downloaded from this Web site:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/documents/dv100.pdf

or you can obtain the forms from your court clerk at no charge.

Some court clerks will have one packet with a copy of each of the forms that you might need for a domestic violence restraining order. In other clerks� offices, you must ask for the specific forms you want. You can also find copies of the court forms you will need at a law library.

Thanks, and best of luck to you.