Legal Question in Family Law in California

You don't need a motion pending to conduct discovery. Generally, you must have a pending action, however, to conduct discovery. The only exceptions to this are as follows:

1) Special procedures exist for the perpetuation of testimony or other evidence prior to filing suit. However, a court order is necessary to obtain such discovery. (Code of Civ. Proc., sect 2035.010 et seq.)

2) Special procedures exist to allow perpetuation of evidence while an appeal is pending. Again, a prior court order is required. (Code of Civ. Proc., sect. 2036.010 et seq.)