“[Requests for Order] are filed to request pendente lite [temporary] orders that remain in effect until the court makes further orders, or until final Judgment of the case. RFOs can be filed along with the Petition, or anytime thereafter. Keep in mind that a case may not reach final Judgment for a year or more. Until then, the party may need certain orders, such as child custody, visitation and/or child support. A wide variety of relief is available through an RFO, including child support, orders for health insurance, custody and visitation orders, property control, and restraining orders. An RFO can also be filed post-Judgment on any issue which the court has continuing jurisdiction. A different legal standard applies to some post-Judgment RFOs.”
“An RFO may be filed at any point during the case, including post-Judgment, whenever there is a need for relief. Possible indicators of the need for an RFO include: 1) The adverse party is employed, but is not providing any support for the children [RFO for child support]; 2) The other parent has taken the children without the party’s consent for a period of time [e.g., one week] and will not return or allow the party to see the children [RFO for custody and visitation, possibly ex parte]; 3) The party reports that she is being denied access to the children by the custodial parent [RFO for custody and visitation].
“A temporary emergency order provides for orders that are immediately effective and that continue until the RFO hearing. At the hearing, the temporary emergency order may be terminated, modified, or continued and made a part of the RFO order. Custody and visitation temporary emergency orders require a showing of [a] immediate harm to the child or [b] immediate risk that the child will be removed from the State of California. Fam. Code sec. 3064. ‘Immediate harm to the child’ includes a parent who has committed acts of domestic violence, where the court determines that the acts of domestic violence are of recent origin or are a part of a demonstrated and continuing pattern of acts of domestic violence. Fam. Code sec. 3064[b][1]. Temporary relief may be available if the non-custodial parent has kidnapped the child or if there is a serious allegation of abuse or neglect. A temporary emergency order may also grant relief in the nature of restraint on transfer of property, an order to vacate the family home, an order to require payment on encumbrances or liens or an order to require that a 401[k] be frozen where the spouse has threatened to cash it out.”
“As with all RFOs, a narrative declaration will be submitted and it must support the request for immediate ex parte relief. Judicial officers will not issue a temporary emergency order without sufficient facts to support granting such extraordinary relief.”
[California Family Law Basics [certain citations omitted]]
