“Ex parte procedure . . . may be used to set a hearing date or an order shortening time for a hearing; orders shortening time for filing and service of papers can be made for other times than the times specified in CCP 1005, CRC Rule 5.94(a); and hearings require that service has been effected unless there are exceptional circumstances, CRC Rule 5. 167.
Ex parte [applications] are for matters that cannot wait for the court’s regular calendar, are to help prevent an immediate danger or irreparable harm to party or the children, and are to help prevent immediate loss or damage to property.
A request for emergency orders must be in writing and must include a request for order that identifies the relief requested, must include a current income and expense declaration (if there are financial issues), must include temporary orders to serve as proposed temporary orders, must include a written declaration based on personal knowledge, must include a copy of the current custody orders, if there is one, must include a completed declaration under uniform child custody jurisdiction and enforcement act if the emergency request involves children of the marriage/relationship, and must include a full, detailed description of the most recent incidents showing ‘immediate harm to the child or immediate risk that the child will be removed from the State of California.’
Ex parte notice may be given by telephone, in writing or by voicemail message; for emergency orders may be waived under exceptional circumstances; after providing notice, each party must be served with the documents requesting emergency orders as described in CRC Rule 5.167 or as required by local rule.
When ex parte orders have been granted, the applicant must obtain conformed copies of the orders and personally serve them on all parties, CRC Rule 5.167; they may include emergency orders that grant or modify child custody or visitation (parenting time) under FC 3064.
The court must not make an order granting or modifying a custody order on an ex parte basis unless there has been a showing of immediate harm to the child or immediate risk that the child will be removed from the State of California.”
[LW Greenberg, California Family Law]
