Getting or changing a court order for custody or visitation

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Please note that it is the state law that parents attend mediation if they have any disputes concerning their children. You can schedule your orientation class to learn about mediation by calling Family Court Services. 

If you want to get an order for child custody and/or visitation, you have to file a Family Law or Paternity action, or a Guardianship if you are not a biological parent.  If you already have an existing case, you can file to change (or modify) court orders no matter how old the case is. See Alternatives below.

The documents you need to prepare and file depend on the type of action you need to file. 

If you:


are married to the other parent, then file a divorce or legal separation;

are not married to the other parent, then file an action for paternity;

are not a biological parent and there is no existing Family Court file concerning the
children, then file an action for guardianship with the Probate Court;

are not a biological parent and there is  an existing Family Court file for the Family, then see an attorney or Family Court Clinic to see whether you can join into that action; have an existing District Attorney Child Support case and paternity is established for the child(ren), then see an attorney or Family Court Clinic to see whether you can join into that action.


Alternatives:

The basic alternatives available to you in filing a divorce or paternity action include one or more of the following options:

You can contact an attorney or Lawyer Referral:

You can contact an attorney for legal advice or to represent you by looking in the telephone book or calling Lawyer Referral.

You can do it yourself:

You can purchase self-help resources at Rose Printing Co. They sell self-help divorce books, Rule 3.1 (which presents the localrules and procedures for Santa Clara CountyFamily Court), and the legal forms for divorce. They also sell paternity forms and instructions prepared by the Family Court Clinic for filing  paternity actions. See below for further help.

You can contact the Family Court Clinic:

If you and the other parent believe you can reach an agreement or have an agreement about a custody or visitation schedule for your children, the Family Court Clinic may be able to help you write and file that agreement.

You can contact a paralegal to prepare documents

You can contact a paralegal to prepare documents, but remember that a paralegal cannot give you any legal advice about important rights you might have.


Order to Show Cause

If you have an existing case or once you have prepared to file an action for divorce or paternity, you get your case "moving" in court by filing a "motion" called an Order To Show Cause asking for the custody or visitation orders you want. An Order to Show Cause is a court order for the other party in your case to appear in court; it can be filed at any time during your case (at the beginning, while your case is pending, or even after your divorce has been over). You can use an Order to Show Cause to ask the Court:


for first custody or visitation orders;

to change existing custody or visitation orders;

for its help in making the other party contact Family Court Services to begin mediation orientation or mediation;

for emergency custody or visitation orders (or to change existing orders on an emergency basis).

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