How to modify child custody and parenting time in California

Sources last checked 3 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice.

California divorce kit Modifying child support and spousal support in California After your divorce: changing a support or custody order

The short version

In California you ask the court to change a custody or parenting-time order by filing a Request for Order. The form is Judicial Council form FL-300, Request for Order, marked “Rev. July 1, 2025” in its footer. You check the box for CHANGE and the boxes for Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time). The Judicial Council’s information sheet, FL-300-INFO (marked “Rev. January 1, 2026” and optional), says to use the Request for Order to schedule a court hearing and ask the court to make new orders or to change orders in your case. Family Code section 3022 lets the court make a custody order “at any time thereafter” that “seems necessary or proper”. For changing child support or spousal support instead, see modifying child support and spousal support in California.

What must be shown

Custody orders in general, Family Code section 3022. The full text says the court may, during the pendency of a proceeding or “at any time thereafter”, make an order for the custody of a child during minority that “seems necessary or proper”.
Joint custody orders, Family Code section 3087. “An order for joint custody may be modified or terminated” on the petition of one or both parents or on the court’s own motion if it is shown that “the best interest of the child requires modification or termination of the order”. The section adds that if either parent opposes, “the court shall state in its decision the reasons” for the modification or termination.
What the form asks you to say. The form has you state why “The orders that I request are in the best interest of the children because” and, where you are changing an order, mark “This is a change from the current order” and say when that order was filed and what the court ordered.
What these two sections do not say. The text of sections 3022 and 3087 does not mention a changed-circumstances requirement. We read only those two sections and the court’s form and information sheet, not other Family Code sections or case law, so we do not say what else a court may look for.

What the form asks for

The court, the parties and the case number, and a mark in the CHANGE box and the Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time) boxes. A separate box is for temporary emergency orders.
Item 1: whether any domestic violence restraining or protective orders are in effect between the parties, and the courts and case numbers they came from.
Item 2a: each child’s name and date of birth, and who you ask to have legal custody (the person who decides health, education and similar matters) and physical custody (the person the child lives with).
Item 2b: the orders you request, either specified in attached forms (FL-305, FL-311, FL-312, FL-341(C), FL-341(D) or FL-341(E)) or written out as follows.
Item 2c: why the orders you request are in the children’s best interest.
Item 2d: if this is a change, the date of the current custody or visitation order and what the court ordered.
Items 3 to 7: child support, spousal or partner support, property control, attorney’s fees and costs, and other orders. These are separate requests on the same form. This page covers custody and parenting time only.
Item 8: whether you urgently need the Request for Order served fewer court days before the hearing, or the hearing and service to be sooner, and why.
Item 9: the facts that support your request. The form says they “cannot be longer than 10 pages, unless the court gives me permission”.
A declaration, signed with your name and the date, “under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California” that the information is true and correct.

Other forms the information sheet mentions

FL-300-INFO says that to request custody or visitation orders you may need to complete some of these forms: FL-105 (Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act), FL-311 (Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time) Application Attachment), FL-312 (Request for Child Abduction Prevention Orders), FL-341(C) (Children’s Holiday Schedule Attachment), FL-341(D) (Additional Provisions, Physical Custody Attachment) and FL-341(E) (Joint Legal Custody Attachment). If you also want child support, it says you need a current FL-150, Income and Expense Declaration. To ask for temporary emergency orders it lists FL-305 and a declaration about how and when you gave notice, and says to follow your court’s local procedures.

Filing, service and the hearing

Filing: leave item 2 (date, time and place of hearing) blank, because the court clerk fills it in. The information sheet says some county clerks complete item 6 for a required child custody mediation or recommending counseling appointment, while other courts require you or your lawyer to make that appointment first. Ask your court’s Family Law Facilitator or Self-Help Center what your court requires. “Make at least two copies of your full packet”, then give the paperwork to the clerk in person, by mail or, in some courts, by e-filing. The clerk keeps the original and returns your copies stamped with a court date and time.
Service: “You cannot serve the papers.” Someone else who is at least 18 must do it. The information sheet says that if the other parties are not properly served, “the judge cannot make the orders you requested on the date of the hearing”.
Deadlines: for personal service the information sheet gives “16 court days before the hearing date”, unless the court orders a different deadline. It says a Request for Order changing custody, visitation or child support may be served by mail only if it includes no temporary emergency orders, the court did not order personal service, and you have verified the other party’s current address. Mail service must be completed at least 16 court days plus 5 calendar days before the hearing if service is in California, unless the court orders otherwise. File proof of service at least 5 court days before the hearing.
The other side’s response: the form’s notice warns that the court may make the requested orders without the other party if they do not file a Responsive Declaration to Request for Order (form FL-320), serve it on the other parties “at least nine court days” before the hearing (unless the court has ordered a shorter time), and appear.
After the hearing: the information sheet says form FL-340, Findings and Order After Hearing, must be completed, filed and served.

Before you file

The information sheet says “A fee is due at the time of filing.” This page states no amount, because none of the sources we read gives one. If you cannot afford the fee and have no valid fee waiver order in the case, the sheet says you can ask the court to waive it by filing forms FW-001 and FW-003.
The information sheet points to a lawyer through your local bar association or the State Bar of California, to lawhelpca.org for free and low-cost legal help if you qualify, and to the family law facilitator or self-help center. See the California divorce kit for the wider process and for free or low-cost help.
Changing child support or spousal support uses different rules. See modifying child support and spousal support in California.

What we could not confirm

Filing fees and service costs. No source we read states an amount.
Anything beyond sections 3022 and 3087. We did not read the rest of the Family Code on custody, including any section on best-interest factors or on mandatory custody mediation, and we did not read case law. We cannot say what showing a court expects beyond the text of those two sections, or whether the test is different for an order that is not a joint custody order.
The rules cited on the form. The FL-300 footer cites Family Code sections 2045, 2107, 6224, 6226, 6320 to 6326 and 6380 to 6383 and California Rules of Court, rule 5.92. We did not read them.
The other forms. We read the information sheet’s description of FL-105, FL-311, FL-312, FL-341(C), (D) and (E), FL-305, FL-320, FL-334, FL-340 and others, but we did not open any of them.
Restraining orders. A note on FL-300 says that to change or end an order granted in a Restraining Order After Hearing (form DV-130 or JV-255) you read FL-300-INFO and DV-300-INFO. We did not read DV-300-INFO.
Local rules and practice. Mediation, e-filing, the hearing calendar and any local forms vary by county, and we did not read any county’s rules or website.
The court’s forms listing. We opened the two forms directly from the Judicial Council’s courts.ca.gov document links and did not read the forms listing page.

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