Family Court
Santa Clara County Family Court handles cases involving divorce, parentage, support, custody, and other family law matters. This article explains which court service to use, how to look up a case or request records, where to get help with forms, and what to prepare for mediation, an emergency screening, or a hearing.
Cases Heard in Family Court
The Family Division of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara hears divorce, legal separation, and nullity cases. It also handles establishing parentage; child, spousal, and family support; child custody and visitation; and domestic violence restraining orders. Mediation and arbitration may also be part of family law proceedings. The court’s Family Division page is the starting point for its family court services.
The service you need depends on the task at hand. The Family Clerk’s Office handles questions about filings, case status, and hearings. Family Court Services handles court-related custody mediation and certain emergency screenings. The Self-Help Center provides information and forms for people working on their own family law cases. Keeping those roles separate can save a trip or help you send a question to the right office.
Family Law Forms and Self-Help
The court’s family self-help pages cover divorce, parentage, child custody, child support, and domestic violence restraining orders. They also point to family law form packets for starting or responding to a case and for asking for or changing court orders. Online workshops address divorce, parentage, and financial disclosures.
If you are finishing a divorce, legal separation, or nullity case, use the court’s material for finishing that type of case rather than assuming that filing the first papers completes it. The Family Law Facilitator’s Office is another court service identified on the self-help pages. Court staff can explain legal information and court processes, but they cannot tell you how you should proceed in your case.
Questions for the Family Clerk
For a specific filing or case question, the Family Clerk’s Office Question Form accepts questions about general case status, a pending or rejected e-filing envelope, an upcoming hearing date, and other topics. It asks for your name, an email address for the response, and a case number. Enter “none” in the case-number field if you have not filed a case. If your question concerns an e-filing envelope, have its envelope number ready. State the particular question you need answered so the clerk can identify the issue.
The form is for contacting the Family Clerk’s Office. Questions about how to complete or finish a family law case belong with the court’s self-help services. The court’s Family FAQs say it will do its best to respond to a question not covered on its website within 48 hours; that statement is not a deadline for a filing or a hearing.
Finding Case and Hearing Information
The court’s Case Information Online page leads to its searchable Case Information Portal, which includes some family cases. It can help you look for information about a particular case or a hearing date. If you know the case number, use it to identify the case. For a divorce case without a known number, the court says you can try an index search using your name or your spouse’s name at the time of the divorce. Generally, divorce records from the last 10 years are on the website.
An unsuccessful online search does not establish that no case exists. The portal does not provide public lookup information for confidential cases, including custody petitions involving parents who have not married. The court also limits access to adoption and mental health matters. For a parentage case with a “CP” case-number prefix filed before January 1, 2023, the court says the confidential paternity file may be viewed in person only by people who are part of the case and their lawyers after they show picture identification. A sealed file requires a court order for access.
Viewing a Family Court File
The online Register of Action can show case information, but case documents generally are not available online. Members of the public may inspect records open to them at courthouse public access terminals. To view a family case file in person, bring a driver’s license or government identification card and go to the Records Department of the Family Clerk’s Office at the Family Justice Center Courthouse. Access remains subject to the rules for confidential, sealed, and restricted records.
The courthouse you need for a copy of a pleading is the courthouse where the case was filed. Do not treat a search result or hearing listing as a copy of an order, judgment, or other filed document.
Requesting Copies of Records
The court permits requests for family court file copies in person or by mail. For a mailed request, its Family FAQs call for the Family Records Copy Request Form, a self-addressed stamped envelope with sufficient postage, a check payable to the “Clerk of the Court,” and the applicable records fee. Certified copies have an additional charge. Consult the court’s current local fee schedule for the amount before preparing payment.
Provide the case number, the parties’ full names, and the titles and filing dates of the documents you want, if known. These details help the clerk identify the records. If court staff must conduct a search and you cannot supply the case number, case name, document title, and filing date, a search fee may apply. The court also charges for copies made by the clerk. If you cannot locate a divorce case through the portal, the court can search for the case number for a fee.
Filing Papers with the Court
The Family Clerk’s Office accepts filings through the methods described by the court, including in-person delivery, mail, a courthouse drop box, and electronic filing. The Family Justice Center Courthouse page provides the location and service details. Its drop box is inside the building, past the metal detector and before the elevators; there is no exterior drop box. The court says the inside drop box can be accessed Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and directs users to its drop-box guidelines.
The court’s electronic filing page explains that e-filing uses an electronic filing service provider as the intermediary between the filer and the court’s case management system. It also identifies documents the court continues to accept in hard copy, including judgments and defaults in family case types and ex parte filings. Review the filing method that applies to your document before submitting it. If an electronic submission is pending or rejected, the Family Clerk’s question form has a specific option for an e-filing envelope; keep the envelope number available.
Child Custody Mediation
The court’s Family Court Services office provides child custody mediation for families with an open family law or parentage case in Santa Clara County. When parents do not agree about custody and visitation, California law requires them to try to settle those issues through mediation. Court referrals for mediation arise from filings and petitions concerning children in family court.
A court mediator helps parents discuss their children’s needs and develop a parenting plan addressing the details of custody and visitation. Family Court Services describes its mediation setting as neutral and confidential. What parents discuss with the mediator is not shared with the court, except as required by mandated reporting rules. Appointments are conducted remotely through Microsoft Teams.
Family Court Services mediation has no charge for the appointment itself. A missed appointment or a cancellation made less than 48 hours before the appointment is subject to a $100 fee. Each party may reschedule a mediation appointment once by contacting Family Court Services.
Mediation Without a New Motion
The court also allows parties to request a Family Court Services mediation appointment without filing a new motion. They must complete and file the Stipulation to Remote Family Court Services Mediation, form FM-1195. Before scheduling and participating, each party must watch the Parent Orientation video. At the end of the video, the participant submits intake information that goes automatically to Family Court Services. The office then sends an appointment letter with the mediation date to the address the participant provided. Complete the intake step and provide an accurate mailing address so the appointment letter can reach you.
Emergency Custody Screenings
Family Court Services also conducts emergency screenings when a judge refers a matter to the office. These are focused custody investigations concerning imminent safety issues for children at risk of harm. The judge decides whether the circumstances call for an immediate assessment; an emergency screening is not the same process as a routine mediation appointment.
For a scheduled emergency screening, complete both the emergency screening intake form and the domestic violence questionnaire. The court provides each form in English and Spanish. Send both completed documents to Family Court Services at the email address given on its page, or deliver them to the Family Court Services clerks’ window in the fifth-floor lobby of the Family Justice Center Courthouse. The office requires all intake documents at least two days before the scheduled screening. Submitting only one of the two forms does not meet that instruction.
Hearings and Remote Appearances
A hearing date may be available through the Case Information Portal, but attending remotely is a separate question. Under the court’s Family Division remote appearance rules, certain hearings require advance court approval for a video appearance. Telephone appearances are not permitted under the approval procedure described there.
To ask for approval where it is required, the court directs parties to submit form RA-010, Notice of Remote Appearance; form MC-025 as an attachment to supplement the request; and a blank form FM-1201, Order Regarding Remote Appearance. They must also serve all parties with a blank form RA-015, Opposition to Remote Proceeding. The request must be made at least 15 days before the hearing, with notice to all parties. Review the court’s remote appearance matrix and Family Local Rules to determine the procedure for your hearing.
If approval is required and you have not requested and received it, the court says you must appear in person. Failing to obtain the required authorization may result in a nonappearance or delay. If your hearing permits a remote appearance without approval, or the court has approved your request, follow the court portal instructions for access and registration. An online hearing listing alone does not grant permission to appear by video.
Orders Submitted Ex Parte
For a family ex parte document submitted at the Family Justice Center Courthouse, the court provides a Family Court document examiner list where you can look for a response. Documents dropped off early in the morning may receive a response that day. The court says there should be a response within 24 hours after drop-off, excluding weekends and court holidays.
If the order is not yet on the list, the court directs users to check again later that day or the next day. If two days have passed and the document still does not appear, contact a Family Court Specialist using the document examiner number for the Family Justice Center on the court’s phone list. This status-checking process concerns an order already submitted; it does not replace the filing process.
Other Family Case Procedures
Family Court maintains an alternative dispute resolution database for parties seeking assistance with settling a case. Provider entries display names and contact details; individual detail pages may include hourly rates and subject specialties. A judicially supervised settlement conference is a different option heard by a judge or commissioner. The court says it has eligibility requirements in the Family Local Rules, both parties must be represented, and attorneys for an eligible case may apply using local form FM-1119.
If you are visiting the Family Justice Center for court business, the court identifies a Children’s Waiting Room on the first floor for children ages 2 through 12. The courthouse also houses the Self-Help Center. Check the courthouse’s service hours for the task you plan to complete; building hours and telephone service hours are different.
Family Court Offices
Family Justice Center Courthouse — 201 N. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113. Mailing address: 191 N. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113. Family Law phone: (408) 534-5711.
Office of Family Court Services — Family Justice Center Courthouse, 201 N. First Street, 5th Floor, FCS Lobby, San Jose, CA 95113. Phone: (408) 534-5760.
Family Court FAQs
Can I hire a lawyer for only part of my family case?
Yes. Limited scope representation lets you and a lawyer agree on specific tasks while you handle the rest. For example, a lawyer might prepare documents, advise you on a custody issue, or help you get ready for a hearing without representing you throughout the case. Agree in advance on who will file papers, serve documents, and appear in court. If the lawyer will appear for you, the court’s Family FAQs identify state form FL-950, Notice of Limited Scope Representation, as the notice filed in the case.
May I photograph a court record instead of buying a copy?
If you are entitled to inspect a record at the courthouse, California law permits you to photograph it with your own equipment as a way to make a copy. This can include a paper record or an electronic record displayed at a public access terminal. Follow courthouse directions about where cameras may be used. The permission does not extend to confidential, sealed, or restricted records. See the court’s Case Information Online guidance for the limits on photographing records.
How do I get a transcript of my family hearing?
A transcript depends on how the proceeding was recorded. The court says it provides court reporters in family matters, but the available record may depend on the particular hearing. Start with the court’s transcript request information to determine whether to request a written transcript or an electronic recording. Have your case number, hearing date, and department ready so the court can identify the proceeding.
Is there court information I can share with my child?
The court’s Family Resources page points to California Judicial Council materials designed for children and teens, including an activity booklet about going to court and videos about separation and divorce. Review the material first and choose what fits your child’s age and situation. These materials explain court experiences; they do not tell a child what to say about a family dispute.