How to Get a Restraining Order in California (Step by Step)

If someone is hurting you, threatening you, stalking you, or won’t leave you alone, California courts can order them to stop and to stay away. Asking for that order is more doable than most people think: the forms are free, the filing is free, and the court moves fast.

Step 1: Figure out which order fits your situation

California has four main types, and the right one depends mostly on your relationship to the person:

• Domestic violence restraining order (DVRO): for a spouse or ex, someone you date or dated, someone you live or lived with, or the other parent of your child. The strongest and most protective type. “Abuse” here is broad, not just hitting: threats, stalking, harassment, and behavior that destroys your peace can all count.
• Civil harassment restraining order: for everyone else, a neighbor, coworker, acquaintance, roommate’s friend, or stranger who is harassing, threatening, or stalking you.
• Elder or dependent adult abuse order: protects people 65 and older, or dependent adults, from abuse, including by caretakers or family. A conservator or adult protective services can file on the person’s behalf.
• Workplace violence order: filed by an employer (not the worker) to protect an employee from violence or threats at work. If you’re being threatened at work, tell your employer or HR; they’re the ones who can file this one.

Step 2: Get and fill out the forms (they’re free)

Each order type has its own packet of court forms, all free to download from the California courts website or to pick up at the courthouse self-help center:

• DVRO: form DV-100 (the request) plus CLETS-001 (a confidential info sheet for law enforcement)
• Civil harassment: form CH-100
• Elder or dependent adult abuse: form EA-100
• Workplace violence: form WV-100 (employer files)

The heart of the form is your description of what happened. Be specific: dates, places, exact words of threats, injuries, photos, screenshots. Recent events matter most, so lead with the latest incident and work backward. Write it like you’re telling the judge directly, because you are, the judge often decides the temporary order the same day based only on what you wrote.

Step 3: File, and the judge decides fast

Take the completed packet to the courthouse clerk (many counties let you file online or through the self-help center). Then the timeline is quick:

• The judge must grant or deny your temporary restraining order (TRO) the same day you file it (or the next court day if you filed late in the day). No testimony needed at this stage; the judge reads your forms.
• If granted, the TRO protects you immediately and lasts until the hearing.
• The court sets a hearing within about three weeks, where the judge decides whether to issue a longer order. A DVRO after a hearing can last up to five years.
• If the judge denies the TRO, don’t panic, and don’t skip the hearing. The judge can still grant the full order there after hearing both sides.

Step 4: Have the papers served (not by you)

The other person must be personally handed the papers, at least five days before the hearing, and here’s the rule people miss: you cannot serve them yourself. If service is running late, do not give up on the date. Ask the court to shorten the time for service, explain what you tried, and bring proof of the attempts. The judge can shorten it on your request or on their own, and judges do accommodate late service when someone has genuinely been trying and the other person has been hard to find. What sinks these is showing up with nothing filed and no explanation. Service must be done by someone 18 or older who is not part of the case, or by law enforcement.

• For a DVRO, ask for law enforcement service; an officer will serve the order at no charge. Keep two different things apart here, because people mix them up and it costs them the order. If an officer tells the restrained person what the order says, that officer can enforce it right then, even with no paperwork in hand. That is what the verbal-notice rule is for. It is not what the court needs. Before a judge can issue a long-term order at your hearing, the papers have to have been personally served and the proof of service filed with the court. Make sure that form gets filed no matter who did the serving, and no matter what anyone said in the moment.
• For the other order types, the sheriff serves free in violence-based cases, or any adult friend or a professional process server can do it.
• Whoever serves must fill out the proof-of-service form, and it must get filed with the court. No proof of service, no enforceable order, this is the single most common way these cases stall.

Step 5: Win the hearing

The hearing is short, often minutes. The burden is on you to prove what happened, so preparation is everything:

• ☐  Bring your evidence organized and in three copies: photos, texts, emails, voicemails, medical records, police report numbers.
• ☐  Bring witnesses who saw or heard things themselves, not people who will just vouch for you.
• ☐  Write one page of notes: the two or three incidents you must tell the judge about, with dates.
• ☐  Dress and act like it matters, because it does. (We wrote a whole short guide on courtroom appearance and behavior; read it before your date.)
• ☐  Show up. If you don’t appear, your temporary order dies that day.

What we see in real cases

• A granted versus denied TRO comes down to presentation. Your papers, your facts, and your evidence are all the judge has at this stage, there’s no hearing yet, just what you filed. Explain clearly what happened, and be clear about your posture: are you asking the court for protection, or answering someone else’s accusations? A judge should never have to guess what you want or why.
• SHOW the judge, don’t just tell. Speaking only holds so much weight. Videos, pictures, and texts are king. “On June 3 he texted ‘you’ll regret this,’ screenshot attached” moves a judge more than a page about how afraid you are, even though the fear is real.
• It’s not who has the most evidence, it’s who has the best evidence. One clear video or one dated screenshot of a threat beats a stack of vague pages. Lead with your strongest proof.
• Organization wins. Judges see hundreds of these. They want the facts, fast, so they can decide. A long-winded story loses the judge’s attention; get to the point, in order, with dates.
• Hold your emotions as best you can. No one expects you to feel calm. What happened to you is real and it is personal. But letting emotion take over makes you react poorly and present poorly in front of the judge. Take a breath, stick to your notes, give the judge the information they need, and let your evidence do the shouting.
• If you feel in danger at the courthouse, tell the courtroom staff. Say it plainly when you check in. They will assign someone to help you get in and out safely, so you never have to share a hallway or an elevator with the person you are there about.
• The most recent incident matters most. Courts respond to what’s happening now.
• Judges take these orders very seriously, in both directions: they grant protection readily on solid facts, and they notice quickly when an order is being used as a weapon in a custody or neighbor fight. Ask for what you actually need.

Do you need a lawyer for this?

No, and the system is genuinely built for people without one: mandatory fill-in forms, free filing, courthouse self-help centers, and free service by law enforcement. Many people get protective orders on their own every day.

A lawyer helps most when the other side has hired one, when children and custody are tangled into it, or when you expect a real fight at the hearing. If you do hire someone, hire local: a lawyer who works in your county’s courts knows how those judges run these hearings, and that knowledge is worth more than a fancy name from somewhere else.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you are in danger, call 911. Talk to a California attorney about your situation.