My name is Jon D. Alexander, Esq. and I am an Orange County California Divorce lawyer keyword. This article is the third in a series outlining the divorce process in California. Please be aware that this article is not intended as and should not be relied upon as legal advice or as the creation of an attorney-client relationship.
In today’s article we will begin to delve into the intricacies of child custody proceedings and the types of courts that issue custody orders. There are a number of custody proceedings pursuant to the Family Code including dissolution, Uniform Parentage Act [unmarried people], Domestic Violence Prevention Act or “DVPA” which involves assigning custody in domestic violence situations and proceedings under the Uniform Child Custody and Jurisdiction Act or “UCCJEA”.
Custody also comes into play under the Probate Code, in adoption matters, in juvenile court and paternity cases. A Probate court has the power, in the context of a guardianship proceeding, to assign custody. Likewise, a juvenile court has the authority to make custody orders regarding minors in dependency court.
In fact, there is inherent conflict between some of these sources of power. For example, juvenile courts are given priority over family law courts when it comes to venue (that is, which court should hear or have jurisdiction over a custody dispute). Juvenile courts will win the venue battle. If a divorce has inflicted such strain on a minor to warrant the juvenile court’s involvement, the juvenile court will have exclusive jurisdiction.
The juvenile court will tender its decision, called an exit order that becomes a family court order. If there is no current family law court case file, a case will be opened and this exit order will be the first issued order in the new file.
Juvenile courts can issue orders that a family law court does not have the authority to make. For example, a juvenile court may order therapy and progress reports based thereon. A family court may not order therapy and may only order limited counseling (to last not more than 1 year). An important side note is that while the family court may not make an order for therapy it does have the power to modify these exit orders issued by a Juvenile court. Juvenile courts, however, may retain jurisdiction and overrule any preexisting family court orders because a Juvenile court has exclusive jurisdiction once the case is in the juvenile court proceedings.
But once the Juvenile court makes its orders and closes its case it cannot make its orders non-modifiable. At that point, once the exit orders are issued and the juvenile case is closed, a family law court may step in and modify the orders. If the Juvenile court wishes to maintain control and jurisdiction it has to keep its case open.
In my next article, I will explain child custody and family law code section 3000 et seq. that governs joint and sole physical and legal custody. And I explain the factors that determine who gets legal custody. In the meantime, if you have any divorce or family law related questions please contact me at your convenience. You can reach me directly at (949) 395-7026 or you may email me Jon@oc-familylawyers.com.
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