Protective Orders
Fam. Code 6345 — up to five years, renewable, and a misdemeanor to violate
In California, domestic violence is abuse against a spouse or former spouse, a cohabitant or former cohabitant, a person the respondent is dating or has dated or been engaged to, the other parent of the respondent's child, a child of a party, or a relative within the second degree. Abuse includes causing or attempting to cause bodily injury, sexual assault, placing a person in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury, and any behavior a court could enjoin, and is not limited to physical injury.
The court may order a party not to molest, attack, strike, stalk, threaten, sexually assault, batter, harass, telephone, contact, come within a specified distance of, or disturb the peace of the other party, and for good cause may protect other named family or household members. Disturbing the peace includes conduct that destroys the other party's mental or emotional calm, by any means, and includes coercive control.
An order after a hearing can last up to five years, and be renewed for five or more, or permanently. The personal conduct, stay away and residence exclusion orders made after notice and a hearing may last up to five years. On a party's request they may be renewed for five or more years or permanently, without a showing of further abuse.
An intentional and knowing violation of a protective order is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in county jail, or both. Where the violation causes physical injury, the fine is up to $2,000 and the jail term runs from 30 days to one year.
Custody, visitation and support orders made in the same case last as the law on those subjects provides, not as the protective order does.
Sources for this section (5)
- Fam. Code 6211 — What domestic violence means
- Fam. Code 6320 — Orders the court may make
- Fam. Code 6345 — How long a protective order lasts
- Fam. Code 6203 — What abuse means under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act
- Penal Code 273.6 — Violating a protective order
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed California attorney.