IN PLAIN ENGLISH
How custody works in California
In California, the plan for your children is called a parenting plan. It covers custody (who makes decisions and where the children live) and visitation, which the courts also call parenting time. Until there is a court order, both parents have the same rights to the children. [CA-P1]
California does not start from 50/50 and does not start from every other weekend. The law says there is no preference for joint or sole custody. It gives the judge wide room to pick the plan that is best for your child. There is one exception: if both parents agree to joint custody, the law presumes joint custody is best. [CA-P3, CA-P4]
If you and the other parent disagree about custody or visitation, the court must first send you to mediation. A mediator (a trained counselor who works with the court) helps you try to build a plan together. If you still cannot agree, a judge decides. [CA-P6, CA-P1]
When the judge decides, the order is usually written on a statewide form called FL-341. The form has blanks for weekends, weekdays, holidays and other details. The form is a place to write your family's schedule. It is not a default schedule. [CA-P7]
Words you’ll see in your papers
- Legal custody
- The right to make important decisions about your child, like school, health care and religion. It can be joint (shared) or sole (one parent). [CA-P1]
- Physical custody
- Who your child lives with most of the time. It can also be joint or sole. Joint physical custody means each parent has significant time with the child, which does not have to be exactly equal. [CA-P1, CA-P15]
- Visitation (parenting time)
- The schedule for when the child is with each parent. It can be a set schedule, reasonable (worked out by the parents), supervised, or none. [CA-P1]
- Request for Order (form FL-300)
- The form you file to ask the judge for a custody or visitation order, or to change one, in a case that is already open. If you were served an FL-300, you have a court date. [CA-P14, CA-P1]
- Parentage
- Being a child's legal parent. Only legal parents can get custody and visitation orders, so unmarried parents may need to establish parentage first. [CA-P2]
COMMON QUESTIONS
What parents in California ask first
Does California start from 50/50?
No. The law sets no preference for joint or sole custody, and the judge has wide room to choose the plan that fits your child. If both parents agree to joint custody, the law presumes it is best for the child. Joint physical custody means each parent has significant time, not necessarily equal time. [CA-P3, CA-P4, CA-P15]
What does the judge look at?
The judge looks at what is best for your child. The law lists your child's health, safety and welfare; any history of abuse; how much contact the child has had with each parent; and ongoing drug or alcohol abuse by a parent. The court's self-help site adds things like the child's age and health, the child's ties to each parent, school and community, and each parent's ability to care for the child. [CA-P5, CA-P1]
Is there a standard visitation schedule in California?
No. There is no statewide default schedule. Parents can agree on one, or a judge sets one, and it is written on a court form like FL-341. Holidays can go on a separate holiday attachment, form FL-341(C). [CA-P7, CA-P1]
Does my child get a say?
Yes, if your child is old and mature enough to form an intelligent preference, the judge must consider it and give it due weight. A child who is 14 or older and wants to speak to the judge must be allowed to, unless the judge finds that is not in the child's best interest and says why. Younger children may also be allowed to speak. A child never has to choose. [CA-P8]
Can the other parent move away with our child?
A custody order can require a parent to tell the other parent before changing the child's home for more than 30 days, unless you already agreed in writing. The notice goes by mail with a return receipt, and where possible it should come at least 45 days before the move, so there is time for mediation. Check whether your order has this requirement. [CA-P9]
Can a custody order be changed later?
Yes. Either parent can ask the court to change custody or visitation. In an open case you file a Request for Order (form FL-300) and explain what has changed since the last order. If the change is disputed, the court sends it to mediation first. [CA-P14, CA-P6]
We were never married. What do we do first?
Make sure parentage is legally established. In California, only legal parents can get custody and visitation orders. Parents can sign a Voluntary Declaration of Parentage, often at the hospital but also later, and once filed it works like a court order. Otherwise you can ask the court to decide parentage. [CA-P2]
What if there is domestic violence?
Special rules apply. If a judge finds that a parent committed domestic violence in the last five years against the other parent, the child, the child's siblings or certain other people close to them, the law presumes that giving that parent sole or joint custody is bad for the child. That parent must prove otherwise. Judges can also order supervised visits or no visits. [CA-P10, CA-P1]
Free, official places to start
- California Courts Self-Help Guide: Child custody and visitation
The courts' plain-language guide to parenting plans, custody types, visitation types, and which forms to file or respond to.
- California Courts Self-Help Guide: Parentage
How unmarried parents become legal parents, including the Voluntary Declaration of Parentage.
- Form FL-341: Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time) Order Attachment
The statewide form judges and parents use to write out the actual schedule.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT · LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles County
Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles (Family Law Division and Family Court Services)
Los Angeles uses the same state law and forms, with no separate county schedule. What is local is the process. Before a custody hearing or trial, parents must finish the court's online orientation, Our Children First (about 60 minutes, done once), and attend a mediation session with Family Court Services. Parents in domestic violence restraining order cases may take the orientation but do not have to. [CA-P11, CA-P12] LA mediation is confidential. A mental health professional helps you build a plan, and if you agree, the mediator writes it up for the judge to review and sign. [CA-P11] The court's Self-Help Center can walk you through custody forms whether or not you were married. [CA-P13]
- Child Custody Mediation (Family Court Services)
How LA's required custody mediation works, plus the intake form you sign before your session.
- Our Children First orientation
The required online orientation for parents before mediation; you need your case number.
- LA Court Self-Help: Child Custody and Visitation
The Self-Help Center's step-by-step paths for getting or changing custody orders, for married and unmarried parents.
Other counties in California can have different local rules and forms. Check the court where your case is filed.
THE DETAILED GUIDE · WHAT KIND OF SCHEDULE THE LAW PROVIDES
No fixed statewide schedule identified
Research overview
No fixed statewide calendar identified. Judicial Council FL-341 and related forms implement individualized custody/parenting-time orders. [CA1-CA3]
Legal force and applicability
Case-specific calendar; no fixed statewide calendar identified in reviewed sources. Any custody/allocation presumption is separate.
Authority and geographic scope
No fixed statewide calendar identified. Judicial Council FL-341 and related forms implement individualized custody/parenting-time orders. [CA1-CA3]
Custody and parenting-time presumptions
Best interests controls. Family Code 3040(e) creates no general preference or presumption for or against joint legal, joint physical, or sole custody; Section 3080 separately presumes joint custody is best, subject to 3011, when the parents agree to it. Neither provision chooses an equal-time repeating calendar. [CA4,CA8]
Schedule & conditions
Read these topics together with your actual order. A model, form, or presumption does not automatically supply an enforceable calendar.
Regular school-year schedule
FL-341 records specific weekdays/weekends and other court-selected provisions; form availability is not a statewide standard allocation. [CA2]
Holidays and school breaks
The court uses a specified schedule and, where chosen, FL-341(C) holiday attachment. No universal parent/year assignment is preselected. [CA2, CA3]
Summer and vacation time
Vacation dates and school-break arrangements are case-specific; fill the actual order and attachments. [CA2, CA3]
Age and development
No statewide age-based possession calendar identified in reviewed official resources. Infant needs and safety may require a tailored order. [CA1]
Distance, travel, and relocation
Transportation, exchanges and travel permissions are specified in the order; no statewide distance-based alternating-weekend entitlement identified. [CA2]
Safety & exceptions
Supervised or no visitation may be ordered. Family Code 3044, operative January 1, 2026, creates a rebuttable presumption against sole or joint physical/legal custody after a qualifying finding of domestic violence within the previous five years; statutory rebuttal findings are required. FL-341(A) addresses supervised visits/exchanges. Screen abuse, substance abuse and abduction separately. [CA2,CA5,CA7,CA9]