California
What Happens After a Long-Term DVRO Is Granted in California? Your Home, Lease, and Custody
Quick answer
A temporary domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) in California often includes a move-out order, temporary custody, and control of shared property. If the court grants a longer-term order at your hearing, those protections can continue for years, and they interact with your lease, your bills, and your custody case in specific ways.
Researched by Dan Martin, Legal Researcher · Published by Onbello Legal · Last updated June 2026
How long a DVRO lasts after the hearing
A temporary DVRO only lasts until your court hearing, usually a few weeks out. At that hearing, a judge can issue a longer-term restraining order that commonly lasts up to five years, and it can later be renewed. The judge decides the length based on the evidence, so the same order that was granted quickly on paper now gets a closer look with both sides able to speak.
The longer-term order can carry forward the same protections from the temporary order, including stay-away and no-contact terms, a move-out order (sometimes called a residence exclusion or kick-out order), temporary custody, and control of vehicles or pets. Nothing carries forward automatically, though. You should ask the court to continue each specific protection you need, and come ready to explain why.
The home, the lease, and who pays rent
A move-out order controls who can live in the home, but it does not rewrite your lease or mortgage. If both names are on the lease, both people usually remain legally responsible to the landlord for rent, even if one of them is barred from the property by the restraining order. Landlords are generally not required to remove someone from a lease just because a DVRO exists, although California renters who are victims of domestic violence do have some protections, including the ability to break a lease early with proper documentation.
The family court can help sort out the money side. As part of the restraining order case, a judge can order the restrained person to keep paying certain bills, like rent, the mortgage, or a car payment, at least temporarily. If you are married, support requests (child support and spousal support) can also be raised in the same case, which is often how the person staying in the home actually keeps it affordable.
What a DVRO means for custody
Temporary DVROs often grant one parent sole legal and physical custody, and a judge can continue those custody orders in the longer-term order. Beyond that, California law creates a presumption that it is not in a child's best interest for a parent found to have committed domestic violence to have joint or sole custody. That presumption can be overcome, but the burden falls on the parent with the finding, who typically has to show things like completing treatment programs before custody terms change.
This means the restraining order hearing matters for custody, not just safety. The judge's findings about what happened can shape custody and visitation for a long time. Visitation for the restrained parent, if any, may be limited, supervised, or conditioned on steps like alcohol treatment or a batterer intervention program.
Getting ready for the long-term hearing
Evidence carries the day at these hearings. Videos, photos, screenshots of messages and posts, police reports, and witness statements should be organized, printed, and ready to present in the format your court requires. Posting intimate images of someone without consent is itself unlawful in California and is exactly the kind of conduct courts consider in these cases, so preserve that proof carefully, including dates and where it appeared.
Write out a short timeline of incidents so you can testify clearly and in order. If you have a lawyer, great, but many people handle DVRO hearings on their own, and courts are used to that. Check your courthouse's rules on filing deadlines for any additional evidence, arrive early, and bring copies of everything for the judge and the other side.
Tools and resources
Where to check this
Forms, deadlines, and local rules change. Verify anything on this page against the official self-help resources for your state before you rely on it.
This page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Laws and local rules vary and change. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed family-law attorney in your state.