In 2022, FVAP sponsored Assemblymember Salas’s Assembly Bill 2369 (Stats. 2022, ch. 591), which, starting January 1, 2023, changes how attorney’s fees work in domestic violence restraining order cases, per Family Code section 6344. FVAP will provide more resources soon on AB 2369, including a recorded training on the bill, a New Law Alert about the bill, and a sample motion requesting attorney’s fees under the amended statute. For now, here are some potentially useful resources/pieces of information:
- To get attorney’s fees, you have to make a request. In writing would be best, but orally at a hearing is okay, too. The law just requires “notice and a hearing.”
- You can check the box on the DV-100 Petition or DV-120 Response form, or file a separate FL-300 Request for Order.
- Judicial Council court forms: click here.
- Check also your local court’s rules and forms.
- You should NOT have to file an Income & Expense Declaration (FL-150 or FL-155) to get attorney’s fees, but you may have to file one to oppose a request for fees.
- If a court requires you to show your income, or a need for fees, in order to get attorney’s fees under Family Code section 6344, please let FVAP know, as that may be an issue we could challenge on appeal in an appropriate case.
- If you want attorney’s fees under Family Code section 6344 and another family law statute (Family Code section 2030, 2032, 3121, 3557, or 7605), to get those fees under those other statutes, you may still need to show your income, or need for those other fees. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.427.)
- If you request attorney’s fees orally at a hearing, the court and/or opposing party may need more time or information, so the hearing may need to be continued to another date.
- Deadline to seek attorney’s fees, for all civil cases, in general (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1702): click here.
- You can check the box on the DV-100 Petition or DV-120 Response form, or file a separate FL-300 Request for Order.
- AB 2369 legislative history:
- Legislative counsel’s digest: click here.
- Legislative committee and floor analyses: click here.
- FVAP letters of support:
- To Governor Newsom (September 6, 2022): click here.
- To Senate Judiciary Committee (June 13, 2022): click here.
- CPEDV letters of support:
- CPEDV letter to Governor Newsom (August 31, 2022): click here.
- CPEDV letter to Assemblymember Salas (May 10, 2022): click here.
- CPPA letters of support:
- CPPA letter to Governor Newsom (September 13, 2022): click here.
- CPPA letter to Assemblymember Salas (May 5, 2022): click here.
- VEST letters of support:
- VEST letter to Governor Newsom (August 31, 2022): click here.
- VEST letter to Assemblymember Salas (May 3, 2022): click here.
- AB 2369 bill language compared to the prior version of the statute: click here.
- AB 2369 fact sheet: click here.
- Family Code section 6344 language: click here. Applies to attorney’s fees requests in domestic violence restraining order cases, for prevailing parties.
- Family Code section 270 language: click here. Applies to all attorney’s fees requests under the Family Code.
- Assemblymember Salas’s press release on AB 2369: click here.
FVAP thanks Asm. Salas for his sponsorship of AB 2369, legislative staff Michael Dyar for his support, the Legislature and Gov. Newsom for enacting the bill, and the following organizations for providing letters of support:
- Advocates for Child Empowerment & Safety (ACES): website
- Coalition of CA Welfare Rights Organizations: website
- California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV): website
- California Protective Parents Association (CPPA): website
- Desert Sanctuary, Inc.: website
- Legislative Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse: website
- Rainbow Services: website
- Victim Empowerment Support Team (VEST): website
