Case Alert: C.C. v. D.V. (2024)

 This is the first case to say that a stipulated domestic violence restraining order after hearing (DV-130, JV-255, or JV-265) triggers the Family Code section 3044 rebuttable presumption. This means if the parties agree to a DVRO, and one of them asks the court to make a custody or visitation order, the court must apply section 3044. Please see FVAP’s website (https://fvaplaw.org/resource-library/) for more information and free resources on section 3044. 

This case also is an example of a trial court’s need to apply section 3044 for both legal and physical custody. So even if the court grants the survivor sole physical custody, the court still has to apply section 3044 before it can grant the abuser joint legal custody. (See Fam. Code, § 3000 et seq. [defining legal and physical custody].)