California Family Code section 3600 gives a family court the power to order temporary spousal support, child support, or both while a divorce, legal separation, nullity, or custody case is still pending.1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3600 The order holds the financial status quo until the judge enters a final judgment. To get one, the lower-earning spouse files a Request for Order backed by a current Income and Expense Declaration, and the court usually runs the numbers through a state-approved guideline calculator.
What Section 3600 Covers
The statute authorizes a judge to order either spouse to pay whatever amount is necessary to support the other during the case. It also lets the court order one or both parents to pay child support while any proceeding involving a minor child is active.1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3600 The reach includes dissolution, legal separation, and custody cases, and it extends to support for an adult child who is incapacitated or still in high school.
Registered domestic partners have the same rights as married spouses. Family Code 297.5 extends every spousal right, protection, and obligation to registered domestic partners, so “spouse” here reads the same way for a partner.
These orders are temporary by design. They take effect immediately and stay in place until the court enters a final judgment, issues a new order, or the order expires by operation of law.2California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3601
How the Court Sets the Amount
Temporary support is meant to move fast. Rather than running through the long list of factors used for permanent spousal support, judges rely on a guideline calculator, most commonly DissoMaster or X-Spouse, which plugs in each party’s income, filing status, and certain deductions to produce a figure.3Judicial Branch of California. Guideline Support Calculators The guideline number is not a ceiling or a floor for spousal support, but most temporary orders track it closely.4California Courts. Temporary Spousal Support
Child support follows a separate statutory formula in Family Code 4055 that accounts for each parent’s net monthly disposable income, the percentage of time each parent has physical custody, and the number of children.5California Legislative Information. California Family Code 4055 The same calculator programs handle the child support math. Because the formula is statewide, judges have far less room to deviate from the child support guideline than from the spousal support figure, and a parent asking for a departure carries the burden of justifying it.
Section 3600 does pull two factors directly from the permanent-support statute. The court must consider documented evidence of domestic violence between the parties and any criminal conviction for abuse under Family Code 4320, subdivisions (i) and (m).6California Legislative Information. California Family Code 4320 Family Code 4325 goes further, creating a rebuttable presumption against awarding spousal support to a spouse convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor within five years before the case was filed or during the case itself.7California Legislative Information. California Family Code 4325 These provisions can override the calculator number entirely.
Documents to Gather Before You File
A temporary support request lives or dies on the financial paperwork. Pull the following together before you touch the court forms:
- Federal and state tax returns from the last two years.
- Pay stubs covering the most recent two months.
- Records of monthly housing costs, utilities, insurance premiums, childcare, and medical expenses.
- Statements for credit cards, car loans, student loans, and other recurring debts.
The California Courts self-help site treats two years of returns and two months of pay stubs as the standard baseline.8California Courts. Gather and Share Financial Information Filling in numbers without the underlying documents leads to inconsistencies that erode your credibility with the judge.
Filing the Request for Order
Two forms drive the process. The Request for Order (FL-300) is where you tell the court what you want. Check the box for spousal support, child support, or both, and add a short statement explaining the income gap between you and the other party. The Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150) is the financial snapshot behind the request, covering employment details, gross income, tax deductions, and a line-by-line accounting of monthly expenses.9Judicial Branch of California. Rule 5.260 General Provisions Regarding Support Cases A current, completed FL-150 must be filed with the FL-300 and served on the other party.10California Courts. Income and Expense Declaration FL-150
On the FL-150, average fluctuating costs like utilities and healthcare over the past 12 months rather than picking one month’s bill. The numbers should line up with what you claim on the FL-300. Judges notice when a request for a specific dollar amount doesn’t match the expenses reported on the declaration.
The statewide filing fee for a Request for Order in a family law case is $60 under Government Code 70677(a), unless the FL-300 is the first paper you file in the case, in which case you pay the higher initial filing fee instead. If you cannot afford the fee, apply for a fee waiver using form FW-001. You automatically qualify if you receive Medi-Cal, CalFresh, SSI, CalWORKs, or county general assistance, and you may qualify on low income alone.
Serving the Other Party
The court cannot act until the other side has been properly notified. Someone other than you, aged 18 or older, must deliver copies of the filed FL-300, FL-150, and supporting documents to the opposing party. For personal delivery, the server completes a Proof of Personal Service (FL-330).11California Courts. Proof of Personal Service FL-330 For service by mail, the server uses a Proof of Service by Mail (FL-335).12California Courts. Proof of Service by Mail FL-335
Timing is strict. The other party must receive the papers at least 16 court days before the scheduled hearing. Add five calendar days if you serve by mail. The responding party then has until nine court days before the hearing to file a Responsive Declaration to Request for Order (FL-320). Miss these windows and the hearing can be dropped from the calendar. If you need a faster date, ask the judge to shorten time on item 9 of the FL-300 and explain the urgency.
The Hearing
Both parties check in with the courtroom clerk or bailiff. The judge reviews each side’s Income and Expense Declaration, runs the numbers through the guideline calculator for temporary spousal support, and applies the statutory formula for child support. Expect pointed questions if reported income seems low, expenses look inflated, or the two declarations tell conflicting stories.
The temporary order takes effect immediately and carries the force of law. If circumstances change later, file for modification promptly. A judge can only adjust the order retroactively to the date you file the paperwork, not to the date your situation actually shifted.4California Courts. Temporary Spousal Support
Attorney Fees on the Same Request
The spouse asking for support is often the spouse who cannot afford a lawyer. Family Code 2030 addresses this: when there is a disparity between the parties’ ability to pay for representation, the court must order the higher-earning party to contribute to the other’s attorney fees.13California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2030 The statute uses “shall,” not “may.” You can request fees on the same FL-300, and the court decides on the income information already in front of it. A self-represented party who cannot afford counsel can ask the court to order the other side to pay enough for a retainer.
Insurance Stays Where It Is
Filing a family law case triggers automatic temporary restraining orders that print on the summons and bind both parties. Under Family Code 2040, neither spouse may cancel, transfer, or change the beneficiaries of any health, life, auto, or disability policy covering the parties or their children.14California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2040 Existing health coverage stays in place without a separate request. Violations can bring sanctions. If maintaining coverage is a real burden for the paying spouse, that cost feeds into the support calculation, but dropping the other spouse from a policy while the case is pending is not an option.
Enforcing the Order
A temporary support order is not a suggestion. If payments fall behind, the recipient has several routes. The most common is an income withholding order, which directs the employer to deduct support from each paycheck before it reaches the paying party.15California Courts. Paying Child Support Ask for one at the same time as the initial support order; having payments come straight from payroll heads off enforcement problems.
For serious noncompliance, the court can hold the paying party in contempt. A contempt finding for failing to pay support can carry a fine of up to $1,000 per violation, an order to pay the moving party’s attorney fees, and in some cases jail time. The statute of limitations for contempt based on missed spousal or family support is three years from the missed payment.
Taxes on the Payments
For any divorce or separation agreement executed after 2018, spousal support payments are not deductible by the payer and are not taxable income to the recipient under federal law. This applies to both temporary and permanent spousal support.16Internal Revenue Service. Alimony and Separate Maintenance Child support has never been deductible or taxable regardless of when the order was issued; the IRS treats it as a non-event on both parties’ returns.