Reschedule a family law court date

If you need more time or can't attend your court date (hearing), you can ask to reschedule it. Unless you and the other side agree, you may need to give the court a good reason why you need to change the court date.

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Before you start

This page offers basic information about how to ask for a new court date. Many courts have their own (local) rules about how to get a new court date. For more information:

Contact your court's Self-Help Center
Read How to Reschedule a Hearing in Family Court (form FL-304-INFO)

How to reschedule your court date

There are a couple different ways to reschedule your court date:

Get a written agreement signed by a judge
File a written request to ask the judge for a new court date

It's best to submit your agreement or request at least 5 days before your court date. But, if you can't, you can ask at the hearing.

Have a judge sign a written agreement

If you and the other person in your case agree:

Fill out and both signAgreement and Order to Reschedule Hearing (form FL-308)
Submit the signed form to the court (best to do this at least 5 days before the court date)

If the judge agrees, they will sign the order and you will get a new court date. If they disagree, they won't sign and your court date will not change.

Don't use this form if you need to change a temporary (emergency) order.

This form only changes your court date, it does not change or extend the temporary order.

Ask the court to reschedule

If you and the other person don't have an agreement:

If you don't need to change a temporary order

Fill out Request to Reschedule Hearing (form FL-306) and the top part of Order on Request to Reschedule Hearing (form FL-309)

If you need to change a temporary order

Fill out Request to Reschedule Hearing involving Temporary Emergency (Ex Parte) Orders (form FL-307) and the top part of Order on Request to Reschedule Hearing (form FL-309)

Once you've filled out the forms, the steps vary a bit depending on the court and your situation. You may be able to file your Request and have a judge decide without having a court date. In other cases, you may need to have a court date.

Find out your court's local rules Courts have different ways they'll process the form. Ask a court clerk or someone at the Self-Help Center.
Figure out if you need to serve the other person in your case If you filed the Request for Order and served it on the other person in your case, you will need to let them know about your request. If the other person filed the Request for Order, then you need to notify them of your Request.
File your papers File your Request along with Proof that you served the other person in your case.