Afraid a Trip Won't End With Them Coming Home?

Yes. California family courts routinely order that children not be removed from the county, state, or country without written consent or court permission — and can add passport controls, notice requirements, supervised exchanges, and bonds. The court can't act on your fear until it's asked properly; that's what the Request for Order is for.

The FL-312 is California's Child Abduction Prevention Order attachment — it rides along with the FL-300 Request for Order when a parent asks for protections against a child being taken. It's where the specific risk factors and the specific protections you're requesting get laid out. Our wizard fills it out from your answers automatically.

California law lists concrete factors: past threats to take the children or a history of hiding them, no strong ties to California, ties to another state or country, sudden moves like quitting a job or selling a home, and more. You don't need all of them — you need the ones that exist in your situation, stated specifically.

Courts can order U.S. passports surrendered and block new ones, and the federal Children's Passport Issuance Alert Program can flag passport applications for your children. Foreign passports are harder, because U.S. courts can't control another country's documents — that's precisely when protections like bonds, supervised travel, or no-travel orders matter more. Dual-citizenship situations are worth an attorney consultation, which you can add anytime.

It's money the traveling parent deposits (or posts through a bond company) before traveling with the children, which can be forfeited if the children aren't returned as ordered. It converts a promise to come home into a financial guarantee — and it's one of the specific protections you can request.

California's ex parte process is designed for immediate risk: with proper notice to the other side, a judge generally reviews the request within a court day or two, and temporary orders can issue the same day they're granted, holding until a full hearing. The paperwork has to be precise — errors are how emergency requests lose their 'emergency.'

Yes — travel restrictions are typically requested as part of custody orders, and if you don't have a case open yet, our wizard helps you start one. Parents worried about travel usually ask for their first custody order and the travel protections in the same request.

That's beyond paperwork — contact law enforcement immediately, and know that California district attorneys have child abduction units that help locate and recover children. Court orders still matter enormously in a recovery, which is another reason parents get them in place at the first warning sign, not the last.

No — we're a licensed and bonded Legal Document Assistant service. We prepare your paperwork, and every step of our wizard is reviewed and approved by attorneys licensed in your state. Abduction-risk situations can genuinely benefit from legal advice — you can add an attorney consultation anytime.

Filling out your forms is free — you pay one flat price when you're ready to download or file, with payment plans available. The court's own filing fee is separate, and if that's a hardship we prepare the fee waiver paperwork too.