California DVPA
Protection is civil, same-day, and does not wait for a divorce.
If there is danger right now: 911. The Domestic Violence Prevention Act is part of the Family Code itself — abuse reaches far beyond physical injury, ex parte orders can issue the same day you ask, and enforcement rides a statewide law-enforcement system with a firearm prohibition attached. This page maps the lanes; the official DV-100 forms are the path.
What counts as abuse — § 6203
"Abuse" under the DVPA is broader than physical injury: intentional or reckless bodily injury or attempts, sexual assault, placing someone in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury, or any § 6320 enjoinable behavior — which reaches harassment, stalking, contact, and disturbing the peace (including coercive control).
Who's protected — § 6211
DVPA protection turns on relationship: spouse or former spouse, cohabitant or former cohabitant, dating or engagement relationship, co-parent of a child, and close blood or marriage relations (§ 6211).
The three order types — § 6218
§ 6320
Personal-conduct orders enjoining specific acts of abuse
§ 6321
Dwelling-exclusion (kick-out) orders
§ 6322
Other enjoined behavior the court specifies
Same-day, ex parte — §§ 6320/6320.5
Ex parte (same-day, no-notice) orders are available for the § 6320 conduct list; a DENIAL must state its reasons, and a jurisdictionally adequate petition carries the right to a prompt noticed hearing (§ 6320.5).
After hearing — §§ 6340/6345
After notice and hearing the court may issue any Article-1 order, weighing whether refusal would jeopardize the petitioner's safety (§ 6340); conduct, stay-away, and exclusion orders may run up to FIVE years and are renewable — including permanently — on request (§ 6345).
Enforcement is statewide — and armed with a firearms bar
Runtime-verifiedProtective orders transmit electronically through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System into the statewide restraining-order system, so officers statewide can verify and enforce them (§ 6380).
A person subject to a DVPA protective order shall not own, possess, purchase, or receive firearms or ammunition while it is in effect (§ 6389) — relinquishment on the court's terms, with criminal exposure for violations.
Authority locked — retrieved from the hash-pinned corpus
The standing rule here: Safety routes FIRST: if there is danger now, 911; the /safety page precedes every workflow. DVPA relief is civil and does not wait for — or depend on — any dissolution filing.
The DV-100 series Judicial Council forms are the official petition path (label-only companions here — the official forms control); criminal protective orders and civil-harassment orders are DIFFERENT instruments with their own rules.