How to Complete Form FL-105 in a California Divorce

Quick Answer

Each petitioner and respondent generally completes, files, and serves FL-105 when their divorce involves children of their relationship under age 18. The form asks who the children are, where they have lived for the past five years, who lived with them, what related cases or protective orders exist, and whether anyone else claims custody or visitation rights. It supplies jurisdictional information; it does not request or award custody.

In the traditional sequence, FL-105 ordinarily accompanies FL-100 or FL-120 when minor children are involved.

What UCCJEA Means and Why the Court Asks

UCCJEA stands for Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. Its jurisdictional framework helps courts determine which state, tribal court, or country should make or enforce custody orders and helps reduce conflicting orders in different places.

FL-105 is factual. It tells the court where the children and prior proceedings are connected. It does not ask for legal or physical custody, decide parenting time, prove that California has jurisdiction in every situation, or establish what custody arrangement serves a child's best interests.

When FL-105 Is Required

California Rule of Court 5.52 generally requires the petitioner and respondent each to complete, serve, and file FL-105 when there are children of their relationship under age 18. For the petitioner, it is ordinarily attached to FL-100. A respondent with minor children generally attaches a separately completed FL-105 to FL-120. In a joint-petition case, the spouses complete FL-105 with Petitioner 1 listed as petitioner and Petitioner 2 as respondent.

If there are no children of the parties under 18, FL-105 generally is not part of an ordinary divorce filing. Other family, guardianship, juvenile, or parentage proceedings may use the same combined FL-105/GC-120 form under different rules, so do not apply the divorce rule mechanically to another case type.

Gather a Complete History for Each Child

Item 2: Identify Every Child

List the total number of minor children subject to the proceeding, then list the oldest child first with full name, date of birth, and place of birth. If there are more children than the available lines, the current form directs the filer to use MC-020 or a separate paper labeled as an FL-105 attachment for additional children.

Item 3: Build an Unbroken Five-Year Residence History

For the child listed in item 2a, provide the current residence and every residence during the past five years, using month and year. For each period, identify the city and state, the person the child lived with, that person's complete current address, and the relationship to the child. If the child is younger than five, report the history back to birth.

Line up the date ranges so there are no unexplained gaps or overlaps. Temporary moves, split households, living with relatives, time in another state, and residence outside the United States can matter. Report the facts rather than replacing the history with a conclusion such as 'California is the home state.'

When to Use FL-105(A)/GC-120(A)

If there is more than one child and the children have not all lived together for the full five-year period, check item 3b and attach FL-105(A)/GC-120(A). List every other child on the attachment, mark whether that child's history is the same as the first child's, and provide a separate history when it differs; use enough copies to account for all children. If all children shared the same history but the main form lacks space, item 3a permits an attachment, and the form identifies MC-020 as an option.

Disclose Other Proceedings, Orders, and Custody Claims

Item 4: Other Cases or Custody Proceedings

Disclose information about any other court case or custody or visitation proceeding involving a child in this case, whether you participated as a party, witness, or in another capacity. The form separately identifies family, probate guardianship, juvenile, adoption, and other proceedings. Give the case number, court and location, order or judgment date, affected children, your connection, and status.

If an order exists and you have a copy, the form directs you to attach it. Include out-of-state and tribal matters, not just California divorce files. A dismissed, inactive, or older proceeding can still be responsive; describe its status rather than omitting it.

Item 5: Current Domestic Violence or Protective Orders

Identify any domestic-violence restraining or protective order currently in effect and provide the court, county, state or tribe, case number if known, and expiration date. The form lists criminal, family, juvenile, and other orders and directs the filer to attach a copy if available.

Item 6: Other People With Custody or Visitation Claims

State whether a nonparty has physical custody of a child or claims custody or visitation rights. If yes, give the person's name and address, check the applicable type of claim, and identify each child involved. This question is not limited to biological parents.

Address Safety, Interstate, and International Issues

If Publishing an Address Could Create a Safety Risk

The current FL-105 includes a confidential-address option under Family Code section 3429 and instructs a filer using it to provide only the state of residence in the marked fields. Address confidentiality can interact with protective orders, Safe at Home participation, other filings, and local procedure. If disclosure could put anyone at risk, obtain guidance from the court's self-help center or a lawyer before filing rather than improvising redactions or omitting required information.

Children Who Lived Outside California or the United States

List every actual residence even if it was in another state, on tribal land, or outside the United States. Recent moves, competing cases, temporary absences, emergency circumstances, and foreign orders can make jurisdiction analysis technical. FL-105 collects the facts but does not resolve that analysis by itself. Get prompt advice before requesting orders when another jurisdiction may be involved.

File, Serve, and Update FL-105

Sign under penalty of perjury, count and identify all attached pages, and file FL-105 with the applicable Petition or Response. The petitioner's completed FL-105 and a blank FL-105 are commonly served with the opening papers. A respondent ordinarily has another adult serve the filed Response and related forms, usually by first-class mail, using FL-335 as proof.

The notice on FL-105 and Rule 5.52 create a continuing duty to inform the court if you learn new information about a custody proceeding concerning a child in the case. Current Rule 5.52 directs a party to file an updated UCCJEA form and have it served on the other party.

What Happens Next?

If FL-105 accompanies the opening Petition, the next procedural step is service and completion of FL-115. If it accompanies a Response, the respondent files the packet and has another adult serve the petitioner. The court uses FL-105 alongside other evidence when deciding whether it can make custody orders; a separate request, agreement, or hearing addresses the substance of custody and parenting time.

For the larger context, read the site's guides to divorce with children and California custody and visitation.

Common Mistakes

• Listing only the current address instead of a full five-year history
• Leaving gaps between month-and-year residence periods
• Using one child's history for siblings who did not always live together
• Omitting an old, out-of-state, tribal, guardianship, juvenile, adoption, or protective-order matter
• Failing to identify another person with physical custody or a claimed right to custody or visitation
• Treating FL-105 as the form that requests or awards custody
• Publishing a sensitive address without first obtaining reliable confidentiality guidance

When Attorney Help May Be Worthwhile

Advice is especially valuable when a child moved recently, parents filed in different states, a foreign or tribal order exists, someone else has custody, a dependency or guardianship case is open, or address disclosure raises safety concerns. Jurisdiction errors can delay otherwise agreed custody terms.

Simplified Separation's attorney represents one spouse in an uncontested matter, not both parents. A cooperating spouse can obtain separate advice about jurisdiction or the proposed parenting terms.

Frequently Asked Questions