What to expect at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange for a divorce, custody or restraining order case

In Orange County, divorce, legal separation and annulment papers are filed only at the Lamoreaux Justice Center, 341 The City Drive South, Orange, which also hears custody, support and domestic violence restraining order cases. Expect weapons screening at the door, paid parking in the structure northwest of the entrance, and no cameras or recording devices inside. Custody mediation runs through Family Court Services by Zoom, and the court's mediation orientation video is available in Farsi.

People walk into Lamoreaux on some of the hardest days of their lives: the day they file for divorce, the morning of a custody hearing, the afternoon they ask a judge for protection. Knowing where to park, which floor to go to and how to ask for a Persian interpreter takes some of the weight off. This page covers the building and the day itself. For how the case moves from the first papers to a judgment, read the page on how divorce works in California, from filing to final judgment.

The Orange County Superior Court describes Lamoreaux as the courthouse for juvenile, family law and domestic violence matters, and lists the cities it serves as all cities in Orange County and the unincorporated areas. A family from Irvine, Newport Beach, Mission Viejo or Anaheim comes to the same building. The Self-Help Center, Family Court Services and the Office of the Family Law Facilitator are all housed there.

Your day at Lamoreaux, step by step

1. Before you leave home. Check your hearing date and department on the court's family law case access, and gather filed copies of every paper in your case. The court's Self-Help Center asks people who want to change an order to bring a filed copy of that order. If you need an interpreter, the court asks you to contact the courtroom in advance or ask when you appear.
2. Getting there and parking. The court's own directions place the building between Garden Grove Boulevard and Memory Lane on one side and Chapman Avenue on the other. Parking is in a paid structure northwest of the main entrance. Accessible spaces are available there, first come, first served, for drivers with a DMV disability placard.
3. Security. Lamoreaux is a full security facility. Everyone passes through a weapons screening device and every hand-carried item is x-rayed. Knives (including pocket knives), scissors, corkscrews, mace, pepper spray and knitting needles are not allowed, and cameras and recording devices are not allowed into the building. Allow time for the line.
4. Finding your floor. Public elevators are directly inside the front entrance, past the screening devices. Department L11 is on the first floor, and the remaining courtrooms run from L21 on the second floor to L71 through L74 on the seventh floor. The Family Law Clerk's Office is on the seventh floor, room 706. Family Court Services is on the fifth floor, west side. The Family Law Facilitator is on the first floor, room 101, inside the Self-Help Center.
5. Filing papers. At the Family Law Clerk's Office a triage clerk asks questions to check that your forms are complete and that you are in the right place, then gives you a number. The clerk's office is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, except court holidays, and accepts cash, checks, credit cards and money orders.
6. Hearings with fixed times. Domestic violence restraining order hearings are held at 1:30 p.m. each day. Emergency (ex parte) requests about children are heard each day at 8:30 a.m., after at least 24 hours' notice to the other parent, unless you can show the judge that notice would cause immediate danger or harm.
7. Mediation. When custody or visitation is contested, the case goes to Family Court Services for mediation. The court schedules these appointments by Zoom. Each parent completes a mediation intake form and watches the orientation video, which the court offers in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin, Farsi and Arabic.
8. After the hearing. Write down every order the judge makes and the next date. If a mediator's agreement is approved by the judge, it becomes a court order; issues left unresolved go back to the judge.

Interpreters, documents and what a Persian-speaking client should expect

The Orange County court provides free interpreters in domestic violence cases and in family law cases about custody or visitation. For other family law matters, such as a divorce limited to property or support, it provides free interpreters as resources permit. To ask for one, contact the courtroom before the hearing or make the request when you arrive. For the clerk's office or the Self-Help Center, tell the staff member when you ask for help. For a Family Court Services appointment, the court asks you to tell Family Court Services as early as possible.

The court's interpreters repeat everything said in English into your language and everything you say into English. They keep what you say to your lawyer confidential, they do not give legal advice and they do not answer questions about what will happen. If something is unclear, raise your hand and ask the judge; do not ask the interpreter. The state court self-help guide adds that a friend or relative who speaks English is usually not allowed to act as your interpreter in the courtroom, although a relative can help you outside the courtroom with forms.

Papers written in Persian are a separate issue from spoken interpretation. An exhibit in a foreign language must be accompanied by an English translation that a qualified interpreter swears to under oath (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1110(g)). For an Iranian marriage certificate (aghd-nameh) or a divorce document from Iran, plan the translation weeks ahead. The page on divorcing in California after marrying in Iran explains what the court looks at in those documents.

What changes the answer?

• Where you have lived. A divorce judgment can be entered only if one spouse has lived in California for six months and in the county where the case is filed for three months before filing (Fam. Code § 2320(a)). A spouse who moved to Orange County recently from another county or from abroad may need to wait, or file elsewhere.
• Whether custody is contested. If a request shows that custody or visitation is contested, the court must set those issues for mediation (Fam. Code § 3170(a)). Domestic violence cases follow a separate protocol for Family Court Services (§ 3170(b)), and a parent affected by domestic violence may bring a support person. The page on how California courts decide custody and visitation covers the legal test.
• Whether there is violence or a threat. A domestic violence restraining order starts with forms DV-100, DV-110 and DV-260, plus the local forms L-1120 and L-1124, and there is no filing fee. The court may issue a temporary (ex parte) order (Fam. Code § 6320(a)), and the Orange County court says papers completed correctly and handed in before 2:00 p.m. can be decided that day. If a divorce or parentage case is already open, the request is filed in that case.
• Whether a criminal case exists. A criminal court can issue its own protective order in a domestic violence prosecution (Pen. Code § 136.2(e)), and that order comes from the criminal courthouse, not from Lamoreaux. Both orders can exist at the same time, as explained on the page about what a criminal protective order means for your home and children.
• The child's age. A child 14 or older who wants to address the court about custody must be allowed to, unless the court finds it is not in the child's best interest (Fam. Code § 3042(c)). Orange County Family Court Services offers minor interviews for children 12 and older, which the court describes as its own practice.
• The timing of the divorce. A divorce cannot become final until six months after service of the summons and petition, or the respondent's first appearance, whichever comes first (Fam. Code § 2339(a)). The judgment still has to be signed and filed.
• Money questions. The court says the Family Law Facilitator's office is restricted to issues relating to child support; mediation at Family Court Services does not cover child support, spousal support or property. The page on how child and spousal support are decided explains the guideline.

A worked example

For example, imagine a Persian-speaking mother of a seven-year-old who lives in Irvine. This is a hypothetical, not a real case. She married in Tehran, moved to Orange County four years ago, and has decided to file for divorce. Her English is good for daily life but she worries about legal words in a courtroom. Her husband has said he will take their son to visit his parents in Iran this summer without her agreement.

She meets the residency rule, so she files her petition at Lamoreaux, the only Orange County courthouse that takes divorce filings. Because she wants temporary custody orders quickly, she prepares a request for order with a declaration, gives her husband at least 24 hours' notice, and comes to the 8:30 a.m. emergency calendar. She parks in the paid structure, leaves her nail scissors at home, and asks the courtroom for a Persian interpreter when she checks in. She brings a sworn English translation of her marriage certificate, because an exhibit in Persian needs one. The certificate's mahr clause raises its own question, covered on the page asking whether a mahr is enforceable in a California divorce.

The judge sends custody to Family Court Services. She fills in the intake form online, watches the orientation video in Farsi, and joins the Zoom mediation from a quiet room. Her husband's attorney cannot sit in on the session, and the mediator cannot give her legal advice. If the parents agree on a parenting plan, it goes to the judge for approval; if they do not, the judge decides. Readers who want to know who would stand next to her at the hearing can read about Sourena Sarbazevatan.

Mistakes that cost people a second trip to Orange

• Going to the wrong courthouse. Divorce, legal separation and annulment papers are accepted only at Lamoreaux, not at the Harbor or Central Justice Centers.
• Bringing a recording device or a pocket knife. Cameras and recording devices are not allowed in the building, and screening will stop knives, scissors and pepper spray.
• Arriving late with restraining order papers. To get an order the same day, papers must be complete and with the clerk before 2:00 p.m.; for help preparing them, the court says to be at the Domestic Violence Assistance Program before 8:30 a.m.
• Bringing a relative to interpret in the courtroom. Ask for a court interpreter instead, and bring sworn translations of Persian documents.
• Skipping the mediation intake form. The court says a missing intake form delays mediation, and once a Family Court Services appointment is scheduled it cannot be rescheduled.
• Coaching a child before a minor interview. The court tells parents not to coach the child and not to question the child afterward.

What to do this week

1. Confirm your hearing date and department on the court's online family law case access.
2. Call the courtroom or family law interpreter services, (657) 622-5138, to ask for a Persian interpreter, and note the date you asked.
3. Order sworn English translations of any Persian marriage, divorce or property documents you plan to use.
4. Make copies of every filed paper and every order, and keep one set in a folder you bring to court.
5. If mediation is ordered, complete the intake form and watch the Farsi orientation video before the appointment.
6. Plan the morning: paid parking, the security line and the elevator to your floor before the calendar starts.
7. Talk to a California family law attorney about your case through the contact page before the first hearing, not after it.

Guides for Lamoreaux Justice Center clients

• Premarital and marital agreements in California: what makes them valid
• How property is divided in a California divorce: community and separate property
• Whether property in Iran, or bought before moving to California, is divided in a California divorce
• Whether the half-property clause in an Iranian marriage contract matters in a California divorce
• Whether a divorce granted in Iran is recognized in California
• What a domestic violence charge means for your case, your home and your children
• Where Irvine criminal and family cases go
• What to expect at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach for a criminal or DUI case
• What to expect at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana for a criminal case

Frequently asked questions

Can I file my Orange County divorce at a courthouse closer to home?

No. The Orange County court says all dissolution, legal separation and nullity documents must be filed at the Lamoreaux Justice Center only. Electronic filing for family cases is also listed on the court's site.

Is there free child care at Lamoreaux?

Yes. The Children's Waiting Room offers free child care for children from 2½ to 16 years old who are fully potty-trained, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., open during lunch, at (657) 622-7490. A parent or caregiver registers the child and may be asked for identification; no reservation is needed.

Does the court charge for a Persian interpreter?

Not in domestic violence cases or family cases about custody or visitation, where the court provides interpreters free of charge. In other family law cases it provides them free as resources permit, so ask early.

Can my attorney attend custody mediation with me?

No. The court says attorneys do not take part in the Family Court Services mediation session, although they can advise their clients before and after. Other people join only if the mediator asks or agrees, except a support person for a party affected by domestic violence.

What does the Family Law Facilitator do?

The Facilitator is an attorney employed by the court who helps people without lawyers with child support paperwork, including the Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150). The Facilitator is not your attorney, conversations are not confidential, and the office does not give case strategy.

How long does a domestic violence restraining order last?

The Orange County court says a domestic violence restraining order can last up to five years and can be renewed with form DV-700 before it expires. Only a judge can change or cancel it early.

Can I record my hearing on my phone?

No. The court states that cameras and recording devices are not allowed into the Lamoreaux Justice Center.

The Law Office of Sourena Sarbazevatan represents people in Orange County and San Diego in divorce, custody, support and restraining order matters, in English and Persian (Farsi). Call (949) 591-9596 or use the contact page.