FL-311-INFO - What Are Visitation or Parenting Time Orders? (Family Law)

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What Are Visitation or Parenting Time Orders? (Family Law)

Text

Form ID: FL-311-INFO
Title: What Are Visitation or Parenting Time Orders? (Family Law)
Effective Date: 2026-01-01
Mandatory Form: no
Languages: 汉语, 한국어, español, Tiếng Việt
Info Page: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/FL-311-INFO
Primary Download URL: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl311info.pdf
Alternate Download URLs: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl311infoc.pdf, https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl311infok.pdf, https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl311infos.pdf, https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl311infov.pdf
Form Detail Page:
What Are Visitation or Parenting Time Orders? (Family Law)
(FL-311-INFO)
Explains the types of orders that the court can make about visitation (parenting time) in a family law case. Explains how a party can ask for a court order.
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(Korean)
español
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(Spanish)
Tiếng Việt
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(Vietnamese)
Effective: January 1, 2026
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PDF Text:
FL-311-INFO, Page 1 of 2What Are Visitation or 
Parenting Time Orders?  
(Family Law)
Judicial Council of California, 
New January 1, 2026, Optional Form
What is visitation or parenting time?
Visitation (visits) or parenting time is an order for 
how your children will spend time with each parent 
that is in the best interests of the child.  
For information about child custody, read:
•  Child Custody Information Sheet—Recommending 
Counseling (form FL-313-INFO) 
Child Custody Information Sheet—Child Custody 
Mediation (form FL-314-INFO)
•  
FL-311-INFO What Are Visitation or Parenting Time Orders?
Four Types of Orders:
1
These are orders with a set schedule of the dates and 
times that your children will be with each parent. The 
schedule can include holidays, special occasions, 
vacations, and other important dates for the family.
Scheduled visitation
2
These are open-ended orders that allow parents to 
work out a plan on their own. This type of plan can 
work if parents get along very well, can be flexible, 
and communicate well. Generally, this type of plan 
is not suitable for cases with domestic violence.
Reasonable visitation
3 Supervised visitation
A judge makes these orders when there are safety 
concerns. A parent and child have a neutral third 
person watching and listening during the visit. The 
neutral third person can be professional or 
nonprofessional.
Professional provider
A professional provider (or “monitor”) is a person 
with special training who has passed a background 
check. Professional providers charge a fee. They are 
also mandated reporters which means that they must 
report suspected child abuse to the local child 
welfare department (known as “CPS”). Your local 
court may have a list of local professional providers. 
Nonprofessional provider
A nonprofessional provider is usually a friend or 
family member who is not paid and does not have 
special training, but must still make safety the top 
priority, follow the judge's orders, and be able to end 
a visit, if needed, to protect the child. 
For more information about supervised visits, go to 
selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/guide-supervised-visitation.
No visitation
The court may make this order if visiting with a 
parent would not be safe for the children even if 
supervised.
4
What are virtual visits?
California law defines “virtual visits” as use of 
audiovisual electronic communication tools to provide 
contact between a parent and their children as part of a 
parenting plan or custody order. A parent and child must 
use some kind of electronic communication that allows 
them to see and hear each other (for example, using 
Zoom, FaceTime, or WhatsApp). 
•  Virtual visits may require access to the internet during 
the visit and may be supervised or unsupervised. 
•  For more information about virtual visitation, go to:  
selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/child-custody/virtual-visitation.
Are virtual visits a good option for us?
Virtual visits may be a good option if you have safety 
concerns, or if the other parent lives far away from the 
children. It can also be a good option if the other parent 
hasn't seen the children in a long time.  
Some cases may not be appropriate for virtual visits, 
whether supervised or unsupervised. Your child's age may 
be a factor. Younger children may not be able to sit 
through a long virtual visitation. If virtual visits are part of 
the court-approved parenting plan, or part of your 
supervised visitation, you can use the worksheet on page 2 
to help you plan for them. 
What about orders for picking up and 
dropping off the child for visitation?
You can ask for orders that would not require you to meet 
the other parent, like having the other parent pick up your 
child from school or daycare. Or, you can ask for 
supervised exchanges. Supervised exchanges involve a 
neutral third person who will help you with transferring 
the children to the other parent so you don't have to meet 
with the other parent.

For your protection and privacy, please press the Clear 
This Form button after you have printed the form.
FL-311-INFO, Page 2 of 2What Are Visitation or 
Parenting Time Orders?  
(Family Law)
New January 1, 2026
What Are Visitation or Parenting Time Orders?FL-311-INFO
When you ask for visitation orders, give details about: 
     When they should happen; 
     How often they should happen; and 
     Who will be responsible for transporting the 
     children before and after each visit.
•  
•  
•  
How do I ask the court for these orders?
•  If you already have a family law case, you can ask the 
court for child custody, visitation (parenting time), and 
child exchange orders by completing Request for Order 
(form FL-300) and filing it in the court where your case 
was started. Information about how to file this and other 
forms is found in Information Sheet for Request for 
Order (Family Law) (form FL-300-INFO). 
•  
 
If you need to start a case in family court to ask for 
these orders, information is available online to help you 
decide which type of case to file. Go to:
selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/child-custody/filing-options.
Where can I find free legal help?
•  Contact the self-help center in your court. Its staff will 
not act as your lawyer but may be able to give you 
information to help you decide what to do in your case 
and help you with the forms. Find your local court's 
self-help center at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/find. 
•  Contact a local legal aid agency or community-based 
nonprofit at www.lawhelpca.org.
What if there is domestic violence or a  
protective order?
•  If there is domestic violence or a protective order, 
before making a parenting plan, talk with an attorney, 
counselor, child custody mediator, or child custody 
recommending counselor, or contact the self-help 
center in your court.
•  Read Asking for Child Custody and Visitation Orders 
(form DV-105-INFO).
•  For more information and resources, call the National 
Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or  
call 211 if available in your area.
 Plan for Your Virtual Visits
(You can use this as a worksheet.)
Before your visit, make sure the program, like a 
mobile app or web app, works on your phone or 
computer. Make sure you have an internet 
connection and know how to use the app.
Before your virtual visit or virtual supervised visit, 
make a plan. For example, have an activity ready 
like reading a book to your child. The length of 
your visit should be age-appropriate. Review the 
court order to be clear on how long your visit will 
be. 
Write your plan here:
If you have virtual supervised visitation, ask the 
provider questions ahead of time (for example, 
during your scheduled orientation with the 
provider). You can write your questions here:
During your visit, make sure you: 
•  Find a quiet room or space for your virtual 
visits or virtual supervised visits.
•  Have any games, books, or other activity  
ready and in front of you.
•  Be ready to be flexible. Technical issues may  
come up that impact your visit.
During your visit, make sure you do not:
•  Have another person participate in the visit  
unless a judge gave the person permission  
to do so.
•  Talk about your court case with your child.
•  For virtual supervised visitation, do not   
whisper or communicate in other ways that  
would not allow the provider to see or hear  
your interaction with the child.

Retrieval chunks

• #1

  Form ID: FL-311-INFO Title: What Are Visitation or Parenting Time Orders? (Family Law) Effective Date: 2026-01-01 Mandatory Form: no Languages: 汉语, 한국어, español, Tiếng Việt Info Page: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/FL-311-INFO Primary Download URL: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl311info.pdf Alte…

• #2

  neutral third person can be professional or nonprofessional. Professional provider A professional provider (or “monitor”) is a person with special training who has passed a background check. Professional providers charge a fee. They are also mandated reporters which means that they must report suspected child a…

• #3

  supervised exchanges. Supervised exchanges involve a neutral third person who will help you with transferring the children to the other parent so you don't have to meet with the other parent. For your protection and privacy, please press the Clear This Form button after you have printed the form. FL-311-INFO, Pa…

• #4

  Before your virtual visit or virtual supervised visit, make a plan. For example, have an activity ready like reading a book to your child. The length of your visit should be age-appropriate. Review the court order to be clear on how long your visit will be. Write your plan here: If you have virtual supervised v…