An automatic temporary restraining order in California is not something your spouse persuaded a judge to sign. It is printed on the second page of the Summons, it binds both of you, and it took effect without a hearing. If the petition was filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown, no one argued for it. Our Santa Monica office takes this call most often from a founder or portfolio holder who has just been told, without much explanation, not to move any money.
Key Takeaway: California Family Code 2040 prints four restraining orders on every divorce Summons: no removing a child from the state, no transferring or encumbering any property, no touching insurance held for the family, and no creating or changing a nonprobate transfer. They bind the petitioner at filing and the respondent at service.
Call (888) 42-BORNA for a confidential consultation. Borna Houman Law represents high-net-worth clients across Los Angeles County, and the first forty-eight hours after service are usually when the avoidable mistakes happen.
What is an automatic temporary restraining order in California?
An automatic temporary restraining order, known as an ATRO, is one of four mutual orders that California Family Code section 2040 requires the court to print inside the divorce Summons itself. No judge weighs them. They are a condition of filing.
Because they are mutual, they restrain the spouse who filed as fully as the spouse who was served, so filing first buys you the first court date and nothing else. You can read them on the FL-110 Summons published by the Judicial Council.
When do the ATROs take effect?
Under California Family Code section 233, the orders bind the petitioner upon filing the petition and issuance of the summons, and bind the respondent upon personal service of the petition and summons or upon a signed waiver and acceptance of service.
They stay in effect until final judgment is entered, the petition is dismissed, or the court orders otherwise. Our guide to the timeline of a high-asset California divorce sets out the range, often eighteen months or more. A respondent who has not been served is not yet bound, which is why petitioners sometimes sit on service.
What exactly do the four ATROs prohibit?
The first restrains both parties from removing the minor children from the state, and, under a 2025 amendment, from applying for a new or replacement passport for a child, without the prior written consent of the other party or a court order. The passport language is new and most published summaries miss it.
The second reaches money. It restrains both parties from transferring, encumbering, hypothecating, concealing, or in any way disposing of any property, real or personal, whether community, quasi-community, or separate, without written consent or a court order, except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life. The same paragraph adds a requirement people miss entirely: each party must notify the other of proposed extraordinary expenditures at least five business days before incurring them, and must account to the court for all extraordinary expenditures made after service.
Note the word separate. It does not make separate property community, but it stops you restructuring it mid-case.
The third restrains both parties from cashing, borrowing against, cancelling, transferring, disposing of, or changing the beneficiaries of insurance or other coverage held for the benefit of the parties and their children, including life, health, automobile, and disability. A later operative version of section 2040, added by the same 2025 legislation and operative January 1, 2027, adds allowing a policy to lapse for nonpayment of premiums and failing to renew it. From that date, doing nothing about a premium becomes a violation. Our guide to life insurance in a California divorce covers beneficiary mechanics.
The fourth restrains both parties from creating a nonprobate transfer, or modifying one in a way that affects the disposition of the property, without written consent or a court order. Section 2040(d) defines nonprobate transfer broadly enough to capture a revocable trust, a pay-on-death account, a Totten trust, a transfer-on-death registration, and a revocable transfer on death deed.
What do the ATROs not prohibit?
Section 2040(b) lists five things the orders expressly do not restrain.
You may create, modify, or revoke a will. You may revoke a nonprobate transfer, including a revocable trust, pursuant to the instrument, provided that notice of the change is filed and served on the other party before the change takes effect. You may eliminate a right of survivorship on the same condition of advance notice. You may create an unfunded revocable or irrevocable trust. And you may execute and file a disclaimer under the Probate Code.
That notice condition separates a lawful revocation from a violation, and section 2040(e) requires the Summons to describe it. In our experience representing high-net-worth clients in Los Angeles County, the severed joint tenancy that gets unwound is almost always the one where notice went out after the deed was recorded.
Otherwise ordinary life continues. You pay the mortgage, taxes, premiums, payroll, tuition, and household bills, and you run the company. Under section 2040(a)(2)(B), you may also use community property, quasi-community property, or your own separate property to pay reasonable attorney fees and costs to retain counsel, provided you account to the community for community funds used.
What does usual course of business actually cover?
The exception protects transactions your business was already making before anyone filed, at the scale and frequency it was making them. It does not protect a transaction unusual in kind, size, or timing, and profitability is not a defense.
Family Code section 1100(d) sharpens this for owners. A spouse operating or managing a business that is all or substantially all community personal property has primary management and control and may act alone in all transactions, but must give prior written notice to the other spouse of any sale, lease, exchange, encumbrance, or other disposition of all or substantially all of the personal property used in the business. Failing to give that notice does not invalidate the transaction, and the remedies are only those in section 1101, so the deal closes and the liability attaches anyway.
Our guide on dividing a closely held business in a California divorce covers what comes next, because the notice duty outlasts the ATRO.
Which high-net-worth transactions create real ATRO exposure?
This is how we advise clients whose balance sheets are more than a house and a retirement account.
| What you want to do | ATRO status | What makes it safe |
|---|---|---|
| Pay the mortgage, taxes, premiums, payroll, tuition, household bills | Permitted | Necessities of life and usual course; keep every statement |
| Pay an attorney retainer from a community brokerage account | Permitted | Section 2040(a)(2)(B); account to the community for funds used |
| Sell founder stock in a secondary or tender offer | Outside the usual course; restrained | Written consent, a stipulation, or an ex parte order under Family Code 2045 |
| Let an RSU tranche vest and sell to cover withholding | Vesting is automatic; the sell-to-cover is a disposition | A standing stipulation covering every future vest |
| Fund a capital call on a commitment signed during the marriage | A contractual obligation, but an encumbrance of community property | Written consent reserving reimbursement rights, or an ex parte order |
| Refinance a property or draw on a secured line of credit | Encumbrance; restrained | Written consent or a court order; the lender wants both signatures anyway |
| Exercise options before they expire | Restrained; an expiry does not suspend the order | An ex parte order well before the expiry date |
| Change a 401(k), IRA, or life insurance beneficiary | Restrained by 2040(a)(3) and (a)(4) | Nothing makes this safe without written consent or a court order |
| Close a buy-sell transfer your own filing triggered | The trigger is automatic; the transfer is not | Disclose it in writing and ask the court to confirm before closing |
| Create an unfunded revocable trust | Permitted by 2040(b)(4) | Keep it unfunded, because funding it is a transfer |
| Sever a joint tenancy | Permitted by 2040(b)(3) | Notice filed and served before the change takes effect, not after |
Family Code section 2102(a)(2) adds a separate duty: accurate and complete written disclosure of any investment, business, or other income-producing opportunity that presents itself after separation but results from activity during the marriage, in time for the other party to decide whether to participate. A secondary or a co-investment right is exactly that, and section 2102 reaches it where the ATRO may not.
A representative scenario, with numbers
This illustrates the mechanics. It is not a real client matter and not a result.
A founder is served at the Santa Monica Courthouse in March. The balance sheet holds a $4.2 million managed portfolio, 12,000 unvested RSUs, a $2.1 million venture fund commitment with roughly $600,000 uncalled, and a home with $1.8 million of equity. In April, 3,000 RSUs vest at a gross value of $860,000 and the plan administrator sells 1,110 shares to cover withholding. In May, the fund issues a $200,000 capital call payable in ten days.
Handled badly, both events are transfers or encumbrances of community property without consent, and the capital call is also an extraordinary expenditure that required five business days of advance notice. Handled well, they are one document: a stipulation and order, filed in the first month, authorizing each scheduled vest, each sell-to-cover, and each capital call up to the committed amount, with both parties reserving every characterization and reimbursement argument. Our analysis of stock options and RSUs under the Hug and Nelson formulas explains what is actually being divided.
What does it cost to violate an ATRO in California?
More than most people expect, because the penalties stack.
| Consequence | Authority | Measure or standard |
|---|---|---|
| Removing a child from the state without consent | Family Code 233(c) | A willful and knowing violation is punishable as provided in Penal Code 278.5 |
| Violating any other order in the Summons | Family Code 233(c) | A willful and knowing violation is punishable as provided in Penal Code 273.6 |
| Accounting, title reformation, unwinding | Family Code 1101(b) and (c) | The court may order an accounting and reform how title is held |
| Fifty percent of the asset plus fees | Family Code 1101(g) | Valued at its highest value at the date of breach, of sale, or of the award |
| One hundred percent of the asset | Family Code 1101(h) | Available when the breach falls within the ambit of Section 3294 of the Civil Code |
| Fee sanctions for frustrating settlement | Family Code 271 | Payable from the sanctioned party’s property, income, or share of community property |
The hundred percent remedy is not tied to bad faith generally: section 1101(h) makes it available where the breach falls within the ambit of Civil Code section 3294. Under section 1101(d)(1), an action generally must be commenced within three years of the date the claiming spouse had actual knowledge.
Family Code section 271 is separate and often worse in practice, because it asks only whether conduct frustrated settlement and expressly does not require the requesting party to show financial need. How LA County judges apply it is covered in our post on Family Code 271 sanctions.
Which California statutes govern all of this?
Section 2040 creates the four orders and section 233 sets when they attach. Family Code section 721 imposes a duty of the highest good faith and fair dealing between spouses and treats them as fiduciaries with the rights and duties of nonmarital business partners. Section 1100(e) extends that duty to the management of community assets and liabilities until they are divided, including full disclosure of all material facts about the existence, characterization, and valuation of every asset. Family Code section 1101 supplies the remedies.
Family Code section 2045 lets the court issue ex parte orders during the case, which is how you get permission in days rather than months. Family Code section 2041 protects a purchaser, encumbrancer, or lessee for value who had no actual knowledge of the restraining order, so the remedy for a completed sale usually runs against the selling spouse rather than the buyer.
The disclosure duties in sections 2100 through 2107 run alongside the ATROs from separation until each asset is distributed, so a violation of one is usually a violation of the other. That is why these cases become breach of fiduciary duty claims between spouses rather than simple contempt proceedings. The California Courts self-help guide to divorce covers the surrounding process.
What should you do before you move any money?
In our experience representing high-net-worth clients in Los Angeles County, the clients who come out of this cleanly do four things in the first two weeks.
Read the Summons itself and note the date of service, because every accounting obligation runs from it. Then calendar every transaction the next twelve months will produce whether you act or not: vest dates, option expiries, capital call windows, buy-sell triggers, premium due dates, and loan maturities. Those are the events that violate an ATRO by default.
Sort them into three piles. Permitted items proceed with documentation. Restrained items stop until you have written consent or an order. Ambiguous items get resolved in advance rather than explained afterward.
Then paper the middle pile. One stipulation covering routine recurring events costs less than a motion and far less than a section 1101 claim. Where your spouse will not sign, section 2045 provides the ex parte route, and a request made before a deadline reads very differently to a judge. Give the five business days of notice on anything extraordinary, in writing, and keep the proof.
Last, resist the instinct to tidy up the estate plan. Retitling, funding a trust, or changing a beneficiary mid-case is the most common serious ATRO violation we see.
Frequently asked questions about California ATROs
What is an ATRO in a divorce?
An ATRO is an automatic temporary restraining order that Family Code section 2040 prints on the divorce Summons and that binds both spouses without any hearing. There are four, covering children leaving the state, property transfers, insurance, and nonprobate transfers.
Can I sell my house during a California divorce?
Not without the written consent of the other party or a court order, because a sale is a transfer of property and sits squarely inside section 2040(a)(2). A sale already in escrow when the case was filed is not automatically exempt. The usual path is a stipulation and order authorizing the sale and holding the net proceeds in a blocked account pending division.
Do the ATROs stop me from running my business?
No. The usual course of business exception in section 2040(a)(2) lets the company keep operating as it was already operating. It does not cover a transaction unusual in kind, size, or timing, and section 1100(d) separately requires prior written notice before disposing of all or substantially all of the personal property used in the business.
How long do California ATROs last?
Under Family Code section 233(a), the orders stay in effect until final judgment is entered, the petition is dismissed, or the court orders otherwise. The fiduciary duties in sections 721, 1100, and 2102 continue longer, until each asset is actually distributed.
What assets cannot be moved during a California divorce?
Section 2040(a)(2) reaches any property, real or personal, whether community, quasi-community, or separate. Retirement accounts, brokerage positions, crypto, equity compensation, business interests, and insurance are all covered. Permitted spending is the usual course of business, the necessities of life, and reasonable attorney fees under section 2040(a)(2)(B).
What happens if my spouse violates an ATRO?
You can seek an order unwinding or accounting for the transaction, fifty percent of the asset plus fees under section 1101(g), or one hundred percent under section 1101(h) where the breach falls within the ambit of Civil Code section 3294. Section 271 fee sanctions are available on top. Where assets have gone missing entirely, the analysis shifts toward tracing hidden assets in a California divorce.
Speak with a Los Angeles high-net-worth divorce attorney
Separate what you may do, what you may not, and what needs a signature or an order, before a vest date or a capital call makes the decision for you.
Borna Houman Law advises founders, executives, investors, and business owners through this window, discreetly, from our Santa Monica office, and appears regularly in the family law departments at Stanley Mosk, Santa Monica, and Van Nuys. Learn more about our high-net-worth divorce practice in Los Angeles, or about working with a Santa Monica divorce attorney.
Call (888) 42-BORNA for a confidential consultation.
Borna Houman, California Bar No. 352339, Borna Houman Law, 2530 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica.
Disclaimer: This article is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Borna Houman Law. Statutes change and any rule depends on the facts of your matter, so consult a licensed California attorney before acting.