Mar. 6, 2026
Facts, not findings: What practitioners get wrong about stipulations under Family Code § 3044
Stipulations can streamline custody cases, even in domestic violence matters. But as the Court of Appeal reminds us, in Section 3044 cases parties may stipulate to facts--never to findings.
Jackson Lucky
Arbitrator, mediator and private judge
JAMS
Employment, medical malpractice, personal injury, probate, commercial, family law
Family law practitioners use stipulations to streamline
custody proceedings. When both parents agree--even in domestic violence
cases--the instinct is to write it up, hand it to the court and move on. That
instinct is understandable. Dockets are overburdened. Litigation is expensive.
A stipulation on custody seems to serve everyone.
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