# DV-115: a new hearing date when the papers were not served in time — without losing the TRO > How the Request to Continue Court Hearing (DV-115) works in a California DVRO case: who can ask, the reasons the form itself lists, what happens to the temporary restraining order, and the re-serve step that follows. **Direct answer.** DV-115 is the Request to Continue Court Hearing, a mandatory Judicial Council form under Family Code section 245. Its info sheet, DV-115-INFO, states that the protected party can ask for a new date when they were unable to have form DV-109 and the other papers served in time — and that if the court date is rescheduled and a temporary restraining order (form DV-110) was granted, that order will be extended until the end of the new court date, unless the court decides to modify or terminate it. The new date comes on the court’s order, form DV-116, and the other party must then be served again. ## The five-day wall this form exists for Form DV-109 sets the deadline this form answers: at least five days before the hearing — unless the court set a different deadline — someone 18 or older who is not you and not a protected person must personally serve the restrained person with a file-stamped copy of the notice and the rest of the packet. When the court date is close and service has not happened, the case does not have to die there. The form itself says why in plain words. Among the reasons you can check on DV-115: “I need more time to have the restrained party personally served.” Asking for a new hearing date because service failed is not a workaround — it is a printed checkbox on a mandatory form. ## Who can ask for a new date DV-115-INFO, “How to Ask for a New Hearing Date,” lists who can ask: the protected party who is “unable to have form DV-109, Notice of Court Hearing, and other papers served in time before your court date,” and the restrained party when “it is your first time asking the court to reschedule your court date.” Beyond those two, the sheet states the court may grant a request to reschedule “on a showing of ‘good cause’” — a good reason for needing a new court date. Whether a particular reason is good cause is the judge’s call, not something a form or a website can promise. ## What happens to the temporary restraining order This is the question people are actually asking when they search for this form, and the official answer is printed in two places. DV-115-INFO: “If your court date is rescheduled and a Temporary Restraining Order (form DV-110) was granted, that order will be extended until the end of your new court date, unless the court decides to modify or terminate it.” The sheet defines the word, too: “‘Extend’ means to keep any temporary orders in effect until the new court date.” The DV-115 form itself carries the same statement: if your court date is rescheduled, the TRO (form DV-110) will remain in effect until the end of the new court date. A continuance done through this form is not a gap in protection. ## DV-116 is the answer, and it restarts the service step The court’s decision arrives on form DV-116, Order on Request to Continue Hearing. California Courts describes it simply: it tells you that your court date has been rescheduled and whether a temporary restraining order is in effect. A new date means serving the other party again. DV-115-INFO states the other party must be served a copy of the court papers, and that you should ask the person who serves them to complete a proof of service — form DV-200, Proof of Personal Service, if service was in person, or form DV-250, Proof of Service by Mail, where mail service applies — and to make two copies of the completed forms. A continuance granted but never served lands you back at the same wall on the new date. ## Where the current forms live, and in what languages DV-115 has been in effect since January 1, 2020; the current DV-115-INFO took effect January 1, 2026. Both are published on their official California Courts pages with Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, and Vietnamese translations of the form itself — the document you file, not a summary of it. JusticeOS is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Whether a continuance is granted, and on what terms, is the judge’s decision; this page describes what the Judicial Council’s own forms and instruction sheets say about asking. ## Questions people ask next ### Does my temporary restraining order expire if the hearing is postponed? DV-115-INFO states that if your court date is rescheduled and a TRO (form DV-110) was granted, the order will be extended until the end of your new court date, unless the court decides to modify or terminate it. The DV-115 form carries the same statement on its face. ### What if the other person was not served before the hearing? That is the first reason the official info sheet lists for asking for a new hearing date: the protected party was unable to have DV-109 and the other papers served in time. The matching checkbox on DV-115 reads “I need more time to have the restrained party personally served.” ### Can the restrained person ask to continue the hearing? DV-115-INFO states the restrained party can ask when it is their first time asking the court to reschedule, and that beyond that the court may reschedule on a showing of good cause. The decision is the judge’s. ### Do I have to serve the other person again after the new date is set? Yes. DV-115-INFO states the other party must be served a copy of the court papers, with a proof of service completed by the server — DV-200 for personal service, DV-250 for service by mail — and two copies made of the completed forms. ## Official sources - [California Courts — DV-115 Request to Continue Court Hearing (form PDF)](https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-11/dv115.pdf) - [California Courts — DV-115-INFO How to Ask for a New Hearing Date (info sheet PDF)](https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-11/dv115info.pdf) - [California Courts — DV-115 form page and translations](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/DV-115) - [California Courts — DV-116 Order on Request to Continue Hearing](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/DV-116) ## Related guides - [Serving California DVRO papers: who can serve and what to file](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dvro-service) - [DV-109: the hearing notice, and the deadline for serving it](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dv-109) - [DV-110: the temporary order a judge fills in, not you](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dv-110) - [What happens at a California restraining order hearing: who speaks, what to bring, and what the judge decides](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dvro-hearing) Published 2026-09-03. Reviewed against official California Courts guidance on 2026-09-03. --- JusticeOS is not a law firm, is not your lawyer, and does not give legal advice. It explains California court forms and procedure in plain language and cites official sources. In immediate danger call 911. National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233. Canonical HTML: https://justiceos.ai/guides/dv-115