# Does a restraining order show your address? What the other person sees, and the form field that protects you > What the restrained person receives when served with California DVRO papers, the DV-100 instruction that lets you list a mailing address instead of your home, the confidential CLETS-001 form, and DV-160 for a child’s information. **Direct answer.** The person you file against is served with copies of your court papers, so they see what you wrote on them. But the current DV-100 (Rev. January 1, 2025) does not demand your home address: it asks for an address “where you can receive court papers” and states that for privacy you may use another address, like a post office box, a Safe at Home address, or another person’s address with their permission. And one form in the packet stays private: California Courts states the restrained person will not get a copy of CLETS-001. ## Start with the honest part: they see what you write A restraining-order request is not a secret filing. Form DV-109 requires that the person to be restrained is personally served with a file-stamped copy of the notice of hearing along with copies of the other forms in the packet — that is how they learn what orders you asked for and what you told the court. Anything written on DV-100 itself will be in their hands. That is why the address instruction on DV-100 matters, and why the packet includes exactly one form the other person never receives. There are three official privacy mechanisms, and this page walks each one: the DV-100 address field, the confidential CLETS-001, and the DV-160 request for a child’s information. ## The DV-100 address field is not asking where you live The current DV-100 (Rev. January 1, 2025) labels the field “Address where you can receive court papers” and says, in the instruction printed on the form: “This address will be used by the court and by the person in 2 to send you official court dates, orders, and papers. For privacy, you may use another address like a post office box, a Safe at Home address, or another person’s address, if you have their permission and can get your mail regularly. If you have a lawyer, give their information.” Two practical conditions sit inside that instruction. If you borrow someone’s address, you need their permission. And whatever mailing address you choose has to be one where you actually get your mail regularly — the court and the other side will use it to send official court dates, orders, and papers, so an address you never check can become a hearing you never hear about. The form names “a Safe at Home address” as one of the privacy options. Safe at Home is the state’s confidential address program, which supplies a substitute mailing address; enrollment happens outside the court process, through the California Secretary of State’s office, so it is something to have in place before you fill in the field — the court form only accepts the address, it does not issue one. ## CLETS-001: the one form that stays confidential California Courts’ instructions for the Confidential CLETS Information form say it plainly: “The information on this form will help police enforce your restraining order. The court will not use the information on this form and the person you want a restraining order against will not get a copy.” That makes CLETS-001 the right home for identifying details — and the wrong form to worry about. It is the one place in the packet where descriptions, birth dates, and addresses are collected for law enforcement rather than for the other side. Keep it separate from the copies prepared for service, and see the CLETS-001 guide for what each field wants. ## A child’s information: DV-160 Request to Keep Minor’s Information Confidential (DV-160) “asks a judge to make some information about a child (age 0-18) confidential in the case,” per the form’s official page. Rule 5.382 of the California Rules of Court governs these requests, which are made under Family Code section 6301.5. The protection has teeth once granted. Form DV-109 states that if the request was granted, the information described on the order (form DV-165) must be kept confidential, and that disclosure or misuse of the information is punishable as a sanction, with a fine of up to $1,000 or other court penalties. ## Do you need an address to file at all? What DV-100 requires is an address where you can receive court papers — the instruction’s own words — and the form itself lists a post office box, a Safe at Home address, or another person’s address with permission. None of those is your home. The other person’s address is a separate question, because serving them is a separate step. California Courts states the sheriff generally needs an address or location where the other person may be found. If you do not know where the restrained person lives or works, that is a service problem to solve rather than a bar to filing — the service guide covers who can serve and how, and DV-115 exists for when service does not happen before the hearing date. JusticeOS is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Whether to request confidentiality, and what a judge grants, is between you, the court, and — if you want one — a lawyer or advocate. What this page describes is what the official forms and instructions themselves say about privacy. ## Questions people ask next ### Does the person I file against see my address? They see what is written on the forms they are served with. The current DV-100 instructs that the address you list is one where you can receive court papers, and that for privacy you may use another address — a post office box, a Safe at Home address, or another person’s address with permission. If your home address appears nowhere on the served forms, service does not hand it over. ### Is CLETS-001 served on the other person? No. California Courts states the court will not use the information on the form and the person you want a restraining order against will not get a copy. It goes to law enforcement so officers can identify and protect the right people when enforcing the order. ### Can the court keep my child’s information confidential? DV-160 asks a judge to make some information about a child age 0 to 18 confidential in the case, under Rule 5.382 and Family Code section 6301.5. The judge decides the request. If granted, DV-109 states the covered information must be kept confidential, with disclosure or misuse punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or other court penalties. ### Do I need the other person’s address to file? Filing and serving are different steps. California Courts states the sheriff generally needs an address or location where the other person may be found in order to serve them, and DV-109’s deadline requires service before the hearing — so an unknown address is a service problem to work, not a reason the court will not take your forms. The service and DV-115 guides cover the mechanics. ## Official sources - [California Courts — DV-100 Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order (form PDF)](https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-11/dv100.pdf) - [California Courts — Fill out domestic violence restraining order forms](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/DV-restraining-order/fill-forms) - [California Courts — DV-160 Request to Keep Minor’s Information Confidential](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/DV-160) - [California Courts — Rule 5.382, Request to make minor’s information confidential](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/five/rule5_382) - [California Courts — DV-109 Notice of Court Hearing (form PDF)](https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-11/dv109.pdf) ## Related guides - [DV-100: what the California request form asks for](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dv-100) - [CLETS-001: the confidential form the other person never sees](https://justiceos.ai/guides/clets-001) - [Serving California DVRO papers: who can serve and what to file](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dvro-service) 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/dvro-address-privacy