- Official title
- Spousal, Domestic Partner, or Family Support Order Attachment
- Issued by
- Judicial Council of California
- Revision
- Rev. July 1, 2025
- Use
- Optional
- Official PDF
- FL-343 on www.courts.ca.gov
The court has decided support, or the parties have reached an agreement. The next question is whether the written order captures the result. FL-343 carries the terms of a spousal, domestic-partner, or family support order; it is an attachment, not a document that starts a support request.
The current FL-343 became effective July 1, 2025. It is a three-page optional Judicial Council form. Its footer reads “Form Approved for Optional Use, FL-343 [Rev. July 1, 2025]” and cites Family Code sections 150, 299, 3651, 3653, 3654, 4320, 4330, and 4337. California Courts also provides a Spanish version, fl343s.pdf.
This page explains the statewide form and the terms printed on it. It is general information, not legal advice about the support amount, findings, duration, or whether an order may be modified.
Does FL-343 ask the court to order support?
No. FL-343 records support terms that belong to another court paper. The form identifies itself as an attachment to Findings and Order After Hearing (FL-340), a judgment, a written stipulation, a Restraining Order After Hearing (DV-130), or another specified document. A party seeking orders during a case uses a different procedural document, commonly a Request for Order (FL-300).
That distinction matters when reviewing a case file: FL-343 is where the support result may be spelled out, while the attached order or judgment supplies its procedural home. The broader path from filing through judgment is covered in how divorce works in California.
Why is Family Code section 4320 central to FL-343?
FL-343 first separates temporary support from a judgment for permanent support. The temporary support block can record monthly income, deductions, hardship deductions, and net disposable income, or refer to an attached computer calculation.
For permanent spousal or domestic-partner support, Family Code section 4320 is the form’s main substantive checkpoint. The attachment records whether the parties agreed to some or all of the section 4320 factors, or whether the court considered their declarations and supporting documents about each factor. It then provides space for the parties’ agreement or the court’s findings, either in an attachment, on another support-factors form, or directly on FL-343.
The permanent-support portion also records the length of the marriage or domestic partnership, whether both parties are self-supporting, and the marital or domestic-partnership standard of living. Those entries sit alongside the section 4320 findings rather than replacing them.
What payment terms does the attachment record?
The order identifies the payer and recipient, whether support is temporary or permanent, the type of support, the monthly amount, and the date payments begin. It can state an end date, the day of the month payment is due, another schedule, and whether payment is made by check, money order, cash, or another specified method.
A separate jurisdiction section can reserve support for later determination, terminate the court’s jurisdiction over support, or name a date when jurisdiction ends. The earnings-assignment section records whether an assignment will issue or whether service is stayed while the payor stays within a specified number of days of timely payment. Until deductions begin, the form says the payor remains responsible for paying the recipient directly and for amounts the assignment does not pay.
When does FL-343 say support ends or may change?
Item 6 states the Family Code section 4337 rule printed on the form: unless the parties otherwise agree in writing, the obligation ends when either party dies or the support recipient remarries or registers a new domestic partnership. The next block allows a different written agreement and space for its terms.
The form also gives notice that California’s goal is for each party to make reasonable good-faith efforts to become self-supporting under section 4320. Failure to make those efforts may be a factor in modifying or terminating support. Although the footer cites sections 3651, 3653, and 3654, FL-343 does not print a separate explanation of their retroactivity rules.
For family support, the attachment adds registry and child-support-notice requirements. It also requires written notice of a change of employment within 10 days and warns that overdue support bears interest at the current legal rate of 10 percent.
Before an order or judgment is entered, a limited-scope review can focus on whether the attachment matches the announced amount, payment schedule, section 4320 findings, and ending terms. AttorneyIndex is a directory; readers may browse family law attorneys in Los Angeles without the directory selecting or recommending one.
Common questions
- What is California form FL-343?
- FL-343 is an attachment that records the court’s support order or judgment, or the parties’ agreement, about spousal, domestic-partner, or family support. It does not begin a support request.
- What does FL-343 say about Family Code section 4320?
- For permanent support, the form records whether the parties agreed on section 4320 factors or the court considered evidence about them. It then provides space for the parties’ agreement or the court’s findings.
- When does support end under FL-343?
- Item 6 says that, unless the parties otherwise agree in writing, support ends when either party dies or the support recipient remarries or registers a new domestic partnership.
- Does an earnings assignment replace direct payment immediately?
- No. The note on FL-343 says the payor remains responsible for direct payment until support is deducted from earnings, and for any support the assignment does not pay.
- Is FL-343 available in Spanish?
- Yes. California Courts lists a Spanish version as fl343s.pdf. The current form became effective July 1, 2025.
Sources
Checked on September 22, 2026. Where this page and a court’s own published material disagree, the court is authoritative.
- Judicial Council of California — Form FL-343 (opens in a new tab)
- California Courts Self-Help — Form FL-343 information (opens in a new tab)
- Family Code section 4320 — circumstances considered in ordering spousal support (opens in a new tab)
- Family Code section 4337 — termination of support (opens in a new tab)
