Adoption
AB 372 (Ma) Vital records: adoptees and birth certificates. This bill would have allowed an adult adoptee to access to his or her original birth certificate in cases of medical necessity regarding a serious health condition. In addition, the bill would have provided adoptees age 25 and above with access to their original, unredacted birth certificates unless a birth parent expressly objected. Status: Dead, Asm. Approps.
AB 941 (Judiciary) Adoption. This bill makes several technical and clarifying changes to adoption law. Among other things, this bill clarifies that an optional postadoption contact agreement between adoptive parents and birth relatives may, if the parties agree, include more than just the sharing of information about the child, even if the child does not have an existing relationship with the birth relatives. By contrast, this bill provides that the terms of any postadoption contact agreement with birth relatives other than the child’s birth parent or parents shall be limited to the sharing of information about the child, unless the child has a preexisting relationship with the birth relative. Status: Chapter 492, 2009.
AB 1325 (Cook and Beall) Tribal customary adoption. This bill establishes procedures for the option of tribal customary adoption to allow Indian children in the child welfare system, until January 1, 2014, to be provided with the permanence offered by adoption without first terminating the birth parents' rights. This bill also requires social workers to include information in their reports to the court, as specified, after consultation with an Indian child's tribe, on whether customary adoption is an appropriate permanent plan for a child if reunification fails. This bill ensures prospective and adoptive parents in a tribal customary adoption have the same rights and privileges afforded to any other prospective and adoptive parents provided pursuant to state law, and establishes regulations consistent with ensuring Title IV-E federal funding for adoption assistance. Status: Chapter 287, 2009.
AB 2020 (Fletcher) Adoption. This bill makes several changes to adoption processes and adoptive placement considerations, including (1) providing that the same process be used to determine the existence of a parent-child relationship, regardless of whether the child has a presumed parent; (2) allowing the court to dispense with a hearing to terminate parental rights and allowing the court instead to issue an ex parte order terminating those rights in three specified situations; (3) providing that, if the birth parent refuses to consider placement of a child being considered for adoption with a relative or sibling, the foster parent shall be considered, along with all other prospective adoptive parents; and (4) providing that a proceeding to have a child who is the subject of a guardianship declared free from the custody or control of one or both parents may be brought within the existing guardianship proceeding, in an adoption action, or in a separate action filed for that purpose. Status: Chapter 588, 2010.
AB 2417 (Cook) Tribal customary adoption. This bill clarifies that, for a tribal customary adoption, a state and federal background check conducted through the Department of Justice (DOJ) must be conducted for the prospective adoptive parents and any person residing in the home over 18 prior to final approval of the tribal customary adoptive placement. If the tribe conducts its own home study, the public adoption agency that is otherwise authorized to obtain criminal background information must perform the state and federal criminal background check through the DOJ. Status: Chapter 467, 2010.
Children
AB 82 (Evans) Dependent children: psychotropic medications. This bill would have created a pilot project, to operate until January 1, 2013 in three counties, establishing additional requirements in the court approval process for requests to administer psychotropic medications to children in foster care. This bill would have required the Judicial Council to adopt specified rules and forms to implement the project by July 1, 2010, and would have required the Department of Social Services to report to the Legislature before July 1, 2013, regarding the findings of the pilot project, as specified. Status: Vetoed.
AB 131 (Evans) Juvenile proceedings: costs. This bill requires the Judicial Council to establish a cost-recovery program to collect reimbursements for counsel appointed by the court to represent parents or their children in dependency cases. This bill provides that persons who are liable for the support of the minor shall also be liable for the cost to the county or the court for the cost of legal services rendered to the minor, unless requiring repayment would harm the parent's ability to support the child and pose a barrier to reunification, or other specified circumstances exist. This bill also requires the Judicial Council to develop a statewide standard for determining ability to pay reimbursements for counsel, considering, at a minimum, the family’s income, their necessary obligations, and other factors. Status: Chapter 413, 2009.
AB 270 (De La Torre) Dependent children. This bill would have specified additional responsibilities for the county welfare department (CWD) before a foster youth reaches the age of 18 and before a non-minor dependent exits foster care, including providing specified information, services, and documents to the youth. In addition, this bill would have required the juvenile court to continue its jurisdiction over the youth if it found that the CWD had not provided the youth with the required information and services. Status: Dead, Asm. Approps.
AB 743 (Portantino) Foster care: sibling placement. This bill requires siblings to be placed together when they have been removed from their parents or guardians unless that placement is contrary to their safety or well-being pursuant to the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. This bill also requires notification to be provided to a child's attorney when there is a change in placement resulting in the separation of siblings. Status: Chapter 560, 2010.
AB 921 (Jones) Juvenile court jurisdiction: services and benefits. This bill would have required a probation officer or parole officer, whenever the juvenile court terminates jurisdiction over a ward, or upon release of a ward from a non-foster care facility, to provide to the person: (1) a written notice stating that the person is a former foster child and may be eligible for the services and benefits that are available to a former foster child through public and private programs; and (2) information on the availability of, and assistance to enable the person to apply for and gain acceptance into, federal and state programs that provide independent living services and benefits to former foster children. Status: Vetoed.
AB 938 (Judiciary) Relative caregivers and foster parents. This bill implements a requirement of the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act that seeks to help ensure that children who have been removed from their parents can still be cared for by loving relatives. Specifically, this bill requires that child welfare agencies in California provide notice to all adult grandparents and other relatives within 30 days of a child's removal from the parents and placement in foster care. This bill also requires the social worker, beginning January 1, 2011, to provide notified relatives of dependent children with a relative information form, developed by the Judicial Council, that will better inform the social worker and the court about the child’s needs. Status: Chapter 261, 2009.
AB 973 (Strickland) Minors: temporary custody. This bill, until January 1, 2013, revises the current requirements that must be met before prospective adoptive parents may take a drug-exposed newborn into temporary custody from the hospital. Status: Chapter 440, 2010.
AB 1048 (Torrico) Child protection: safe surrender. This bill makes the following changes to the Safely Surrendered Baby law: (1) permits a fire agency to designate a safe surrender site, upon approval of the local governing body, (2) immunizes a safe surrender site and its personnel from criminal, civil, or administrative liability for a surrendered child prior to taking actual physical custody of the child, or prior to the time the surrender site or its personnel knows, or should know, that the child has been surrendered, and (3) requires the Department of Social Services to report specified information to the Legislature. Status: Chapter 567, 2010.
AB 1229 (Evans) Juvenile court costs. This bill authorizes the court to designate a court financial evaluation officer to make evaluations of liability for reimbursement for the costs of legal services rendered to a minor in dependency proceedings. This bill also requires both the court financial evaluation officer and the county financial evaluation officer to follow the specific procedures set fourth for county financial evaluation officers. Status: Chapter 569, 2010.
AB 1655 (Evans) Dependent children: psychotropic medications. This bill would have established a pilot in three counties to add requirements to the court approval process for the administration of psychotropic medications to foster children and would have increased oversight following approval. Status: Dead, Asm. Approps.
AB 2418 (Cook) Indian children. This bill provides that for purposes of an Indian child custody proceedings, an "Indian child" also includes an unmarried person age 18 or over, but under 21 years of age, who is either a member of an Indian tribe or eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe, and who is under the jurisdiction of the dependency court, unless that person or his or her attorney elects not to be considered as an Indian child for purposes of the Indian child custody proceeding. This bill requires that all Indian child custody proceedings involving persons 18 and over must be conducted in a manner that respects the child's status as a legal adult. Status: Chapter 468, 2010.
SB 179 (Runner) Juvenile law: referee. This bill permits a party who is present at the termination of rights hearing in a case heard by a referee in juvenile court to be served in court with the findings, the order, and an explanation of the right to appeal the termination order. In addition, this bill requires service of the findings and order to be made by mail to a minor, parent, or guardian who was not present in court when those findings and order were made, except as specified, and would require the mailing to include the written explanation of the right to seek review of the order. Status: Chapter 66, 2010.
SB 962 (Liu) Prisoners: participation in dependency proceedings. This bill allows for the use of video or teleconference technology for prisoners to participate in judicial proceedings involving their parental rights or a dependency petition for their child. Status: Chapter 482, 2010.
Child Custody and Visitation
AB 375 (Nielsen) Child custody: child sexual abuse. This bill would have prohibited a court from granting an ex parte request to modify a child custody order if: (1) the court makes a finding of domestic violence or sexual abuse against the child; (2) the court determines that the act of domestic violence or sexual abuse is of recent origin (within the last five years) or part of a demonstrated and continuing or escalating pattern of acts of domestic violence or sexual abuse against the child; and (3) the modification request is made by a person who is alleged to have perpetrated a recent act of domestic violence or sexual abuse. Under this bill, if all of these circumstances exist, the court would have been required to conduct a hearing in open court before modifying the child custody order. Status: Dead, Sen. Jud.
AB 612 (Beall) Custody and visitation: nonscientific theories. This bill would have provided that the rules of evidence applicable in criminal proceedings shall apply whenever the court considers an allegation of physical or sexual abuse against a child in a custody proceeding, and would have required that allegations of physical or sexual abuse against a child be investigated using specified methods of data collection and analysis. In addition, this bill would have provided that unproven, nonscientific theories (including, but not limited to, parental alienation theories) are not consistent with generally accepted clinical, forensic, scientific, diagnostic, or medical standards. This bill would have prohibited a court from relying upon an unproven, unscientific theory and from accepting into evidence any finding provided by an expert witness or court-appointed professional who has relied on an unproven, nonscientific theory that is a basis for that finding. Status: Dead, Sen. Jud.
AB 1050 (Ma) Child custody: preferences of child. This bill, among other things, requires the family court to permit a child who is 14 years of age or older to address the court regarding custody or visitation unless the court determines that doing so is not in the child's best interest, in which case the court will be required to make that finding on the record. Status: Chapter 187, 2010.
AB 1261 (Strickland) Child custody and visitation: registered sex offenders. This bill would have removed the court’s discretion to, in certain situations, grant physical or legal custody of a child to a registered sex offender, upon its determination that no significant risk would be posed to the child. Therefore, this bill would have absolutely prohibited the court from granting a person physical or legal custody of, or unsupervised visitation with, a child if the person is a registered sex offender or has been convicted of specified criminal offenses, and prohibited the court from placing the child in a home in which that person resides. Status: Dead, Asm. Jud.
AB 2416 (Cook) Child custody: military personnel. This bill provides for modification of child custody and visitation orders for active duty military personnel to protect the custodial rights of the deployed parent while ensuring the best interests of the child are always paramount. Status: Chapter 466, 2010.
AB 2475 (Beall) Family law: complaints. This bill would have established a statewide complaint process regarding family law experts employed or appointed by the courts. Status: Dead, Asm. Approps.
SB 1188 (Wright) Child custody: disabled parent. This bill states the intent of the Legislature to codify the decision of the California Supreme Court in In re Marriage of Carney (1979) 24 Cal.3d 725, with respect to custody and visitation determinations by the court involving a disabled parent. Status: Chapter 179, 2010.
Paternity and Child, Family and Spousal Support
SB 578 (Wright) Child support: interest. This bill would have allowed certain non-custodial parents who owe child support to have the interest waived on the past-due child support if they pay their current month's support payment in full. Specifically, this bill would have suspended interest accrual for child support arrearages that have been assigned to the state, because the family received welfare cash assistance, during those months in which the obligor has paid the current month's court-ordered payment of current support and arrearages. This bill also would have required interest accrual to resume on the first day of the month following the month in which a court-ordered payment of support and arrearages is not received. Status: Dead, Asm. Approps.
SB 580 (Wright) Child support: health insurance. This bill defines the terms "reasonable cost" and "accessible" for purposes of health care coverage under a medical support obligation. Status: Chapter 103, 2010.
SB 696 (Wright) Child support. This bill would have limited the situations in which a compromise of child support arrears owed to the state would have been permitted. Specifically, this bill would have provided that acceptance of an offer in compromise is deemed to be in the best interest of the state with regard to arrears when the obligor failed to modify the support order to reflect reduction in income when (1) an obligor was a reservist or member of the National Guard; (2) when the obligor was incarcerated for more than 90 days and does not have other Sources of income; (3) when the obligor's sole income was based on specified forms of public assistance, or (4) when the obligor was receiving inpatient services in a medical facility for more than 90 days and does not have other sources of income. Status: Dead, Asm. Jud.
SB 1355 (Wright) Suspension of child support order: incarceration or institutionalization. This bill provides, until July 1, 2015, that the obligation of a person to pay child support pursuant to an order that is being enforced by a local child support agency is suspended for the period of time in which the obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized for any period exceeding 90 days, except as specified. This bill further provides that, upon the release of the obligor, the obligation to pay child support immediately resumes in the amount specified in the child support order issued prior to the suspension of that obligation, as specified. Status: Chapter 495, 2010.
SB 1482 (Wright) Spousal support modification. This bill extends by another three years the sunset date for the provision which provides that in a proceeding in which a spousal support order exists, or in which the court has retained jurisdiction over a spousal support order, if a companion child support order is in effect, the termination of child support shall constitute a change of circumstances that may be the basis for a request for modification of spousal support. Status: Chapter 297, 2010.
Domestic Partnership
AB 2700 (Ma) Domestic partnership and same-sex marriage: termination. This bill permits couples that are both married and registered domestic partners to dissolve both unions in a single court proceeding. This bill further clarifies that, in a dissolution proceeding, courts may dissolve out-of-state, same-sex marriages recognized in California. Status: Chapter 397, 2010.
Domestic Violence
AB 73 (Hayashi) Marriage licenses: vital records: fees: domestic violence. This bill eliminates the January 1, 2010 sunset date for Alameda County and the City of Berkeley to continue to authorize existing fees to fund domestic violence prevention programs, and extends the deadline for a final report to the Legislature. Status: Chapter 215, 2009.
AB 1081 (Torrico) Electronic monitoring: domestic violence. This bill would have required electronic monitoring via Global Positioning System (
AB 1596 (Hayashi) Protective orders. This bill, effective January 1 2012, implements recommendations from the Judicial Council’s Protective Orders Working Group and make various changes to protective order statutes. Status: Chapter 572, 2010.
AB 1738 (Tran) Domestic violence incident reports. This bill expands the current law, which provides domestic violence victims with a free copy of the domestic violence incident report, to include family members and additional representatives, as specified. Status: Chapter 363, 2010.
AB 1770 (Galgiani) Vital records fees: Stanislaus County. This bill authorizes the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, until January 1, 2016, to increase fees for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up to $2 for the purposes of collecting funds for governmental oversight and coordination of a variety of domestic violence and family violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts. Status: Chapter 578, 2010.
AB 1883 (Evans) Vital records fees: domestic violence. This bill would have provided all county boards of supervisors, on a pilot basis until 2016, the ability to raise fees for certified copies of marriage and birth certificates and death records by up to $4 in order to fund governmental oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention and intervention, and services to victims and their families. Status: Dead, Sen. LocalGov.
AB 2348 (Yamada) Vital records fees: Yolo County. This bill would have authorized the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, until January 1, 2016, to increase fees for marriage licenses and certified copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up to $2 for the purposes of collecting funds for governmental oversight and coordination of a variety of domestic violence and family violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts. Status: Dead, Asm. Jud.
SB 635 (Wiggins) Marriage licenses: vital records: fees: domestic violence. This bill authorizes the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, upon making findings and declarations of the need for governmental oversight and coordination of domestic violence agencies, to increase fees for marriage licenses, confidential marriage licenses, and certified copies of marriage certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up to two dollars, until January 1, 2015. This bill requires the County of Sonoma to direct the local registrar, county recorder, and county clerk to deposit those fees into a special fund to be used for governmental oversight and coordination of a variety of domestic violence and family violence prevention and intervention efforts. This bill also extends the sunset date for a similar program in Solano County by one year. Status: Chapter 356, 2009.
SB 1222 (Wolk) Vital records fees: Yolo County. This bill authorizes, until January 1, 2012, Solano County, upon making specified findings and declarations, to increase fees for marriage licenses, certified copies of marriage certificates, fetal death records, and death records, up to a maximum of $2. This bill requires these funds to be used for governmental oversight and coordination of domestic violence and family violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts. Status: Chapter 520, 2010.
SB 1233 (Oropeza) Confidential address program. This bill removes the January 1, 2013 sunset date for the Safe at Home project, a confidential address program that offers victim anonymity, and requires that name change records for program participants be permanently retained. Status: Chapter 326, 2010.
Family Law
AB 459 (Lowenthal) Dissolution: disclosure. This bill creates a process whereby a party to a dissolution or separation can waive disclosure of specified financial declarations. More specifically, this bill provides that if a party to a dissolution or legal separation fails to serve the other party with a preliminary or final disclosure declaration, and the other party has served the respective declaration, that other party may file a motion showing good cause for the court to grant the party’s voluntary waiver of receipt of the disclosure declaration. Status: Chapter 110, 2009.
AB 939 (Judiciary) Family Law Access to Justice Act. This bill makes various changes to family law proceedings, thereby implementing a number of the legislative recommendations issued by the Elkins Family Law Task Force. Among other things, this bill repeals current law providing that, in an action for dissolution of marriage, no case management plan shall be ordered absent stipulation of the parties. This bill deletes references to case management plans, instead using the term "family centered case resolution plans," and revises the content of those plans and requires the Judicial Council to adopt a statewide rule of court to implement these provisions. Status: Chapter 352, 2010.
AB 967 (Ma) Marriage: mayors. This bill would have authorized an elected mayor of a charter city, while that person held the office, to solemnize a marriage ceremony. Status: Vetoed.
AB 1143 (Ma) Marriage: name. This bill creates a simplified procedure to correct clerical errors in a name listed on a marriage license, and clarifies that prospective spouses who want to change or combine their middle and last names may still retain their original middle name. Status: Chapter 512, 2009.
AB 2426 (Bradford) Surrogacy practitioners. This bill regulates non-attorney surrogacy facilitators by requiring them to direct a client to deposit all client funds into either an independent, bonded escrow account, as specified, or a trust account maintained by an attorney. This bill provides that those funds could only be disbursed by the attorney or escrow agent as provided in the agreements between the parties. Status: Chapter 138, 2010.
AB 2674 (Block) Family law: exemplary damages. This bill provides that, when a spouse is convicted of soliciting the murder of another spouse, the injured spouse shall be entitled to an award of 100 percent of the community property interest in the retirement and pension benefits. This bill further prohibits any awards for spousal support or medical, life, or other insurance benefits or payments from the injured spouse to the convicted spouse under the same circumstances. Status: Chapter 65, 2010.
SB 54 (Leno) Out-of-state same-sex marriages. This bill provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a marriage between two persons of the same sex contracted outside this state that would be valid by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the marriage was contracted is valid in this state if the marriage was contracted prior to November 5, 2008. This bill also specifies that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, two persons of the same sex who contracted a marriage on or after November 5, 2008, that would be valid by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the marriage was contracted shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, as specified, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses with the sole exception of the designation of “marriage.” Status: Chapter 625, 2009.
SB 906 (Leno) Marriage. This bill would have distinguished between civil and religious marriage by clarifying that a civil marriage is established pursuant to a State of California marriage license, to which the consent of the parties capable of making that contract is necessary. This bill would have specified that no priest, minister, rabbi, or authorized person of any religious denomination is required to solemnize a marriage that is contrary to the tenets of his or her faith, and that any refusal to solemnize a marriage under this provision will not affect the tax exempt status of any entity. Status: Vetoed.