BILL NUMBER: AB 416	CHAPTERED  07/22/03

	CHAPTER  81
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 22, 2003
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 21, 2003
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JULY 7, 2003
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 3, 2003
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 30, 2003
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2003

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member La Suer

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2003

   An act to amend Section 8802 of the Family Code, relating to
adoption.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 416, La Suer.  Adoption:  legal guardians.
   Existing law authorizes a legal guardian who has been a child's
legal guardian for more than one year to file a petition to adopt the
child.
   This bill would additionally authorize a legal guardian of more
than 6 months to file that petition if the court has found the child
to have been abandoned pursuant to a specified provision.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 8802 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   8802.  (a) (1) Any of the following persons who desire to adopt a
child may, for that purpose, file a petition in the county in which
the petitioner resides or, if the petitioner is not a resident of
this state, in the county in which the placing birth parent or birth
parents resided when the adoption placement agreement was signed, or
the county in which the placing birth parent or birth parents resided
when the petition was filed:
   (A) An adult who is related to the child or the child's half
sibling by blood or affinity, including all relatives whose status is
preceded by the words "step," "great," "great-great," or "grand," or
the spouse of any of these persons, even if the marriage was
terminated by death or dissolution.
   (B) A person named in the will of a deceased parent as an intended
adoptive parent where the child has no other parent.
   (C) A person with whom a child has been placed for adoption.
   (D) (i) A legal guardian who has been the child's legal guardian
for more than one year.
   (ii) If the court has found the child to have been abandoned
pursuant to Section 7822, a legal guardian who has been the child's
legal guardian for more than six months.  The legal guardian may file
a petition pursuant to Section 7822 in the same court and
concurrently with a petition under this section.
   (iii) However, if the parent nominated the guardian for a purpose
other than adoption for a specified time period, or if the
guardianship was established pursuant to Section 360 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code, the guardianship shall have been in existence
for not less than three years.
   (2) If the child has been placed for adoption, a copy of the
adoptive placement agreement shall be attached to the petition.  The
court clerk shall immediately notify the department at Sacramento in
writing of the pendency of the proceeding and of any subsequent
action taken.
   (b) The petition shall contain an allegation that the petitioners
will file promptly with the department or delegated county adoption
agency information required by the department in the investigation of
the proposed adoption.  The omission of the allegation from a
petition does not affect the jurisdiction of the court to proceed or
the validity of an adoption order or other order based on the
petition.
   (c) The caption of the adoption petition shall contain the names
of the petitioners, but not the child's name.  The petition shall
state the child's sex and date of birth and the name the child had
before adoption.
   (d) If the child is the subject of a guardianship petition, the
adoption petition shall so state and shall include the caption and
docket number or have attached a copy of the letters of the
guardianship or temporary guardianship.  The petitioners shall notify
the court of any petition for guardianship or temporary guardianship
filed after the adoption petition.  The guardianship proceeding
shall be consolidated with the adoption proceeding.
   (e) The order of adoption shall contain the child's adopted name,
but not the name the child had before adoption.