BILL NUMBER: AB 102	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  567
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 12, 2007
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 12, 2007
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 10, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 17, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 2, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 21, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 7, 2007
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 28, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ma
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Beall and Feuer)
   (Coauthor: Senator Romero)

                        JANUARY 3, 2007

   An act to amend Section 1279.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to
amend Sections 298, 298.5, 355, and 358 of, and to add Sections 298.6
and 306.5 to, the Family Code, and to amend Sections 103175 and
103180 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to name changes.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 102, Ma. Marriage: domestic partnerships: name.
   (1) Existing law provides for the registration of domestic
partnerships and requires 2 persons desiring to become domestic
partners to complete and file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership
with the Secretary of State. Existing law requires the Secretary of
State to prepare the form for the Declaration of Domestic Partnership
pursuant to specified requirements.
   This bill would require the Declaration of Domestic Partnership
form to contain an optional section for either party or both parties
to indicate a change in name. The bill would allow one party or both
parties to a registered domestic partnership to elect to change the
middle or last names by which that party wishes to be known after
registration of the domestic partnership by entering the new name in
the spaces provided on the Declaration of Domestic Partnership form
without intent to defraud.
   (2) Existing law requires the Secretary of State to register the
Declaration of Domestic Partnership in a registry for those
partnerships and to return certain documents to the registrants,
including a Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership, except as
specified.
   This bill would require that the Certificate of Registered
Domestic Partnership include the name used by each party before
registration of the domestic partnership and any new name.
   (3) Existing law requires that, before entering into or declaring
a marriage, the parties first obtain a marriage license from a county
clerk. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health
to prescribe the forms for the marriage license.
   This bill would allow, on and after January 1, 2009, one party or
both parties to a marriage to elect to change the middle or last
names by which that party wishes to be known after solemnization of
the marriage. The bill would require, on and after January 1, 2009,
that the forms for the marriage license contain spaces for either
party to indicate a change in name and would allow either party to
change his or her name by entering the new middle or last names in
the space provided on the marriage license application without intent
to defraud.
   (4) Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
prepare and publish a brochure containing specified information for
distribution to applicants for marriage licenses and persons who
qualify as domestic partners.
   This bill would require that the above brochure contain
information concerning options for changing a name upon solemnization
of marriage or upon registration of a domestic partnership. The bill
would also require that information to include a notice that
recording a change in name or the absence of a change in name on a
marriage license application and certificate may not be amended once
the marriage license is issued, but that options to adopt a change in
name are preserved, as specified.
   (5) Existing law, effective January 1, 2008, requires that a
marriage license contain certain information, including the maiden
name of the parties' mothers and the maiden name of the female, if
previously married.
   Existing law requires that each marriage performed be registered
by the person performing the ceremony. Existing law creates an
exemption from this requirement for members of a religious society or
denomination not having clergy. Existing law requires those persons
to file a License and Certificate of Declaration of Marriage
containing specified information, including the maiden name of the
parties' mothers and the maiden name of the female, if previously
married and if her name has been changed. Existing law, effective
January 1, 2008, requires those persons to file a License and
Certificate of Non-Clergy Marriage subject to these provisions.
   This bill would, effective January 1, 2009, modify the provisions
relating to marriage licenses and Licenses and Certificates of
Non-Clergy Marriage to conform with the above provisions allowing
either party to a marriage to change his or her name. The bill would
require that a marriage license and a License and Certificate of
Non-Clergy Marriage include the last names at birth of each party's
parents and any new name selected by a party for use upon
solemnization of the marriage.
   By requiring counties to alter their forms to conform with these
requirements, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   (6) Existing law prohibits a person engaged in a trade or business
of any kind or in the provision of a service of any kind from
refusing to do business with, refusing to provide the service to, or
imposing a specified requirement upon the use of a name, as a
condition of doing business with or providing the service to, a woman
in connection with her use of her birth name or former name.
   This bill would extend these protections to any person, and would
apply them, in addition, to a person's use of a name adopted upon
solemnization of marriage or registration of domestic partnership.
   (7) Existing law provides that, upon application for an original
or duplicate driver's license, the Department of Motor Vehicles may
require the applicant to produce any identification that it
determines is necessary in order to ensure that the name of the
applicant stated in the application is his or her true, full name and
that his or her residence address as set forth in the application is
his or her true residence address.
   This bill would provide that the provisions of this act shall not
be construed to prohibit the Department of Motor Vehicles from
accepting other documents establishing a true, full name, including,
but not limited to, a certified copy of a Certificate of Registered
Domestic Partnership, a certified copy of a marriage license or
certificate, a copy of a document substantially equivalent to a
Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership, or a copy of a
marriage certificate recording a marriage outside of this state, as
specified.
   (8) This bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes.
   (9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


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

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the Name
Equality Act of 2007.
  SEC. 2.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the choice to
adopt or not adopt a new name upon marriage or registration of
domestic partnership is a profoundly personal reflection of one's
individuality, equality, family, community, and beliefs.
   (b) The Legislature, in enacting this act, intends to do both of
the following:
   (1) Ensure that all men and women who marry are treated equally
with regard to the option of changing or not changing their names
upon marriage, including, without limitation, changing their names on
the forms for marriage licenses and certificates.
   (2) Ensure that each party entering into a registered domestic
partnership has an opportunity through the Declaration of Domestic
Partnership to indicate his or her choice as to whether or not to
change his or her name upon registration of domestic partnership and
to ensure that domestic partners are treated the same as spouses with
regard to that choice.
   (3) Clarify the option under existing law to adopt or not adopt a
new name upon marriage or registration of domestic partnership
without being required to file an application for a change of name
with a superior court pursuant to Title 8 (commencing with Section
1275) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
  SEC. 3.  Section 1279.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
   1279.6.  No person engaged in a trade or business of any kind or
in the provision of a service of any kind shall do any of the
following:
   (a) Refuse to do business with a person, or refuse to provide the
service to a person, regardless of the person's marital status,
because he or she has chosen to use or regularly uses his or her
birth name, former name, or name adopted upon solemnization of
marriage or registration of domestic partnership.
   (b) Impose, as a condition of doing business with a person, or as
a condition of providing the service to a person, a requirement that
the person, regardless of his or her marital status, use a name other
than his or her birth name, former name, or name adopted upon
solemnization of marriage or registration of domestic partnership, if
the person has chosen to use or regularly uses that name.
  SEC. 4.  Section 298 of the Family Code, as amended by Chapter 179
of the Statutes of 2007, is amended to read:
   298.  (a) (1) The Secretary of State shall prepare forms entitled
"Declaration of Domestic Partnership" and "Notice of Termination of
Domestic Partnership" to meet the requirements of this division.
These forms shall require the signature and seal of an acknowledgment
by a notary public to be binding and valid.
   (2) When funding allows, the Secretary of State shall include on
the form notice that a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
specific domestic abuse brochure is available upon request.
   (b) (1) The Secretary of State shall distribute these forms to
each county clerk. These forms shall be available to the public at
the office of the Secretary of State and each county clerk.
   (2) The Secretary of State shall, by regulation, establish fees
for the actual costs of processing each of these forms, and the cost
for preparing and sending the mailings and notices required pursuant
to Section 299.3, and shall charge these fees to persons filing the
forms.
   (3) There is hereby established a fee of twenty-three dollars
($23) to be charged in addition to the existing fees established by
regulation to persons filing domestic partner registrations pursuant
to Section 297 for development and support of a lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender curriculum for training workshops on
domestic violence, conducted pursuant to Section 13823.15 of the
Penal Code, and for the support of a grant program to promote healthy
nonviolent relationships in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender community. This paragraph shall not apply to persons of
opposite sexes filing a domestic partnership registration and who
meet the qualifications described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph
(5) of subdivision (b) of Section 297.
   (4) The fee established by paragraph (3) shall be deposited in the
Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund, which
is hereby established. The fund shall be administered by the Office
of Emergency Services, and expenditures from the fund shall be used
to support the purposes of paragraph (3).
   (c) The Declaration of Domestic Partnership shall require each
person who wants to become a domestic partner to (1) state that he or
she meets the requirements of Section 297 at the time the form is
signed, (2) provide a mailing address, (3) state that he or she
consents to the jurisdiction of the Superior Courts of California for
the purpose of a proceeding to obtain a judgment of dissolution or
nullity of the domestic partnership or for legal separation of
partners in the domestic partnership, or for any other proceeding
related to the partners' rights and obligations, even if one or both
partners ceases to be a resident of, or to maintain a domicile in,
this state, (4) sign the form with a declaration that representations
made therein are true, correct, and contain no material omissions of
fact to the best knowledge and belief of the applicant, and (5) have
a notary public acknowledge his or her signature. Both partners'
signatures shall be affixed to one Declaration of Domestic
Partnership form, which form shall then be transmitted to the
Secretary of State according to the instructions provided on the
form. Filing an intentionally and materially false Declaration of
Domestic Partnership shall be punishable as a misdemeanor.
   (d) The Declaration of Domestic Partnership form shall contain an
optional section for either party or both parties to indicate a
change in name pursuant to Section 298.6. The optional section shall
require a party indicating a change in name to provide his or her
date of birth.
  SEC. 5.  Section 298.5 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   298.5.  (a) Two persons desiring to become domestic partners may
complete and file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the
Secretary of State.
   (b) The Secretary of State shall register the Declaration of
Domestic Partnership in a registry for those partnerships, and shall
return a copy of the registered form and a Certificate of Registered
Domestic Partnership and, except for those opposite sex domestic
partners who meet the qualifications described in subparagraph (B) of
paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 297, a copy of the
brochure that is made available to county clerks and the Secretary of
State by the State Department of Public Health pursuant to Section
358 and distributed to individuals receiving a confidential marriage
license pursuant to Section 503, to the domestic partners at the
mailing address provided by the domestic partners.
   (c) No person who has filed a Declaration of Domestic Partnership
may file a new Declaration of Domestic Partnership or enter a civil
marriage with someone other than their registered domestic partner
unless the most recent domestic partnership has been terminated or a
final judgment of dissolution or nullity of the most recent domestic
partnership has been entered. This prohibition does not apply if the
previous domestic partnership ended because one of the partners died.

   (d) When funding allows, the Secretary of State shall print and
make available upon request, pursuant to Section 358, a lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender specific domestic abuse brochure developed
by the State Department of Public Health and made available to the
Secretary of State to domestic partners who qualify pursuant to
Section 297.
   (e) The Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership shall
include the name used by each party before registration of the
domestic partnership and the new name, if any, selected by each party
upon registration of the domestic partnership.
  SEC. 6.  Section 298.6 is added to the Family Code, to read:
   298.6.  (a) Parties to a registered domestic partnership shall not
be required to have the same name. Neither party shall be required
to change his or her name. A person's name shall not change upon
registration as a domestic partner unless that person elects to
change his or her name pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (b) (1) One party or both parties to a registered domestic
partnership may elect to change the middle or last names by which
that party wishes to be known after registration of the domestic
partnership by entering the new name in the space provided on the
Declaration of Domestic Partnership form without intent to defraud.
   (2) A person may adopt any of the following middle or last names
pursuant to paragraph (1):
   (A) The current last name of the other domestic partner.
   (B) The last name of either domestic partner given at birth.
   (C) A name combining into a single last name all or a segment of
the current last name or the last name of either domestic partner
given at birth.
   (D) A hyphenated combination of last names.
   (3) (A) An election by a person to change his or her name pursuant
to paragraph (1) shall serve as a record of the name change. A
certified copy of the Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership
containing the new name, or retaining the former name, shall
constitute proof that the use of the new name or retention of the
former name is lawful.
   (B) A certified copy of a Certificate of Registered Domestic
Partnership shall be accepted as identification establishing a true,
full name for purposes of Section 12800.7 of the Vehicle Code.
   (C) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
Department of Motor Vehicles from accepting as identification other
documents establishing a true, full name for purposes of Section
12800.7 of the Vehicle Code. Those documents may include, without
limitation, a certified copy of a document that is substantially
equivalent to a Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership that
records either of the following:
   (i) A legal union of two persons that was validly formed in
another jurisdiction and is recognized as a valid domestic
partnership in this state pursuant to Section 299.2.
   (ii) A legal union of domestic partners as defined by a local
jurisdiction pursuant to Section 299.6.
   (D) This section shall be applied in a manner consistent with the
requirements of Sections 1653.5 and 12801 of the Vehicle Code.
   (4) The adoption of a new name, or the choice not to adopt a new
name, by means of a Declaration of Domestic Partnership pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall not abrogate the right of either party to adopt a
different name through usage at a future date, or to petition the
superior court for a change of name pursuant to Title 8 (commencing
with Section 1275) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate the
common law right of any person to change his or her name, or the
right of any person to petition the superior court for a change of
name pursuant to Title 8 (commencing with Section 1275) of Part 3 of
the Code of Civil Procedure.
  SEC. 7.  Section 306.5 is added to the Family Code, to read:
   306.5.  (a) Parties to a marriage shall not be required to have
the same name. Neither party shall be required to change his or her
name. A person's name shall not change upon marriage unless that
person elects to change his or her name pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (b) (1) One party or both parties to a marriage may elect to
change the middle or last names by which that party wishes to be
known after solemnization of the marriage by entering the new name in
the spaces provided on the marriage license application without
intent to defraud.
   (2) A person may adopt any of the following middle or last names
pursuant to paragraph (1):
   (A) The current last name of the other spouse.
   (B) The last name of either spouse given at birth.
   (C) A name combining into a single last name all or a segment of
the current last name or the last name of either spouse given at
birth.
   (D) A hyphenated combination of last names.
   (3) (A) An election by a person to change his or her name pursuant
to paragraph (1) shall serve as a record of the name change. A
certified copy of a marriage certificate containing the new name, or
retaining the former name, shall constitute proof that the use of the
new name or retention of the former name is lawful.
   (B) A certified copy of a marriage certificate shall be accepted
as identification establishing a true, full name for purposes of
Section 12800.7 of the Vehicle Code.
   (C) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
Department of Motor Vehicles from accepting as identification other
documents establishing a true, full name for purposes of Section
12800.7 of the Vehicle Code. Those documents may include, without
limitation, a certified copy of a marriage certificate recording a
marriage outside of this state.
   (D) This section shall be applied in a manner consistent with the
requirements of Sections 1653.5 and 12801 of the Vehicle Code.
   (4) The adoption of a new name, or the choice not to adopt a new
name, by means of a marriage license application pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall only be made at the time the marriage license is
issued. After a marriage certificate is registered by the local
registrar, the certificate may not be amended to add a new name or
change the name adopted pursuant to paragraph (1). This requirement
shall not abrogate the right of either party to adopt a different
name through usage at a future date, or to petition the superior
court for a change of name pursuant to Title 8 (commencing with
Section 1275) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate the
common law right of any person to change his or her name, or the
right of any person to petition the superior court for a change of
name pursuant to Title 8 (commencing with Section 1275) of Part 3 of
the Code of Civil Procedure.
   (d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2009.
  SEC. 8.  Section 355 of the Family Code, as amended by Section 11
of Chapter 816 of the Statutes of 2006, is amended to read:
   355.  (a) The forms for the marriage license shall be prescribed
by the State Department of Public Health, and shall be adapted to set
forth the facts required in this part.
   (b) The marriage license shall include an affidavit, which the
applicants shall sign, affirming that they have received the brochure
provided for in Section 358. If the marriage is to be entered into
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 420, the attorney in fact
shall sign the affidavit on behalf of the applicant who is overseas.
   (c) The forms for the marriage license shall contain spaces for
either party or both parties to indicate a change in name pursuant to
Section 306.5.
  SEC. 9.  Section 358 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   358.  (a) The State Department of Public Health shall prepare and
publish a brochure that shall contain the following:
   (1) Information concerning the possibilities of genetic defects
and diseases and a listing of centers available for the testing and
treatment of genetic defects and diseases.
   (2) Information concerning acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS) and the availability of testing for antibodies to the probable
causative agent of AIDS.
   (3) Information concerning domestic violence, including resources
available to victims and a statement that physical, emotional,
psychological, and sexual abuse, and assault and battery, are against
the law.
   (4) Information concerning options for changing a name upon
solemnization of marriage pursuant to Section 306.5, or upon
registration of a domestic partnership pursuant to Section 298.6.
That information shall include a notice that the recording of a
change in name or the absence of a change in name on a marriage
license application and certificate pursuant to Section 306.5 may not
be amended once the marriage license is issued, but that options to
adopt a change in name in the future through usage, common law, or
petitioning the superior court are preserved, as set forth in Section
306.5.
   (b) The State Department of Public Health shall make the brochures
available to county clerks who shall distribute a copy of the
brochure to each applicant for a marriage license, including
applicants for a confidential marriage license and notaries public
receiving a confidential marriage license pursuant to Section 503.
The department shall also make the brochure available to the
Secretary of State, who shall distribute a copy of the brochure to
persons who qualify as domestic partners pursuant to Section 297 and
shall make the brochure available electronically on the Internet Web
site of the Secretary of State.
   (c) The department shall prepare a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender specific domestic abuse brochure and make the brochure
available to the Secretary of State who shall print and make
available the brochure, as funding allows, pursuant to Section 298.5.

   (d) Each notary public issuing a confidential marriage license
under Section 503 shall distribute a copy of the brochure to the
applicants for a confidential marriage license.
   (e) To the extent possible, the State Department of Public Health
shall seek to combine in a single brochure all statutorily required
information for marriage license applicants.
  SEC. 10.  Section 103175 of the Health and Safety Code, as amended
by Section 46 of Chapter 816 of the Statutes of 2006, is amended to
read:
   103175.  (a) The marriage license shall contain as nearly as can
be ascertained all of the following and other items as the State
Registrar may designate:
   (1) The first section shall include the personal data of each
party married, including the date of birth, full given name at birth
or by court order, birthplace, mailing address, names and birthplaces
of each party's parents, last names at birth of each party's
parents, the number of previous marriages, marital status, the name
used prior to the intended marriage by each party at the time of the
marriage license application, if the name is different from the name
given at birth or by court order, and the new name, if any, selected
by each party for intended use upon solemnization of the marriage.
   (2) The second section shall include the signatures of parties
married, license to marry, county and date of issuance of license,
and the marriage license number.
   (3) The third section shall include the certification of one
person performing the ceremony, that shall show his or her official
position including the denomination if he or she is a clergy or
clergyperson, and the printed name, signature, and mailing address of
at least one, and no more than two, witnesses to the marriage
ceremony. The person performing the marriage ceremony shall also type
or print his or her name and mailing address on the marriage
license.
   (b) The marriage license shall not contain any reference to the
race or color of parties married.
  SEC. 11.  Section 103180 of the Health and Safety Code, as amended
by Section 47 of Chapter 816 of the Statutes of 2006, is amended to
read:
   103180.  (a) Sections 103150 and 103175 do not apply to marriages
entered into pursuant to Section 307 of the Family Code. Subdivisions
(b) and (c) govern the registration and the content of the License
and Certificate of Non-Clergy Marriage of those marriages.
   (b) Each marriage entered into pursuant to Section 307 of the
Family Code shall be registered by the parties entering into the
marriage or by a witness who signed under paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 307 within 10 days after the ceremony with
the local registrar of marriages for the county in which the License
and Certificate of Non-Clergy Marriage was issued.
   (c) The License and Certificate of Non-Clergy Marriage entered
into pursuant to Section 307 of the Family Code shall contain as
nearly as can be ascertained the following:
   (1) The personal data of each party married, including the date of
birth, full given name at birth or by court order, birthplace,
mailing address, names and birthplaces of each party's parents, last
names at birth of each party's parents, the number of previous
marriages, marital status, the name used prior to the intended
marriage by each party at the time of the marriage license
application, if the name is different from the name given at birth or
by court order, and the new name, if any, selected by each party for
intended use upon solemnization of the marriage.
   (2) The license to marry.
   (3) The county and date of issuance of the license.
   (4) The marriage license number.
   (5) The certification of the parties entering into the marriage,
that shall show the following:
   (A) The fact, time, and place of entering into the marriage.
   (B) The printed name, signature, and mailing address of two
witnesses to the marriage ceremony.
   (C) The religious society or denomination of the parties married,
and that the marriage was entered into in accordance with the rules
and customs of that religious society or denomination.
   (6) The signatures of the parties married.
   (7) Any other items that the State Registrar shall designate.
   (d) The License and Certificate of Non-Clergy Marriage shall not
contain any reference to the race or color of parties married or to a
person performing or solemnizing the marriage.
  SEC. 12.   No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
  SEC. 13.   (a) The amendments made to Section 355 of the Family
Code, as amended by Section 11 of Chapter 816 of the Statutes of
2006, made by Section 8 of this act shall become operative on January
1, 2009.
   (b) The amendments made to Section 103175 of the Health and Safety
Code, as amended by Section 46 of Chapter 816 of the Statutes of
2006, made by Section 10 of this act shall become operative on
January 1, 2009.
   (c) The amendments made to Section 103180 of the Health and Safety
Code, as amended by Section 47 of Chapter 816 of the Statutes of
2006, made by Section 11 of this act shall become operative on
January 1, 2009.