BILL NUMBER: AB 1143	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ma

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to amend Section  307   306.5  of
the Family Code,   and to amend Section 103180 of the Health
and Safety Code,   relating to vital records.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1143, as amended, Ma.  License and Certificate of
Non-Clergy Marriage: registration.   Marriage: name.
 
   Existing law prescribes the requirements for registration of a
marriage, including the contents of a certificate of registry of
marriage. 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 Non-Clergy
Marriage containing specified information, and further requires that
the certificate be registered with the county within 10 days of the
ceremony.  
   This bill would extend the time by which a License and Certificate
of Non-Clergy Marriage is required to be registered to 15 days
following the ceremony.  
   Existing law allows one or both parties to a marriage to change
the middle or last name by which that party wishes to be known after
solemnization of the marriage. Existing law also requires the
adoption of a new name, or the choice not to adopt a new name, by
means of a marriage license application to be made only at the time
the license is issued, as provided.  
   This bill would allow one or both parties to change both the
middle and last names by which that party wishes to be known after
solemnization of the marriage. This bill would also allow for an
amendment to be issued to correct a clerical error in the new name
fields on the marriage license, as provided. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    Section 306.5 of the   Family
Code   is amended 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
 ,   or both,  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  middle or  last name
all or a segment of  any combination of  the current 
middle or  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).  An amendment
may be issued to correct a clerical error in the new name fields on
the marriage license. In this instance, the amendment must be signed
by one of the parties to the marriage and the county clerk or his or
her deputy, and the reason for the amendment must be stated as
correcting a clerical   error. A clerical error as used in
this part is an error made by the county clerk, his or her deputy, or
a notary authorized to issue confidential marriage licenses, whereby
the information shown in the new name field does not match the
information shown on the marriage license application.  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.

  SECTION 1.    Section 307 of the Family Code is
amended to read:
   307.  This division, so far as it relates to the solemnizing of
marriage, is not applicable to members of a particular religious
society or denomination not having clergy for the purpose of
solemnizing marriage or entering the marriage relation, if all of the
following requirements are met:
   (a) The parties to the marriage sign and endorse on the form
prescribed by the State Department of Public Health, showing all of
the following:
   (1) The fact, time, and place of entering into the marriage.
   (2) The printed names, signatures, and mailing addresses of two
witnesses to the ceremony.
   (3) The religious society or denomination of the parties to the
marriage, and that the marriage was entered into in accordance with
the rules and customs of that religious society or denomination. The
statement of the parties to the marriage that the marriage was
entered into in accordance with the rules and customs of the
religious society or denomination is conclusively presumed to be
true.
   (b) The License and Certificate of Non-Clergy Marriage, endorsed
pursuant to subdivision (a), is returned to the county recorder of
the county in which the license was issued within 15 days after the
ceremony.  
  SEC. 2.    Section 103180 of the Health and Safety
Code 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 of the Family Code within 15 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.