BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1807 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1807 (Cook) As Amended March 29, 2012 Majority vote JUDICIARY 10-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Feuer, Wagner, Atkins, | | | | |Dickinson, Gorell, Huber, | | | | |Jones, Monning, | | | | |Wieckowski, Bonnie | | | | |Lowenthal | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Clarifies the law regarding modification of child custody and visitation orders for active duty military personnel. Specifically, this bill : 1)Provides that a court may not, as part of its review of the temporary custody order changed as the result of a military parent's deployment, upon return of the deploying party, order a child custody evaluation unless the party opposing reversion to the order prior to deployment makes a prima facie showing that such reversion is not in the best interest of the child. 2)Provides that a relocation by the nondeploying parent during the deployed parent's absence from the jurisdiction while a temporary custody order is in effect shall not, by itself, terminate the California court's exclusive and continuing jurisdiction over the custody case. 3)States the intent of the Legislature that courts shall, to the extent feasible within existing resources and court practices, prioritize the calendaring of these reversion cases, avoid unnecessary delay or continuances, and ensure that parties who serve in the military are not penalized for their service by a delay in appropriate access to their children. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides that, if a party with custody or visitation receives temporary duty, deployment, or mobilization orders from the AB 1807 Page 2 military, as defined, that requires that party to move a substantial distance or otherwise has a material effect on the party's ability to exercise custody or visitation rights, and if the court modifies the custody order accordingly, the modified order shall be considered a temporary order. Requires the court, in making the order, to consider any appropriate means by which the deploying party can maintain frequent and continuing contact with the child by whatever means are available. 2)Provides that, if a temporary order is established pursuant to 1) above in EXISTING LAW, upon review of the order on return of the deploying parent, there is a presumption that the order shall revert back to the original order before the deployment, unless the court determines that such a reversion is not in the child's best interest. 3)Allows the court, upon a motion by the deploying military parent, to order visitation with a stepparent, grandparent or other family member with a preexisting close relationship with the child, provided the visitation is in the child's best interest and will help facilitate contact with the deploying parent. FISCAL EFFECT : None COMMENTS : The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the resulting military deployments have significantly affected service members and their families, sometimes causing considerable disruptions in existing custody and visitations arrangement between parents. Two years ago, the author's AB 2416 (Cook), Chapter 466, of Statutes 2010, created a process to protect custodial arrangements when military parents are deployed in a way that benefits both the parents and the child. This bill clarifies those provisions to further protect service members and their families. In 2003 and again in 2008, Congress updated the former Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act, and enacted the new Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), "to provide for, strengthen, and expedite the national defense . . . to enable Ýservice members] to devote their entire energy to the defense needs of the Nation; and to provide for the temporary suspension of judicial and administrative proceedings and transactions that AB 1807 Page 3 may adversely affect the civil rights of servicemembers during their military service." (50 U.S.C. Appendix Section 502.) The SCRA, among other things, prohibits default actions against service members deployed out of the United States, limits the amount of interest that may be assessed on debts that accrued prior to deployment, and requires a stay of proceedings if the service member's military duty materially affects his or her ability to appear. In order to protect the custodial rights of military parents, state laws were modified in 2005 and again in 2010. Under current law, if a parent with custody or visitation receives temporary duty, deployment, or mobilization orders from the military, as defined, which require that parent to move a substantial distance or otherwise have a material effect on his or her ability to exercise custody or visitation rights, and the court modifies the custody or visitation order accordingly, such modified order will be considered a temporary order. When the parent returns and seeks review of the temporary order, there is a presumption that the temporary order will revert back to the original order before the deployment, mobilization or temporary duty, unless the court determines that such a reversion is not in the child's best interest. The presumption in current law correctly protects the rights of the deployed parent, while ensuring the best interests of the child are always paramount. Thus, for example, if a child was very young at the time of deployment, a court may allow the deployed parent's custodial time to increase gradually over a period of time, to allow the child to adjust to the revised living arrangement. Alternatively, a returning parent may have mental or physical health issues that affect his or her parenting ability and require an adjustment of the prior custody order. Existing law, while making it clear that custodial orders changed as the result of military deployment should revert to the original order upon return of the deployed parent, provides courts with discretion to always ensure that custody and visitation orders are in the best interests of children. To prevent such unnecessary delays, this bill requires that a court may not, as part of its review of the temporary custody order changed as the result of a military parent's deployment, upon return of the deploying party, order a child custody evaluation unless the party opposing reversion makes a prima AB 1807 Page 4 facie showing that such reversion is not in the best interest of the child. A court may still order a child custody evaluation, but not until the party opposing reversion of the order makes a showing that such an order is not in the child's best interest. Again, this ensures the best interests of children are paramount, while still preventing unnecessary and costly delays. In addition, in order to ensure that California courts retain jurisdiction in cases, as appropriate under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), this bill provides that a relocation by the nondeploying parent during the deployed parent's absence from the jurisdiction while a temporary custody order is in effect will not, by itself, terminate the California court's exclusive and continuing jurisdiction over the custody case. This should help ensure that California courts do not lose jurisdiction when the nondeploying parent, who has custody only under the temporary order, temporarily moves out of state during the other parent's deployment. Finally, to help clarify that these reversion cases receive appropriate priority in the family law courts, this bill states the intent of the Legislature that courts shall, to the extent feasible within existing resources and court practices, prioritize the calendaring of these reversion cases, avoid unnecessary delay or continuances, and ensure that parties who serve in the military are not penalized for their service by a delay in appropriate access to their children. This statement recognizes the very real fiscal constraints under which courts in California are now operating, but still directs the courts to give these cases the priority they rightly deserve. Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0003271