BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1807
                                                                  Page  1


          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 1807 (Cook)
          As Amended March 29, 2012
          Majority vote 

           JUDICIARY           10-0                                        
           
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          |Ayes:|Feuer, Wagner, Atkins,    |     |                          |
          |     |Dickinson, Gorell, Huber, |     |                          |
          |     |Jones, Monning,           |     |                          |
          |     |Wieckowski, Bonnie        |     |                          |
          |     |Lowenthal                 |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |     |                          |
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           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 








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            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 








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          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 








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          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