BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 161
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 2, 2013

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
                                Bob Wieckowski, Chair
                  AB 161 (Campos) - As Introduced:  January 22, 2013

                    PROPOSED CONSENT (As Proposed to be Amended)

           SUBJECT  :  PROTECTIVE ORDERS:  INSURANCE COVERAGE

           KEY ISSUE  :  SHOULD A COURT BE ABLE TO PREVENT PARTIES TO A  
          DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDER FROM CHANGING AN INSURANCE  
          POLICY COVERING THE PARTIES OR THEIR CHILDREN?

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  As currently in print this bill is keyed  
          non-fiscal.  

                                      SYNOPSIS
                                          
          Under current law, when a married couple files for dissolution,  
          both spouses are initially enjoined from removing their children  
          from the state and from disposing of property.  This allows the  
          status quo to be maintained pending resolution of the larger  
          issues facing the parties.  They are also enjoined from changing  
          insurance coverage for themselves or their children, again to  
          maintain the status quo and ensure the parties are adequately  
          protected during the dissolution process.  This bill, sponsored  
          by the Family Law Section of the State Bar, permits - but does  
          not require - a court to make that same order with respect to  
          insurance as part of a domestic violence protection order.  In  
          support of the bill, the author writes that domestic violence  
          "is about power and control.  Threats to 'cut off the victim'  
          are a tool an abusive spouse may use to try to keep a partner  
          from leaving or staying away."  This bill seeks to prevent an  
          abusive partner from terminating insurance in order to punish  
          the victim for leaving or pressure one to return.  The bill is  
          supported by, among others, the California Partnership to End  
          Domestic Violence and the California Police Chiefs Association.   
          There is no reported opposition.

           SUMMARY  :  Permits a court when issuing an ex parte domestic  
          violence restraining order to restrain a party from changing any  
          insurance coverage.  Specifically,  this bill  provides that a  
          court, when issuing an ex parte order under the Domestic  
          Violence Protection Act, may restrain any party from cashing,  








                                                                  AB 161
                                                                  Page  2

          borrowing against, cancelling, transferring, or disposing of, or  
          changing the beneficiaries of any insurance or other coverage  
          held for the benefit of the parties and their children.

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Allows a court to issue a domestic violence protective order  
            enjoining a party from molesting, attacking, striking,  
            stalking, threatening, sexually assaulting, battering,  
            harassing, telephoning, and other specified behaviors.  With  
            respect to married couples, the court may restrain a party  
            from specified acts in relation to community, quasi-community  
            or separate property, as specified.  (Family Code Section 6200  
            et seq.  Unless stated otherwise, all further statutory  
            references are to that code.) 

          2)Allows protective orders to be issued ex parte and after a  
            noticed motion and a hearing.  (Sections 6320 and 6340.)

          3)Provides that a domestic violence protective order may  
            include, among other things, orders excluding a party from a  
            residence, enjoining a party from specific behavior,  
            determining temporary custody and visitation rights,  
            determining the temporary use of property, and restraining a  
            party from specific acts to the parties' community, separate  
            and quasi-community property.  (Sections 6321-25.)

          4)As part of the summons issued at the start of a dissolution  
            case, mandates that the parties are restrained from, among  
            other things:

             a)   Transferring, encumbering, concealing or in any way  
               disposing of any real or personal property, whether  
               community, quasi-community or separate property; and 
             b)   Cashing, borrowing against, cancelling, transferring, or  
               disposing of, or changing the beneficiaries of any  
               insurance or other coverage held for the benefit of the  
               parties and their children for whom support may be ordered.  
                (Section 2040(a).)  

           COMMENTS  :  Under current law, when a married couple files for  
          dissolution, they are both initially enjoined from removing  
          their children from the state and from disposing of property.   
          This allows the status quo to be maintained pending resolution  
          of the larger issues facing the parties.  They are also enjoined  








                                                                  AB 161
                                                                  Page  3

          from changing insurance coverage.  This helps ensure that the  
          parties and their children are able to maintain health  
          insurance, automobile insurance or life insurance pending a  
          court determination about their respective responsibilities,  
          and, again, helps maintain the status quo and protect the  
          parties and their children, pending resolution of the larger  
          issues. 

          This bill permits - but does not require - a court to make that  
          same order with respect to insurance as part of a domestic  
          violence protection order, whether ex parte or after a hearing.   
          In support of the bill, the author writes:

               Economic security is crucial in keeping abuse survivors  
               safe once they leave an abusive partner.  Health insurance  
               and auto insurance in particular can be key to surviving  
               apart from an abusive spouse.  In many cases, the abusive  
               spouse is also the employed spouse who is providing various  
               insurance coverage plans for the family.  Domestic violence  
               is about power and control.  Threats to "cut off the  
               victim" are a tool an abusive spouse may use to try to keep  
               a partner from leaving or staying away.  AB 161 would  
               prevent an abusive spouse from terminating insurance in  
               order to punish a spouse for leaving or pressure one to  
               return.

               AB 161 is meant to mirror in the Domestic Violence  
               Prevention Act the existing protections that married  
               persons have once they file a dissolution, legal  
               separation, or nullity.  In particular, it would permit a  
               court to issue an ex parte order preventing a party from  
               changing or terminating the beneficiaries of any insurance  
               held for the benefit of the parties and/or their children.

           Devastating Effects of Domestic Violence on Children and  
          Families  :  Domestic violence is a serious criminal justice and  
          public health problem most often perpetrated against women.   
          (Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence:  
          Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey, U.S.  
          Department of Justice (2001).)  Prevalence of domestic violence  
          at the national level ranges from 960,000 to three million women  
          each year who are physically abused by their husbands or  
          boyfriends.  While the numbers are staggering, they only include  
          those cases of reported domestic violence.  In fact, according  
          to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey of women's health, nearly 31  








                                                                  AB 161
                                                                  Page  4

          percent of American women report being physically or sexually  
          abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.   
          (Health Concerns Across a Woman's Lifespan: 1998 Survey of  
          Women's Health, The Commonwealth Fund (May 1999).)

          Domestic violence continues to be a significant problem in  
          California.  In 2005, the Attorney General's Task Force on  
          Domestic Violence reported that:

               The health consequences of physical and psychological  
               domestic violence can be significant and long lasting, for  
               both victims and their children. . . . A study by the  
               California Department of Health Services of women's health  
               issues found that nearly six percent of women, or about  
               620,000 women per year, experienced violence or physical  
               abuse by their intimate partners.  Women living in  
               households where children are present experienced domestic  
               violence at much higher rates than women living in  
               households without children:  domestic violence occurred in  
               more than 436,000 households per year in which children  
               were present, potentially exposing approximately 916,000  
               children to violence in their homes every year.

          (Report to the California Attorney General from the Task Force  
          on Local Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence, Keeping  
          the Promise:  Victim Safety and Batterer Accountability (June  
          2005) (footnotes omitted).)  

           This bill allows the court to extend current protections  
          afforded to property also to insurance  .    Today, married couples  
          seeking a divorce are enjoyed from disposing of property and  
          changing any insurance held for the benefit of the parties or  
          their children.  When a couple appears in court seeking a  
          protective order, as opposed to a divorce, current law allows a  
          court, when issuing the protective order, to prevent the parties  
          from disposing of property, but does not similarly allow the  
          court to protect insurance benefits.  This bill would do just  
          that, by allowing, but not requiring, the court to issue an  
          order enjoining the parties from changing any insurance held for  
          the benefit of the parties or their children.  In doing so, this  
          bill helps allow families to resolve their responsibilities to  
          each other and their children in a more thoughtful manner and  
          better protect their health and their financial interests.
           
            Proposed Amendment  :  This bill, as drafted, seems to imply that  








                                                                  AB 161
                                                                  Page  5

          insurance must only be maintained if it is held for the benefit  
          of the parties  and  their children.  However, some insurance  
          policies may cover either the parties  or  the children, not both.  
           Thus, the author has rightly agreed to amend the bill to ensure  
          that a court can restrain any change to the insurance if it  
          covers the parties, their children, or both.  The following  
          amendment accomplishes this change:

          On page 6, delete "and" and insert: , or
          On page 7, after "ordered" insert: , or both

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :  The California Partnership to End  
          Domestic Violence writes that allowing insurance protections to  
          be included with a domestic violence order "will help protect  
          the insurance benefits of victims and their children.  Financial  
          abuse and economic insecurity are factors which commonly deter  
          victims from leaving their abusive partners.  Including these  
          new protections with the ex parte order will remove one  
          potential obstacle as a survivor seeks a permanent solution to  
          end the abuse."
           
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Family Law Section of the State Bar (sponsor)
          Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (as proposed to  
          be amended)
          California Communities United Institute
          California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
          California Police Chiefs Association
          SPAC of the Junior Leagues of California

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :  Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334