BILL NUMBER: AB 464 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Daly
FEBRUARY 19, 2013
An act to amend Sections 1188 and 1195 of the Civil Code, to amend
Section 103526 of the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section
210 of the Probate Code, relating to vital records.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 464, as introduced, Daly. Vital records.
Under existing law, a certified copy of a birth, death, marriage
or military service record may only be supplied by the State
Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to an authorized
person, as defined, who submits a written or faxed request
accompanied by a notarized statement sworn under penalty of perjury
that the applicant is an authorized person.
This bill would additionally authorize the request and the
notarized statement to be a digitized image, as defined. The bill
would remove the application of these provisions to requests for
certified copies of a military service record as requests for
certified copies of those records are also subject to different
provisions of existing law.
Existing law authorizes proof of the execution of an instrument by
certain persons and prescribes the form for that proof. Existing law
authorizes the use of a specified form as a certificate for proof of
execution of an instrument.
This bill would instead require the specified form to be used as a
certificate for proof of execution of an instrument, and would make
several changes to the form.
Existing law authorizes, if title to real property is affected by
the death of a person, any person to record evidence of the death in
the county in which the property is located by providing specified
documents, which may include, among other things, a certified copy of
a record of the death, as specified.
This bill would provide that a certified copy of a record of death
includes a certified copy or informational certified copy issued by
the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder pursuant to
specified provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1188 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1188. An officer taking the acknowledgment of an instrument shall
endorse thereon or attach thereto a certificate
substantially in the form prescribed in pursuant to
Section 1189.
SEC. 2. Section 1195 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1195. (a) Proof of the execution of an instrument, when not
acknowledged, may be made by any of the following:
(1) By the party executing it, or either of them.
(2) By a subscribing witness.
(3) By other witnesses, in cases mentioned in Section 1198.
(b) (1) Proof of the execution of a power of attorney, grant
deed, mortgage, deed of trust, quitclaim deed, security agreement, or
any instrument affecting real property is not permitted pursuant to
Section 27287 of the Government Code, though proof of the execution
of a trustee's deed or deed of reconveyance is permitted.
(2) Proof of the execution for any instrument requiring a notary
public to obtain a thumbprint from the party signing the document in
the notary public's journal is not permitted.
(c) Any certificate for proof of execution taken within this state
may shall be in the following
form, although the use of other, substantially similar forms is not
precluded form :
State of California )
ss.
County of __________ )
On ____ (date), before me, the undersigned, a notary
public for the state, _____ (name
and title of officer), personally appeared ____ (name of
subscribing witness), proved to me to be the person whose name is
subscribed to the within instrument, as a witness thereto, on the
oath of ____ (name of credible witness), a credible witness who is
known to me and provided a satisfactory identifying document. ____
(name of subscribing witness), being by me duly sworn, said that
he/she was present and saw/heard ____ (name s] of principals]),
the same person(s) described in and whose name(s) is/are subscribed
to the within or attached instrument in his/her/their authorized
capacity(ies) as (a) party(ies) thereto, execute or acknowledge
executing the same, and that said affiant subscribed his/her name to
the within or attached instrument as a witness at the request of ____
(names] of principals]).
WITNESS my hand and official seal.
Signature____________________ ______________ (
Notary public s
S eal)
SEC. 3. Section 103526 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
103526. (a) (1) If the State Registrar,
local registrar, or county recorder receives a written or
faxed written, faxed, or digitized image of a
request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record
pursuant to Section 103525, or a military service record
pursuant to Section 6107 of the Government Code,
103525 that is accompanied by a notarized statement sworn under
penalty of perjury, or a faxed copy or digitized image of
a notarized statement sworn under penalty of perjury, that the
requester is an authorized person, as defined in this section, that
official may furnish a certified copy to the applicant in
accordance with pursuant to Section 103525
and in accordance with Section 6107 of the Government Code.
If a written request for a certified copy of a military service
record is submitted to a county recorder by fax, the county recorder
may furnish a certified copy of the military record to the applicant
in accordance with Section 103525 . A faxed or
digitized image of the notary acknowledgment accompanying a
faxed request received pursuant to this subdivision for a certified
copy of a birth, death, or marriage record or a military
service record shall be legible and, if the notary's seal
is not photographically reproducible, show the name of the notary,
the county of the notary's principal place of business, the notary's
telephone number, the notary's registration number, and the notary's
commission expiration date typed or printed in a manner that is
photographically reproducible below, or immediately adjacent to, the
notary's signature in the acknowledgment. If a request for a
certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record is made in
person, the official shall take a statement sworn under penalty of
perjury that the requester is signing his or her own legal name and
is an authorized person, and that official may then furnish a
certified copy to the applicant.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "digitized image" means an
image of an original paper request for a certified copy of a birth,
death, or marriage record.
(b) (1) If the person requesting a certified copy of a birth,
death, or nonconfidential marriage record is not an authorized person
or is an authorized person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the
requirements of subdivision (a), the certified copy provided to the
applicant shall be an informational certified copy and shall display
a legend that states "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO
ESTABLISH IDENTITY." The legend shall be placed on the certificate in
a manner that will not conceal information.
(2) If the person requesting a certified copy of a confidential
marriage record is not an authorized person or is an authorized
person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the requirements of
subdivision (a), the official shall not release a certified copy of
the confidential marriage record unless otherwise authorized by law.
(c) For purposes of this section, an "authorized person" means:
(1) For purposes of requests for certified copies of confidential
marriage records, only a party to the confidential marriage.
(2) For purposes of requests for certified copies of birth, death,
or nonconfidential marriage records, a person who is any of the
following:
(A) The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the
registrant.
(B) A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a court
order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency seeking the birth
record in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3140 or
7603 of the Family Code.
(C) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of
another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is conducting
official business.
(D) A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic
partner of the registrant.
(E) An attorney representing the registrant or the registrant's
estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed by
a court to act on behalf of the registrant or the registrant's
estate.
(F) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
within the course and scope of his or her employment and who orders
certified copies of a death certificate on behalf of any individual
specified in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of
Section 7100.
(d) A person who asks the agent or employee of a funeral
establishment to request a death certificate on his or her behalf
warrants the truthfulness of his or her relationship to the decedent,
and is personally liable for all damages occasioned by, or resulting
from, a breach of that warranty.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law:
(1) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of a
state or local government agency, as provided by law, who orders a
copy of a record to which subdivision (a) applies in conducting
official business shall not be required to provide the notarized
statement required by subdivision (a).
(2) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
within the course and scope of his or her employment and who orders
death certificates on behalf of individuals specified in paragraphs
(1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7100 shall not
be required to provide the notarized statement required by
subdivision (a).
(f) Informational certified copies of birth and death certificates
issued pursuant to subdivision (b) shall only be printed from the
single statewide database prepared by the State Registrar and shall
be electronically redacted to remove any signatures for purposes of
compliance with this section. Local registrars and county recorders
shall not issue informational certified copies of birth and death
certificates from a source other than the statewide database prepared
by the State Registrar. This subdivision shall become operative on
July 1, 2007, but only after the statewide database becomes
operational and the full calendar year of the birth and death indices
and images is entered into the statewide database and is available
for the respective year of the birth or death certificate for which
an informational copy is requested. The State Registrar shall provide
written notification to local registrars and county recorders as
soon as a year becomes available for issuance from the statewide
database.
SEC. 4. Section 210 of the Probate Code is amended to read:
210. If title to real property is affected by the death of a
person, any person may record in the county in which the property is
located any of the following documents establishing the fact of the
death:
(a) An affidavit of death executed by a person having knowledge of
the facts. The affidavit shall include a particular description of
the real property and an attested or certified copy of a record of
the death made and filed in a designated public office as required by
law. For purposes of this subdivision, a certified copy issued
in this state shall include any copy issued pursuant to Section
103525 of, subdivision (a) of Section 103526 of, or paragra
ph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 103526 of, the
Health and Safety Code.
(b) A certified copy of a court order that determines the fact of
death made pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 200) or
pursuant to another statute that provides for a determination of the
fact of death.