BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1403
Author: Assembly Judiciary Committee
Amended: 7/8/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/25/13
AYES: Evans, Walters, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-1, 8/30/13
AYES: De Le�n, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 65-11, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Family law
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes technical and clarifying changes to
the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) to codify case law, and makes
the UPAs provisions gender neutral where appropriate. This bill
also authorizes the Judicial Council (Council) to convert 10
subordinate judicial officer (SJO) positions to judgeships in
the 2013-14 year, if the conversion results in a judge being
assigned to a family law or juvenile law assignment, as
specified.
ANALYSIS :
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1. Existing law, the UPA, defines a parent and child
relationship as the legal relationship existing between a
child and the child's natural or adoptive parents incident to
which the law confers or imposes rights, privileges, duties
and obligations. The law provides that a parent and child
relationship includes the mother and child relationship and
the father and child relationship.
Existing law provides that a man is a presumed father if,
among other things: (1) he was married to the child's mother
and the child was born within 300 days of the marriage; (2)
he attempted to marry the child's mother; or (3) he holds the
child out as his own.
Existing law requires that the paternity presumptions be
applied gender neutrally.
Existing law provides that, if two or more paternity
presumptions conflict with one another, the presumption that
is founded on the weightier considerations of policy and
logic controls, and further provides that a presumption of
parentage is rebutted by a judgment establishing paternity of
the child by another man.
Existing law provides that paternity may be established by
voluntary declaration for unmarried parents, or through a
civil action brought by any interested party, as specified.
This bill codifies case law with regards to the UPA, and
makes the UPA's provisions gender neutral where appropriate.
2. Existing law provides that the Legislature prescribe the
number of judges and provide for the officers and employees
of each superior court, and provides that the Legislature may
provide for the trial courts to appoint officers such as
commissioners to perform subordinate judicial duties.
Existing law authorizes the courts to appoint SJOs, and sets
forth their duties and titles.
Existing law authorizes the conversion of 16 SJO positions in
eligible superior courts to judgeships each fiscal year as
specified. Existing law further authorizes the Council to
convert up to an additional 10 SJOs to judgeships each year,
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upon vacancy and subsequent legislative authorization, if the
conversion of these additional positions results in a judge
being assigned to a family or juvenile law assignment
previously presided over by a SJO, but requires that such
authority be ratified by the Legislature by statutory
enactment.
This bill ratifies the authority of the Council to convert 10
SJOs to judgeships in 2013-14, provided the conversion of
these positions result in judges being assigned to family or
juvenile law assignments previously presided over by a SJO,
and provides that this authority is in addition to the
existing authority provided to convert 16 SJOs to judges.
This bill includes language to prevent chaptering out issues
with SB 274 (Leno).
Background
The UPA was part of a package of legislation introduced in 1975
(SB 347 (Beilenson), Chapter 1244, Statutes of 1975) to
eliminate the legal distinction between legitimate and
illegitimate children. The UPA instead focuses on the "parent
and child relationship," defined as "the legal relationship
existing between a child and his natural or adoptive parents
incident to which the law confers or imposes rights, privileges,
duties, and obligations. It includes the mother and child
relationship and the father and child relationship." (FAM
Section 7601.) The law further provides that "the parent and
child relationship extends equally to every child and to every
parent, regardless of the marital status of the parents." (FAM
Section 7602.) This bill codifies changes to the UPA that have
been established by case law since its enactment.
Additionally, in a 2010 report the Council analyzed the need for
more judges in California's courts. The Council compared the
amount of judges necessary for court operation with the amount
of judicial positions authorized and funded, and determined that
there was a shortfall of 14%. Existing law permits litigants to
stipulate to the use of an attorney, appointed by the trial
court, to serve as a temporary judge to preside over their
matter. These temporary judges are known as SJOs. According to
the Council, the current shortfall in available judges has led
to SJOs spending an average of 55% of their time working as
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temporary judges, and in large courts, that number approaches
75% to 80%.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, annual costs
of up to $300,000 (General Fund*) for the conversion of 10 SJOs
to judgeships, based on the salary and benefit differential of
the two positions. The Council has indicated these costs will
be funded through the reallocation of funds in the TCTF.
*Trial Court Trust Fund (TCTF)
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/13)
Association of Certified Family Law Specialists
Children's Advocacy Institute
Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State Bar
Judicial Council of California
National Center for Lesbian Rights
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
The Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) sets forth how the
relationships between parents and their children are legally
established. Unfortunately, while the California Supreme
Court has determined that our parentage laws can recognize
parents of the same gender, our statutes have not been
updated, so anyone reading just the statutes would not
understand the law. Unrepresented family law litigants have
an especially hard time understanding these laws when our code
provisions don't reflect our laws.
Consistent with the law as established by the California
Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal, this bill clarifies
and updates the UPA to reflect the actual law that applies.
In particular, this bill makes the UPA, consistent with
well-established case law, gender neutral, recognizing that a
woman can be a presumed parent and that a child may have more
than one parent of the same sex.
Additionally, the Judicial Council has identified family and
juvenile law cases as among those most important for judges,
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rather than SJOs, to preside over. Unlike judges, SJOs are
not directly accountable to the public. Unfortunately, due to
the shortages of judges, SJOs today are performing some of the
most complex and sensitive judicial duties, including
presiding over family and juvenile law matters. Conversion of
these positions to judgeships when they become vacant makes
them both more accountable to the public and helps provide
better trust and confidence in the courts.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 65-11, 5/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly,
Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall,
Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,
Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Grove, Logue, Mansoor, Morrell,
Olsen, Patterson, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Bigelow, Holden, Vacancy
AL:k 8/30/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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