BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1519
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Date of Hearing: April 14, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 1519
(Committee on Judiciary) - As Introduced March 10, 2015
SUBJECT: FAMILY LAW
KEY ISSUE: TO IMPROVE THE HANDLING OF FAMILY AND JUVENILE LAW
CASES, SHOULD THE LEGISLATURE RATIFY THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL'S
CONVERSION OF 10 SUBORDINATE JUDICIAL OFFICER POSITIONS TO
JUDGES FOR FAMILY AND JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS AND MAKE OTHER
CLARIFYING CHANGES TO THE FAMILY CODE?
SYNOPSIS
This Committee bill makes three non-controversial changes to
family law. First, it clarifies that, in a legal separation
proceeding, preliminary disclosure declarations must be served
on the other party within the timeframe required in dissolution
proceedings. Second, it clarifies the duty of the Department of
Child Support Services with respect to prepaid card accounts,
consistent with the duty of the Employment Development
Department issuing unemployment compensation benefits and county
treasurers issuing public benefit payments. Finally, as
required by statute, the bill ratifies the Judicial Council's
authority to convert 10 subordinate judicial officers (SJOs) to
judgeships in the next year, provided those judges replace SJOs
in family or juvenile law cases. This last provision seeks to
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improve family and juvenile law cases by increasing the
likelihood that these matters are presided over by judges.
There is no known opposition.
SUMMARY: Seeks to improve the handling of family and juvenile
law cases in our courts. Specifically, this bill:
1)In a legal separation proceeding, requires the petitioner to
serve the other party with the required preliminary
declaration of disclosure either concurrently with the
petition for dissolution, or within 60 days of filing the
petition. Requires the respondent to serve the other party
with the preliminary declaration of disclosure either
concurrently with the response to the petition, or within 60
days of filing the response. Allows the time periods to be
extended by written agreement of the parties or by court
order.
2)Provides that the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS)
has no obligation, when electronically depositing a child
support recipient's support into an account of the recipient's
choice, to determine whether the account meets specified
qualifications.
3)Ratifies the authority of the Judicial Council to convert 10
subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in
2015-16, provided the conversion of these positions will
result in judges being assigned to family or juvenile law
assignments previously presided over by a subordinate judicial
officer. Provides that this authority is in addition to the
existing authority provided to convert 16 SJOs to judges.
EXISTING LAW:
1)In order to provide full and accurate disclosure of all assets
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and liabilities in which one or both parties may have an
interest, requires each party to a dissolution or legal
separation proceeding to serve the other party with a
preliminary declaration of disclosure and a final declaration
of disclosure, as provided. (Family Code Section 2103.)
2)In a dissolution proceeding, requires the petitioner to serve
the other party with the preliminary declaration of disclosure
either concurrently with the petition for dissolution, or
within 60 days of filing the petition. Requires the
respondent to serve the other party with the preliminary
declaration of disclosure either concurrently with the
response to the petition, or within 60 days of filing the
response. Allows the time periods to be extended by written
agreement of the parties or by court order. (Family Code
Section 2104.)
3)Existing federal law, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act,
provides a basic framework establishing the rights,
liabilities, and responsibilities of participants in
electronic fund and remittance transfer systems. (15 U.S.C.
Sec. 1693 et seq.)
4)Requires that child support payments, deposited directly into
an account of the recipient's choice, only be deposited into a
"qualifying account," defined as 1) a demand deposit or
savings account at an insured financial institution in the
name of the person entitled to the child support, or 2) a
prepaid card account that meets specified criteria, including
that the account is held at an insured financial institution,
not attached to any credit or overdraft feature that is
automatically repaid from the account, and the issuer provides
the holder with specified consumer protections. (Family Code
Section 17325.)
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5)Prohibits entities which do not comply with the qualifying
provisions in #4), above, from accepting or facilitating the
direct deposits of child support payments. Exempts DCSS from
liability for authorizing a direct deposit of child support
payments into an account that is not "qualifying." (Id.)
6)Requires that unemployment compensation benefit payments
deposited into an account or prepaid card account of the
recipient's choice must be deposited into a "qualifying
account," as defined. Provides that the Employment
Development Department (EDD) has no obligation to determine
whether the account is a "qualifying account." Exempts EDD
from liability for authorizing a direct deposit into a prepaid
card account that is not "qualifying." (Unemployment
Insurance Code Section 1339.1.)
7)Requires that public assistance payments, as defined,
deposited into an account or prepaid card account of the
recipient's choice must be deposited into a "qualifying
account," as defined. Provides that the county treasurer has
no obligation to determine whether the account is a
"qualifying account." Exempts the county treasurer and the
county welfare department from liability for authorizing a
direct deposit into an account that is not "qualifying."
(Welfare & Institutions Code Section 11006.2.)
8)Provides that the Legislature shall prescribe the number of
judges and provide for the officers and employees of each
superior court. Provides that the Legislature may allow the
trial courts to appoint officers such as commissioners to
perform subordinate judicial duties. (California
Constitution, Article VI, Sections 4, 22.)
9)Authorizes the courts to appoint subordinate judicial
officers, and sets forth their duties and titles. (Government
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Code Section 71622.)
10)Authorizes the conversion of 16 subordinate judicial officer
positions in eligible superior courts to judgeships each
fiscal year as specified. Authorizes the Judicial Council to
convert up to an additional 10 SJOs to judgeships each year,
upon vacancy and subsequent legislative authorization, if the
conversion of these additional positions will result in judges
being assigned to family or juvenile law assignments
previously presided over by subordinate judicial officers, but
requires that such authority be ratified by the Legislature by
statutory enactment. (Government Code Sections 69615-16.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS: This Committee bill makes three non-controversial
changes to family law. First, it clarifies that, in a legal
separation proceeding, preliminary disclosure declarations must
be served on the other party within the timeframe required in
dissolution proceedings. Second, it clarifies the duty of the
Department of Child Support Services with respect to prepaid
card accounts, consistent with the duty of the EDD issuing
unemployment compensation benefits and county treasurers issuing
public benefit payments. Finally, as required by statute, the
bill ratifies the Judicial Council's authority to convert 10
SJOs to judgeships in the next year, provided those judges
replace SJOs in family or juvenile law cases. This last
provision seeks to improve family and juvenile law cases by
increasing the likelihood that these matters are presided over
by more directly accountable judges.
Preliminary Disclosure Declarations: As part of a dissolution
or legal separation, spouses must, until assets and liabilities
have been divided, make full disclosure to each other of all
information on all assets in which the community may have an
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interest and all debts for which the community may be liable,
and to provide access to all information, records, and books
that pertain to the value and character of those assets and
debts. To accomplish this, the parties are required to serve
each other with a preliminary disclosure declaration listing the
parties' assets and liabilities, and the percentage of ownership
in each item not solely owned by one or the other party.
Additionally, unless the judgment is by default, no final
judgment as to property rights may be entered unless the parties
have served the required declarations on the other party, or
they have stipulated to a mutual waiver of a final disclosure
declaration, having previously exchanged preliminary disclosure
declarations. In case of a default judgment, only the
petitioner's declaration of service of the preliminary
disclosure is required.
Despite these clear requirements, some parties still try to hide
their assets and delay the proceedings by failing to serve their
disclosure declarations timely. In 2012, the Legislature,
following a recommendation from the Elkins Family Law Task
Force, required that the preliminary disclosure declaration be
served by the petitioner within 60 days of filing of the
petition and by the respondent within 60 days of filing of the
response in dissolution cases. (AB 1406 (Judiciary), Chap. 107,
Stats. 2012.) However that legislation only applied to
dissolution actions and not legal separations, despite the
similar circumstances.
This bill corrects that oversight by requiring that the
timeframe for exchange of Preliminary Declarations of Disclosure
in dissolution cases also applies to legal separation cases -
within 60 days of the filing of the petition or the response.
The Family Law Section of the State Bar supports this provision
of the bill.
Child Support Pre-Paid Card Accounts: In recent years, the
Legislature has allowed a recipient of various government
payments and benefits to have the funds deposited onto prepaid,
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reloadable card accounts, provided those cards comply with
consumer protection standards, including that the account: (1)
is held at an insured financial institution, (2) is not attached
to any credit or overdraft feature, (3) meet certain federal
guidelines for pass-through insurance, and (4) meets all federal
Electronic Funds Transfer Act requirements. In 2013, the
Legislature applied these consumer protection requirements to
unemployment insurance benefits payments and public assistance
payments (AB 1280 (J. Perez), Chap. 557, Stats. 2013), and in
2014 to child support payments dispersed by DCSS (AB 2252 (J.
Perez), Chap. 180, Stats. 2014). The entity that issues the
prepaid card or maintains the prepaid card account is
statutorily responsible for ensuring that the accounts meet the
requirements for acceptance of these government payments.
Those bills specifically exempted EDD, the county treasurer, the
county welfare department and DCSS from liability for
authorizing a deposit into an account that does not meet the
required qualifications. AB 1280 also specifically provided
that EDD and the county have no obligation to determine whether
the account is a "qualifying account." However, AB 2252 failed
to specifically limit DCSS's obligation. This bill, consistent
with the existing law for the other government payments,
clarifies that DCSS has no obligation to determine whether an
account chosen by a child support recipient meets the
qualifications for electronic transfer. Like with unemployment
compensation benefits and public benefits, the duty is on the
issuer of the prepaid card accounts to determine if the accounts
comply with the law and, if not, they may not accept the child
support payments from DCSS.
Subordinate Judicial Officer Conversions: This bill seeks to
improve family and juvenile law cases by ratifying the Judicial
Council's authority to convert 10 SJOs to judgeships in 2015-16,
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provided the conversion of these positions will result in a
judge being assigned to a family or juvenile law assignment
previously presided over by a subordinate judicial officer.
This will increase the likelihood that these matters will be
presided over by judges and not subordinate judicial officers.
According to the Judicial Council, historically SJO positions
were created and funded at the county level to address courts'
needs for judicial-like resources when new judgeships were
pending or not yet authorized by the Legislature. Unlike
judges, SJOs are not directly accountable to the public, but due
to the shortages of judges, are performing some of the most
complex and sensitive judicial duties. Conversion of these
positions to judgeships when they become vacant makes them more
accountable to the public and, the Judicial Council contends,
helps provide better trust and confidence in the courts.
In 2007, AB 159 (Jones), Chap. 722, was enacted to address a
severe shortage in the number of trial court judgeships. At
that time, the Judicial Council noted potentially serious
consequences flowing from this deficiency in judicial resources,
including a significant decrease in Californians' access to the
courts, compromised public safety, an unstable business climate,
and enormous backlogs in some courts that inhibit fair, timely
and equitable justice. That bill, in addition to authorizing 50
additional judges, authorized the conversion of 162 SJOs, upon
vacancy, to judgeships to utilize the judicial resources more
efficiently and properly limit SJOs to subordinate judicial
duties. The stated findings and declarations supporting the
legislation included the following:
It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to restore an appropriate balance between
subordinate judicial officers and judges in the trial
courts by providing for the conversion, as needed, of
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subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships
in courts that assign subordinate judicial officers to
act as temporary judges. The Legislature finds that
these positions must be converted to judgeships in
order to ensure that critical case types, including
family, probate, and juvenile law matters, can be
heard by judges. (Government Code Section 69615.)
In 2002 the Judicial Council identified family and juvenile law
matters among those that are of such a nature as to require
judges, rather than SJOs, to preside over them whenever
possible. This Council policy has been echoed repeatedly.
Among its many recommendations, the Blue Ribbon Commission on
Children in Foster Care recommended that "[c]onsistent with
Judicial Council policy, judges-not subordinate judicial
officers-hear dependency and delinquency cases. Pending a full
transition from subordinate judicial officers to judges (through
reassignment or conversion of subordinate judicial officer
positions to judgeships), presiding judges should continue the
assignment of well-qualified and experienced subordinate
judicial officers to juvenile court."
Recognizing the particular need for judges in family and
juvenile law cases, AB 2763 (Judiciary), Chap. 690, Stats. 2010,
authorized the Judicial Council to convert up to an additional
10 SJOs to judgeships each year, if the conversion of these
additional positions will result in a judge being assigned to a
family or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by an
SJO. However, such authorization must be ratified by the
Legislature. This was done by the Legislature in 2014-15 (AB
2745 (Judiciary), Chap. 311, States. 2014), in 2013-14 (AB 1403
(Judiciary), Chap. 510, Stats. 2013) and 2011-12 (SB 405
(Corbett), Chap. 705, Stats. 2011). This bill seeks to provide
the Judicial Council with that same ratification for 2015-16.
Judicial Council supports this portion of the bill.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Family Law Section of the State Bar
Judicial Council
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334