BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2128|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2128
Author: Achadjian (R)
Amended: 6/6/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Marriage
SOURCE: California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials
DIGEST: This bill provides that the completion of the power of
attorney is the sole determinant as to whether the county
clerk's office or State Registrar may accept the power of
attorney.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Specifies that no particular form for the ceremony of marriage
is required for solemnization of the marriage, but the parties
shall declare, in the physical presence of the person
solemnizing the marriage and necessary witnesses, that they
take each other as spouses. (Fam. Code Sec. 420)
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2)Provides that, notwithstanding the provision above, a member
of the Armed Forces of the United States who is stationed
overseas and serving in a conflict or a war and is unable to
appear for the licensure and solemnization of the marriage may
enter into that marriage by the appearance of an attorney in
fact, commissioned and empowered in writing for that purpose
through a power of attorney, if the following requirements are
met:
the attorney in fact must personally appear at the
county clerk's office with the party who is not stationed
overseas;
the attorney in fact must present the original power of
attorney duly signed by the party stationed overseas and
acknowledged by a notary or witnessed by two officers of
the United States Armed Forces; and
the power of attorney shall state the full given names
at birth, or by court order, of the parties to be married,
and that the power of attorney is solely for the purpose of
authorizing the attorney in fact to obtain a marriage
license on the person's behalf and participate in the
solemnization of the marriage.
1)Provides that the original power of attorney shall be a part
of the marriage certificate upon registration.
This bill additionally provides that the completion of a power
of attorney shall be the sole determinant as to whether the
county clerk's office and the State Registrar will accept the
power of attorney.
Background
To prevent fraud, California has historically had a prohibition
on "marriages by proxy," or, marriages where one party is not
present at the required solemnization and is instead represented
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by an attorney in fact. After extended periods of deployment of
U.S. Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s, the
Legislature enacted SB 7 (Brulte and Burton, Chapter 476,
Statutes of 2004) which allowed members of the armed forces to
marry by proxy if they were serving in a conflict or war. That
bill was "designed to help those serving our country in times of
crises marry and provide needed benefits and recognition to
their loved ones." (Assembly Committee on Judiciary, Analysis of
SB 7 (2003-04 Reg. Sess.) as amended Aug. 12, 2004.)
This bill, seeking to ensure members of the Armed Forces are
able to exercise this privilege, clarifies the county clerk's
and State Registrar's role in evaluating an applicant's request
to marry by proxy.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/17/16)
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (source)
AMVETS-Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
Military Officers Association of America, California Council of
Chapters
VFW-Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Council
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/17/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: In support, the California Association
of Clerks and Election Officials write:
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The issue addressed by AB 2128 is related to years of
uncertainty on the part of the county clerk to determine, with
certainty, whether locations around the world qualify as
"areas of conflict or war." Counties have been receiving
queries regarding specific locations and have not been able to
locate a resource or method to deliver a definitive answer to
their customers as to whether they can use this process.
This bill will amend the Code to clarify that the completion
of the power of attorney shall be the sole determinant as to
whether the county clerk's office and the State Registrar will
accept the power of attorney. This language would bring
certainty to this special privilege and remove the concern
that a marriage license may be rejected later in the process;
leaving the applicant with minimal recourse.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/2/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Wood,
Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines, Roger Hernández, Ridley-Thomas,
Williams
Prepared by:Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
6/17/16 15:03:42
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