SB 594, as amended, Wieckowski. Child custody.
Existing law allows a court, in any contested hearing involving child custody or visitation rights, to appoint a child custody evaluator, as specified. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adopt standards for the child custody evaluation.
This bill would specify that a child custody evaluation, investigation, or assessment, and any report conducted pursuant to that determination, may only be considered by the court if the evaluation, investigation, or assessment is conducted in accordance with the minimum requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 3111 of the Family Code is amended to
2read:
(a) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insert In any contested proceeding involving child
4custody or visitation rights, the court may appoint a child custody
P2 1evaluator to conduct a child custody evaluation in cases where the
2court determines it is in the best interests of the child. The child
3custody evaluation shall be conducted in accordance with the
4standards adopted by the Judicial Council pursuant to Section
53117, and all other standards adopted by the Judicial Council
6regarding child custody evaluations. If directed by the court, the
7court-appointed child custody evaluator
shall file a written
8confidential report on his or her evaluation. At least 10 days before
9any hearing regarding custody of the child, the report shall be filed
10with the clerk of the court in which the custody hearing will be
11conducted and served on the parties or their attorneys, and any
12other counsel appointed for the child pursuant to Section 3150. A
13child custody evaluation, investigation, or assessment, and any
14begin insert resultingend insert reportbegin delete conducted pursuant to that determination shallend delete
15begin insert mayend insert be considered by the court only ifbegin delete the evaluation, investigation, begin insert
itend insert is conducted in accordance with the minimum
16or assessmentend delete
17requirements set forth inbegin delete this section in determining custody or begin insert the standards adopted by the Judicial Council
18visitation rights.end delete
19pursuant to Section 3117.end insert
20(2) This subdivision does not preclude the consideration of a
21child custody evaluation report that contains harmless procedural
22errors, technical errors, or both.
23(b) The report shall not be made available other than as provided
24in subdivision (a) or Section 3025.5, or as described in Section
25204 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code or Section 1514.5 of the
26Probate Code. Any information obtained from access to a juvenile
27court case file, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 827 of the
28
Welfare and Institutions Code, is confidential and shall only be
29disseminated as provided by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of
30Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
31(c) The report may be received in evidence on stipulation of all
32interested parties and is competent evidence as to all matters
33contained in the report.
34(d) If the court determines that an unwarranted disclosure of a
35written confidential report has been made, the court may impose
36a monetary sanction against the disclosing party. The sanction
37shall be in an amount sufficient to deter repetition of the conduct,
38and may include reasonable attorney’s fees, costs incurred, or both,
39unless the court finds that the disclosing party acted with substantial
40justification or that other circumstances make
the imposition of
P3 1the sanction unjust. The court shall not impose a sanction pursuant
2to this subdivision that imposes an unreasonable financial burden
3on the party against whom the sanction is imposed. This
4subdivision shall become operative on January 1, 2010.
5(e) The Judicial Council shall, by January 1, 2010, do the
6following:
7(1) Adopt a form to be served with every child custody
8evaluation report that informs the report recipient of the
9confidentiality of the report and the potential consequences for the
10unwarranted disclosure of the report.
11(2) Adopt a rule of court to require that, when a court-ordered
12child custody evaluation report is served on the parties, the form
13specified in paragraph (1) shall be
included with the report.
14(f) For purposes of this section, a disclosure is unwarranted if
15it is done either recklessly or maliciously, and is not in the best
16interests of the child.
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