BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 302|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 302
Author: Scott (D)
Amended: 5/25/05
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/26/05
AYES: Dunn, Ackerman, Cedillo, Escutia, Figueroa, Kuehl
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrow
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Adoption
SOURCE : Academy of California Adoption Lawyers
DIGEST : This bill makes various changes to statutes
relating to adoptions.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law provides that a man may be a presumed father
if certain conditions are met, and provides that this
presumption of a father-child relationship may be rebutted.
Existing law provides that a child, the child's natural
mother, or a presumed father may bring an action to
determine whether there exists a father-child relationship
or not.
This bill permits an adoption agency to whom the child has
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been or is proposed to be relinquished, or a person who is
a prospective adoptive parent, to bring an action to
establish paternity or for the purpose of declaring the
nonexistence of the father-child relationship.
Existing law generally provides that where a birth mother
has relinquished for, or consents to an adoption, a child
having a presumed father may not be adopted without the
presumed father's consent, if living.
This bill provides that the consent of a presumed father is
not required for the child to be adopted, unless he became
a presumed father before the mother's relinquishment or
consent to adoption of the child became irrevocable, or
before the mother's parental rights have been terminated.
Existing law requires, in a step parent adoption, the
consent of either or both birth parents to be signed before
the county clerk, probation officer, qualified court
investigator, or county welfare department employee, who
shall immediately file the consent with the clerk of the
court where the adoption petition is filed.
Existing law permits the consent by a birth parent who is
outside this state to be signed before a notary or other
person authorized to perform notarial acts.
This bill permits the signing of the consent by either or
both birth parents, in a step parent adoption, to be
acknowledged by a notary public.
Existing law specifies the procedure to be followed, and
the persons to whom notice must be given, for a hearing to
terminate parental rights to a dependent child. The
hearing on termination of parental rights usually precedes
the permanent placement of the child, whether into adoption
or guardianship.
This bill authorizes the court to order publication of the
notice to terminate parental rights to any unknown parent,
as specified.
The bill provides that if the identity of one or both of
the parents of the child is unknown, or the name of one or
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both of the parents is uncertain then that fact shall be
set forth, in the affidavit and the court shall issue an
order dispensing with notice to a natural parent or
possible natural parent under this section if, after
inquiry and a determination that there has been due
diligence in attempting to identify the unknown parent, the
court is unable to identify the natural parent and no
person has appeared claiming to be the natural parent.
After a determination that there has been due diligence in
attempting to identify an unknown parent the court shall
consider whether publication notice would be likely to lead
to actual notice to the unknown parent. The court may
order publication notice if, on the basis of all
information before the court, the court determines that
notice by publication is likely to lead to actual notice to
the parent. If publication notice to an unknown parent is
ordered, the court shall order the published citation to be
directed to either the father or mother, or both, of the
child, and to all persons claiming to be the father or
mother of the child, naming and otherwise describing the
child. An order of publication pursuant to this paragraph
shall be based on an affidavit describing efforts made to
identify the unknown parent or parents. If the court
determines there has been due diligence in attempting to
identify the unknown parent, the court may order notice by
publication pursuant to this section no less than 60 or
more than 75 days prior to the hearing. Service made by
publication pursuant to this paragraph shall require the
unknown parent or parents to appear at the date, time, and
place stated in the citation. Publication shall be made
once a week for four consecutive weeks.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/25/05)
Academy of California Adoption Lawyers (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT :
The sponsor of this bill, the Academy of California
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Adoption Lawyers (ACAL), states that this bill addresses
some technical and some unresolved legal issues relating to
the process of adoptions.
This is ACAL's annual "technical cleanup bill" to make
substantive changes in the law to facilitate the adoption
process. The issues that the sponsor determined to address
in this bill have arisen in the field, and reflect the
solutions offered by practitioners in this specialized
area.
According to the author's office, current law allows birth
fathers to step forward very late in the adoption process
(after birth mother's consent has become irrevocable),
after having had no involvement with their child, and
without being named on a child's birth certificate, only to
stop the adoption by marrying the birth mother. "This
scenario," the author's office states, "is rare, but
disruptive" of the adoption process.
This bill prevents a father from gaining "presumed father"
status by marrying the mother in a last-minute attempt to
stop the adoption. It will not prevent a father from
asserting his rights as an "alleged father" whose rights
may more easily be terminated in order for the adoption to
proceed.
RJG:do 5/25/05 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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