Title FAM, California Fam. Code

(a) An adoption service provider shall also witness the signature of the adoption placement agreement and offer to interview the birth parent after the placement of the child with prospective adoptive parents. The interview shall occur within 10 working days after the placement o…

(a) Any of the following adult persons who desire to adopt a child may, for that purpose, file an adoption request in a county authorized by Section 8609.5: (1) A person who is related to the child or the child’s half sibling by blood or affinity, including all relatives whose st…

(a) During the pendency of an adoption proceeding: (1) The child proposed to be adopted shall not be concealed from the agency that is investigating the adoption, or from the court with jurisdiction over the adoption proceeding. (2) The child shall not be removed from the county …

(a) Whenever the petitioners move to withdraw the petition for the adoption or to dismiss the proceeding, the clerk of the court in which the proceeding is pending shall immediately notify the department at Sacramento of the action. The department or the delegated county adoption…

At the hearing, if the court sustains the recommendation of the department or delegated county adoption agency that the child be removed from the home of the petitioners because the department or agency recommends denial or if the petitioners move to withdraw the petition or if t…

The department or delegated county adoption agency shall accept the consent of the birth parents to the adoption of the child by the petitioners and, before filing its report with the court, shall ascertain whether the child is a proper subject for adoption and whether the propos…

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), within 180 days after receiving 50 percent of the fee, the department or delegated county adoption agency shall investigate the proposed independent adoption and, after the remaining balance of the fee is paid, submit to the cou…

(a) The department or delegated county adoption agency shall interview the petitioners within 45 working days, excluding legal holidays, after the department or delegated county adoption agency receives 50 percent of the investigation fee together with a stamped file copy of the …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whenever a petition is filed under this chapter for the adoption of a child, the petitioner shall pay a nonrefundable fee to the department or to the delegated county adoption agency for the cost of investigating the adoption peti…

(a) The department or delegated county adoption agency shall require each person who files an adoption petition to be fingerprinted and shall secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency any criminal record of that person to determine if the person has ever been convicted of…

(a) A licensed private or public adoption agency of the state of the petitioners’ residency may certify prospective adoptive parents by a preplacement evaluation that contains a finding that an individual is suited to be an adoptive parent. (b) The preplacement evaluation shall i…

Any request by a birth parent or birth parents for payment by the prospective adoptive parents of attorney’s fees, medical fees and expenses, counseling fees, or living expenses of the birth mother shall be in writing. The birth parent or parents shall, by first-class mail or oth…

At or before the time a consent to adoption is signed, the department or delegated county adoption agency shall advise the birth parent signing the consent, verbally and in writing, that the birth parent may, at any time in the future, request from the department or agency, all k…

(a) Except as provided in Section 7662, the consent of the birth parent or parents who did not place the child for adoption, as described in Section 8801.3, to the adoption shall be signed in the presence of an agent of the department or of a delegated county adoption agency on a…

(a) After a consent to the adoption is signed by the birth parent or parents pursuant to Section 8801.3 or 8814, the birth parent or parents signing the consent shall have 30 days to take one of the following actions: (1) Sign and deliver to the department or delegated county ado…

(a) Once the revocable consent to adoption has become permanent as provided in Section 8814.5, the consent to the adoption by the prospective adoptive parents may not be withdrawn. (b) Before the time when the revocable consent becomes permanent as provided in Section 8814.5, the…

In an independent adoption where the consent of the birth parent or parents is not necessary, the department or delegated county adoption agency shall, before the hearing of the petition, file its consent to the adoption with the clerk of the court in which the petition is filed.…

(a) A written report on the child’s medical background, and if available, the medical background of the child’s biological parents so far as ascertainable, shall be made by the department or delegated county adoption agency as part of the study required by Section 8806. (b) The r…

(a) The department shall adopt a statement to be presented to the birth parents at the time the consent to adoption is signed and to prospective adoptive parents at the time of the home study. The statement shall, in a clear and concise manner and in words calculated to ensure th…

When the parental rights of a birth parent are terminated pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 7660) of Part 3 of Division 12 or Part 4 (commencing with Section 7800) of Division 12, the department or delegated county adoption agency shall send a written notice to the b…

(a) The birth parent or parents or the petitioner may appeal in either of the following cases: (1) If for a period of 180 days from the date of paying 50 percent of the fee, or upon the expiration of any extension of the period granted by the court, the department or delegated co…

When any report or findings are submitted to the court by the department or a delegated county adoption agency, a copy of the report or findings, whether favorable or unfavorable, shall be given to the petitioner’s attorney in the proceeding, if the petitioner has an attorney of …

(a) If the findings of the department or delegated county adoption agency are that the home of the petitioners is not suitable for the child or that the required consents are not available and the department or agency recommends that the petition be denied, or if the petitioners …

The prospective adoptive parents and the child proposed to be adopted shall appear before the court pursuant to Sections 8612 and 8613. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

A right of reimbursement provided by this part is subject to the following provisions: (a) The right arises regardless of which spouse applies the property to the satisfaction of the debt, regardless of whether the property is applied to the satisfaction of the debt voluntarily o…

(a) Any person who has been adopted under this part may, upon written notice to the adoptive parent, file a petition to terminate the relationship of parent and child. The petition shall state the name and address of the petitioner, the name and address of the adoptive parent, th…

(a) In addition to the contents required by Section 412.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the summons shall contain a temporary restraining order: (1) Restraining both parties from removing the minor child or children of the parties, if any, from the state, or from applying for …

Nothing in Section 2040 adversely affects the rights, title, and interest of a purchaser for value, encumbrancer for value, or lessee for value who is without actual knowledge of the restraining order. (Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 219, Sec. 106.7. Effective January 1, 1994.)

(a) A child, the child’s natural mother, a person presumed to be the child’s parent under subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 7611, a person seeking to be adjudicated as a parent or donor under Section 7613, an adoption agency to whom the child has been relinquished, or a pro…

Regardless of its terms, an agreement between an alleged father or a presumed parent and the other parent or child does not bar an action under this chapter. (Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 510, Sec. 9. (AB 1403) Effective January 1, 2014.)

An action under this chapter may be brought, an order or judgment may be entered before the birth of the child, and enforcement of that order or judgment shall be stayed until the birth of the child. (Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 806, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2007.)

(a) The local child support agency may, in the local child support agency’s discretion, bring an action under this chapter in any case in which the local child support agency believes it to be appropriate. (b) The Department of Child Support Services may review the current practi…

(a) The child may, if under the age of 12 years, and shall, if 12 years of age or older, be made a party to the action. If the child is a minor and a party to the action, the child shall be represented by a guardian ad litem appointed by the court. The guardian ad litem need not …

In any action brought pursuant to this article, if the alleged father is present in court for the action, the court shall inform the alleged father of the alleged father’s right to have genetic testing performed to determine the biological parentage of the child. The court shall …

The judgment or order of the court determining the existence or nonexistence of the parent and child relationship is determinative for all purposes except for actions brought pursuant to Section 270 of the Penal Code. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1…

The judgment or order may contain any other provision directed against the appropriate party to the proceeding, concerning the duty of support, the custody and guardianship of the child, visitation privileges with the child, the furnishing of bond or other security for the paymen…

The procedure in an action under this part to change the name of a minor or adult child for whom a parent and child relationship is established pursuant to Section 7636, upon application in accordance with Title 8 (commencing with Section 1275) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Proc…

If the judgment or order of the court is at variance with the child’s birth certificate, the court shall order that a new birth certificate be issued as prescribed in Article 2 (commencing with Section 102725) of Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 102 of the Health and Safety Code. …

The court may order reasonable fees of counsel, experts, and the child’s guardian ad litem, and other costs of the action and pretrial proceedings, including genetic testing, to be paid by the parties, excluding any governmental entity, in proportions and at times determined by t…

(a) If there is a voluntary declaration of paternity in place, or parentage or a duty of support has been acknowledged or adjudicated under this part or under prior law, the obligation of the parent may be enforced in the same or other proceedings by any of the following: (1) The…

The court has continuing jurisdiction to modify or set aside a judgment or order made under this part. A judgment or order relating to an adoption may only be modified or set aside in the same manner and under the same conditions as an order of adoption may be modified or set asi…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law concerning public hearings and records, a hearing or trial held under this part may be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than those necessary to the action or proceeding. Except as provided in subdivision (b), all papers…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law concerning public hearings and records, a hearing or trial held under this part for an action filed on or after January 1, 2023, under Section 7613, subdivision (f) of Section 7630, or Part 7 (commencing with Section 7960), may be held in closed …

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, an action for child custody and support and for other relief as provided in Section 7637 may be filed based upon a voluntary declaration of parentage as provided in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 7570) of Part 2. (b) Except as provided in Se…

During the pendency of the proceeding, on application of a party in the manner provided by Part 4 (commencing with Section 240) of Division 2, the court may issue ex parte any of the following orders: (a) An order restraining any person from transferring, encumbering, hypothecati…

(a) Any interested person may bring an action to determine the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relationship. Insofar as practicable, the provisions of this division applicable to the father and child relationship apply. (b) A woman is presumed to be the natural mo…