Title FAM, California Fam. Code

A motion or other request for relief made in a child custody proceeding or to enforce a child custody determination that was commenced before the effective date of this part is governed by the law in effect at the time the motion or other request was made. (Added by Stats. 1999, …

During the pendency of any proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the parties or under Division 8 (commencing with Section 3000) (custody of children) or in any proceeding where there is at issue the support of a minor child or a child for whom support …

(a) An order for child support entered pursuant to this chapter continues in effect until the order (1) is terminated by the court or (2) terminates by operation of law pursuant to Sections 3900, 3901, 4007, and 4013. (b) Subject to Section 3602, subdivision (a) applies notwithst…

Unless the order specifies otherwise, an order made pursuant to this chapter is not enforceable during any period in which the parties have reconciled and are living together. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

An order made pursuant to this chapter may be modified or terminated at any time except as to an amount that accrued before the date of the filing of the notice of motion or order to show cause to modify or terminate. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1…

An order made pursuant to this chapter does not prejudice the rights of the parties or the child with respect to any subsequent order which may be made. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

In any proceeding where a court makes or has made an order requiring the payment of spousal support, the court may direct that payment shall be made to the county officer designated by the court for that purpose. The court may include in its order made pursuant to this section an…

(a) In a proceeding where the court has entered an order pursuant to Section 4350, the court may also refer the matter of enforcement of the spousal support order to the local child support agency. The local child support agency may bring those enforcement proceedings it determin…

(a) Insofar as expenses of the county officer designated by the court and expenses of the local child support agency incurred in the enforcement of an order referred by the court under this chapter exceed any service charge imposed under Section 279 of the Welfare and Institution…

This chapter may be cited as the Child Support Delinquency Reporting Law. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

(a) The Department of Child Support Services shall administer a statewide automated system for the reporting of court-ordered child support obligations to credit reporting agencies. (b) The department shall design and develop standards for the system in conjunction with represent…

(a) If a support order entitled to recognition under this part has not been issued, a responding tribunal of this state with personal jurisdiction over the parties may issue a support order if: (1) the individual seeking the order resides outside this state; or (2) the support en…

A tribunal of this state authorized to determine parentage of a child may serve as a responding tribunal in a proceeding to determine parentage of a child brought under this part or a law or procedure substantially similar to this part. (Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 493, Sec. 5. (SB…

The presumption that property acquired during marriage is community property does not apply to any property to which legal or equitable title is held by a person at the time of the person’s death if the marriage during which the property was acquired was terminated by dissolution…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, whenever any real or personal property, or any interest therein or encumbrance thereon, was acquired before January 1, 1975, by a married woman by an instrument in writing, the following presumptions apply, and are conclusive in f…

(a) Intercountry adoption services described in this chapter shall be exclusively provided by private adoption agencies licensed by the department specifically to provide these services. As a condition of licensure to provide intercountry adoption services, any private full-servi…

As used in this chapter: (a) “Accredited agency” means an agency that has been accredited by an accrediting entity, in accordance with the standards in Subpart F (commencing with Section 96.29) of Part 96 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations, to provide adoption service…

The department shall adopt regulations to administer the intercountry adoption program. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

For intercountry adoptions that will be finalized in this state, the licensed adoption agency shall provide all of the following services: (a) Assessment of the suitability of the applicant’s home. (b) Placement of the foreign-born child in an approved home. (c) Postplacement sup…

(a) For each intercountry adoption finalized in this state, the licensed adoption agency shall assume all responsibilities for the child including care, custody, and control as if the child had been relinquished for adoption in this state from the time the child left the child’s …

For an intercountry adoption that will be finalized in a foreign country, the licensed adoption agency shall provide all of the following services: (a) Assessment of the suitability of the applicant’s home. (b) Certification to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Servic…

Licensed adoption agencies may work only with domestic and foreign adoption agencies with whom they have written agreements that specify the responsibilities of each. The agreements may not violate any statute or regulation of the United States or of this state. (Enacted by Stats…

Nothing in this chapter may be construed to prohibit the licensed adoption agency from entering into an agreement with the prospective adoptive parents to share or transfer financial responsibility for the child. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 199…

The costs incurred by a licensed adoption agency pursuant to programs established by this chapter shall be funded by fees charged by the agency for services required by this chapter. The agency’s fee schedule is required to be approved by the department initially and whenever it …

(a) A licensed adoption agency shall require each person filing an application for adoption 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 crime other than …

(a) An agency may not place a child for adoption unless 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, has been submitted to the prospective adoptive parents and they have ack…

(a) In no event may a child who has been placed for adoption be removed from the county in which the child was placed, by any person who has not petitioned to adopt the child, without first obtaining the written consent of the licensed adoption agency responsible for the child. (…

As a condition of placement, the prospective adoptive parents shall file a petition to adopt the child under Section 8912 within 30 days of placement. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

(a) An international adoption or readoption request may be filed by a resident of this state in a county authorized by Section 8609.5. The court clerk shall immediately notify the department at Sacramento in writing of the pendency of the proceeding and of any subsequent action t…

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.)

If the licensed adoption agency is a party to or joins in the adoption petition, it shall submit a full report of the facts of the case to the court. The department may also submit a report. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

When any report or findings are submitted to the court by a licensed 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 record, or to the petition…

(a) If the petitioners move to withdraw the adoption petition or to dismiss the proceeding, the court clerk shall immediately notify the department at Sacramento of the action. The licensed adoption agency shall file a full report with the court recommending a suitable plan for t…

(a) If the licensed adoption agency finds that the home of the petitioners is not suitable for the child or that the required agency consents are not available and the agency recommends that the petition be denied, or if the petitioners desire to withdraw the petition and the age…

At the hearing, if the court sustains the recommendation that the child be removed from the home of the petitioners because the licensed adoption agency has recommended denial or the petitioners desire to withdraw the petition or the court dismisses the petition and does not retu…

(a) In order to establish a record by which an adoptee can prove the facts of the foreign adoption, a state resident who has finalized an intercountry adoption in a foreign country shall file the petition to readopt within the earlier of 60 days of the adoptee’s entry into the Un…

(a) An intercountry adoption agency shall report the arrival of an adoptee whose adoption was finalized in a foreign country to the department within 14 calendar days of the adoptee’s arrival in California. (b) If the adoption agency fails to report to the department pursuant to …

(a) A child who was adopted as part of a sibling group and who has been separated from the child’s sibling or siblings through readoption by a resident of this state may petition the court to enforce any agreement for visitation to which the separate adoptive families of the sibl…

(a) A complaint against an accredited agency or approved person in connection with a convention adoption shall be filed according to the procedures set forth in Subpart J (commencing with Section 96.68) of Part 96 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (b) Each private f…

(a) For cases in which a child is emigrating from California to a convention country, an accredited agency or approved person providing any adoption service described in this chapter, shall perform all of the following: (1) A background study on the child prepared in accordance w…

A Hague adoption certificate or, in outgoing cases, a Hague custody declaration, obtained pursuant to Part 97 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations shall be recognized as a final valid adoption for purposes of all state and local laws. (Added by Stats. 2007, Ch. 583, Sec…

Except as otherwise provided by statute, this part governs the liability of separate property and property in the community estate and the personal liability of a married person for a debt enforced on or after January 1, 1985, regardless of whether the debt was incurred before, o…

The provisions of this part that govern reimbursement apply to all debts, regardless of whether satisfied before, on, or after January 1, 1985. (Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10. Operative January 1, 1994.)

(a) A married person is not liable for any injury or damage caused by the other spouse except in cases where the married person would be liable therefor if the marriage did not exist. (b) The liability of a married person for death or injury to person or property shall be satisfi…

Each local child support agency shall maintain a complaint resolution process. The department shall specify by regulation, no later than July 1, 2001, uniform forms and procedures that each local child support agency shall use in resolving all complaints received from custodial a…

(a) A custodial or noncustodial parent who is dissatisfied with the local child support agency’s resolution of a complaint shall be accorded an opportunity for a state hearing when one or more of the following actions or failures to take action by the department or the local chil…