Text of CA SB 11 (2008)

skip to content home accessibility FAQ feedback sitemap login x Quick Search: Bill Number Bill Keyword Home Bill Information California Law Publications Other Resources My Subscriptions My Favorites Bill Information >> Bill Search >> Text Bill Text PDF2 Add To My Favorites | Version: 07/05/07 - Amended Assembly 12/04/06 - Introduced SB-11 Domestic partnerships.(2007-2008) Text >> Votes >> History >> Bill Analysis >> Today's Law As Amended >> Compare Versions >> Status >> Comments To Author >> Add To My Favorites >> SHARE THIS: Bill Start Amended IN Assembly July 05, 2007 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 11 Introduced by Senator Migden December 04, 2006 An act to amend Section 297 Sections 297 and 298.5 of the Family Code, and to amend Section 2854 of the Probate Code, relating to domestic partnerships. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 11, as amended, Migden. Domestic partnerships. Existing law provides that 2 unmarried, unrelated adults with a common residence may establish a domestic partnership by filing a declaration with the Secretary of State if both persons are members of the same sex or are over 62 years of age. This bill would delete that latter same-sex or age eligibility requirement, thereby allowing any 2 persons who meet the other, specified criteria to register as domestic partners. The bill would also make a other nonsubstantive, technical, and conforming change changes to an unrelated provision related provisions. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 297 of the Family Code is amended to read: 297. (a) Domestic partners are two adults who have chosen to share one another’s lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring. (b) A domestic partnership shall be established in California when both persons file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State pursuant to this division, and, at the time of filing, all of the following requirements are met: (1) Both persons have a common residence. (2) Neither person is married to someone else or is a member of another domestic partnership with someone else that has not been terminated, dissolved, or adjudged a nullity. (3) The two persons are not related by blood in a way that would prevent them from being married to each other in this state. (4) Both persons are at least 18 years of age. (5) Both persons are capable of consenting to the domestic partnership. (c) “Have a common residence” means that both domestic partners share the same residence. It is not necessary that the legal right to possess the common residence be in both of their names. Two people have a common residence even if one or both have additional residences. Domestic partners do not cease to have a common residence if one leaves the common residence but intends to return. SEC. 2. Section 298.5 of the Family Code is amended to read: 298.5. (a) Two persons desiring to become domestic partners may complete and file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State. (b) The Secretary of State shall register the Declaration of Domestic Partnership in a registry for those partnerships, and shall return a copy of the registered form and a Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership, and except for those opposite sex domestic partners who meet the qualifications described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 297, a copy of the brochure that is made available to county clerks and the Secretary of State by the State Department of Health Services pursuant to Section 358 and distributed to individuals receiving a confidential marriage license pursuant to Section 503, to the domestic partners at the mailing address provided by the domestic partners. (c) No person who has filed a Declaration of Domestic Partnership may file a new Declaration of Domestic Partnership or enter a civil marriage with someone other than their registered domestic partner unless the most recent domestic partnership has been terminated or a final judgment of dissolution or nullity of the most recent domestic partnership has been entered. This prohibition does not apply if the previous domestic partnership ended because one of the partners died. (d) When funding allows, the Secretary of State shall print and make available upon request, pursuant to Section 358, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender specific domestic abuse brochure developed by the State Department of Health Services and made available to the Secretary of State to domestic partners who qualify pursuant to Section 297. SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 2854 of the Probate Code is amended to read: 2854. (a) This chapter does not apply to any public conservator or public guardian with regard to his or her official acts in that capacity. (b) This chapter does not apply to any conservator, guardian, or trustee when the person is related to the conservatee, ward, or trustor by blood, marriage, adoption, registered domestic partnership, or a relationship that satisfies the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 297 of the Family Code. (c) This chapter does not apply to any trustee who is serving for the benefit of not more than three people or not more than three families, or a combination of people or families that does not total more than three. The number of trust beneficiaries does not count for the purposes of calculating if a trustee falls within this exclusion. A trust excluded under subdivision (a) or (b) does not count for the purpose of calculating if a trustee falls within this exclusion. For the purposes of this subdivision, family means people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, registered domestic partnership, or a relationship that satisfies the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 297 of the Family Code. (d) This chapter does not apply to any conservator or guardian who is not required to file information with the clerk of the court pursuant to Section 2340, to any person or entity subject to the oversight of a local government, including an employee of a city, county, or city and county, or to any person or entity subject to the oversight of the state or federal government, including an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of California who acts as trustee of only attorney client trust accounts, as defined in Section 6211 of the Business and Professions Code. (e) This chapter does not apply to any conservator who resided in the same home with the conservatee immediately prior to the condition or event that gave rise to the necessity of a conservatorship. This subdivision does not create any order or preference of appointment, but simply exempts a conservator described by this subdivision from registration. (f) This chapter does not apply to a trustee who is any of the following: (1) Trust companies, as defined in Section 83. (2) FDIC-insured institutions, their holding companies, subsidiaries, or affiliates. For the purposes of this paragraph, “affiliate” means any entity that shares an ownership interest with or that is under the common control of, the FDIC-insured institution. (3) Employees of any entity listed in paragraph (1) or (2) while serving as trustees in the scope of their duties.