Families and children
37 upcoming changes, soonest first.
January 2027 32
Abusers under restraining orders lose the right to decide a victim's burial
Under Marissa's Law, control of a person's remains passes to the next of kin if the funeral home or cemetery knows the person in line was under a domestic violence restraining order protecting the deceased, or a court ruling shows it was against their interests.
California ends marriage and domestic partnership for anyone under 18
People under 18 can no longer get a marriage license or register a domestic partnership in California, even with a parent's consent and a court order, which the old law allowed. The state's annual report on minors' marriages also ends.
California rewrites the legal definition of a family resource center
The state's child abuse prevention law gets a new definition of family resource center: a family-friendly hub offering free or low-cost family support services that respond to community needs and build peer support and social connections among families.
California's statutory power of attorney form adds successor agents and digital asset powers
The state's fill-in power of attorney form is rewritten. It now lets a person name successor agents, nominate their agent as conservator of their estate, and choose whether the agent can manage digital assets and see a list or the content of their messages.
Child abuse interview teams may share records and interview videos with child welfare agencies
Team members at a county's children's advocacy center may now share case records, including video of the child's forensic interview, with child welfare agencies that investigate abuse and neglect. The records stay confidential and may be shared only for interviews, case talks or services.
Child care and preschool forms can be signed electronically
Signatures required under the state's subsidized child care law may be electronic if they meet the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and signed forms may be kept electronically. Child care and preschool contractors' e-signatures must now meet that act's rules.
Child care mental health consultations get new rules for state reimbursement
To be reimbursed, early childhood mental health consultations at state-funded child care and preschool programs no longer need twice-yearly setting assessments and adverse childhood experience screening of each child. Instead, they must use a classroom observation tool at least once a year.
Childcare navigators can refer foster children straight to the county for emergency childcare
Childcare navigators can refer foster children to the county welfare department for the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program, and counties that run the program must decide whether the referred child is eligible.
Counties must compare their rate of placing foster children with relatives each year
Each county must review data every year comparing how often it places foster children with relatives, and Indian children under federal placement preferences, with the statewide average. Counties below average must consult the Center for Excellence in Family Finding on better practices.
Courts may hear late annulment petitions from people forced into marriage
A person whose consent to a marriage was obtained by force may ask a court to accept an annulment petition filed after the usual 4-year deadline, and the court may allow it for good cause. The Judicial Council must update its forms.
Courts may shorten or waive the six-month wait to finalize a divorce
A court may reduce or waive the six-month wait before a divorce is final, for good cause, if the spouses have resolved all material issues. Good cause includes domestic violence, a signed settlement or plans to remarry. Before, courts were only allowed to extend it.
Courts must allow moving a loved one's remains when good cause is shown
When family consent can't be obtained to move remains from a cemetery plot, a person can ask the county superior court for permission. The court must now grant that request when the applicant shows good cause.
Custody mediation notices can be handed out in court and must explain confidentiality
Custody or visitation mediation notices must be written and can be given by court staff, with court papers, by mail or electronically, not only certified mail. Each must say mediation is confidential and that a party alleging domestic violence can ask for separate meetings.
Day care centers in residential areas no longer need state environmental review
A project that is only a day care center in a residential area is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, as centers elsewhere already were. Sites within 3,200 feet of oil or gas extraction or refining, or on protected natural lands, don't qualify.
Domestic violence restraining orders now cover forced marriage
Courts may issue domestic violence protective orders against forced marriage, including against everyone who arranges, officiates, pays for or helps with it, whether or not a marriage took place or is legally valid. Coercive control now includes keeping a party or witness out of court.
Estates must report child support debts of heirs as well as the person who died
An executor or estate lawyer who actually knows the person who died, or an heir or beneficiary, owes court-ordered child support must notify the state child support agency. The old test of having reason to believe is dropped, and no investigation is required.
Foster youth get the right to move belongings in suitcases, not trash bags
Foster youth gain a right to have their belongings moved in suitcases, duffel bags, backpacks or boxes rather than trash bags during placement changes. They also gain a right to reasonable access to their own clothes and personal items.
Foster youth leaving care must be given the last known whereabouts of parents and siblings
County welfare departments must give older foster youth and nonminor dependents the last known whereabouts and contact information of their parents and siblings, along with the family history they already get. The young person can decline it.
Juvenile courts can end or change temporary probate guardianships without new notice
A juvenile court may end or modify a temporary probate guardianship at any hearing without separate notice, if the hearing notice warned of that possibility and the court finds the change is in the child's best interests.
More guardians and conservators of small estates can skip filing court accountings
Courts may excuse a guardian or conservator from filing accountings when the estate, not counting the home, is worth under $30,000, up from $15,000, and monthly income other than public benefits is under $3,200, up from $2,000.
Parents can safely surrender babies up to 30 days old, up from 72 hours
California's safe-surrender law, which lets a parent or lawful custodian hand a baby to staff at a hospital or designated site without being prosecuted for abandonment, now covers babies up to 30 days old instead of 72 hours.
Parents' lawyers must be told of confirmed abuse in their child's foster placement
When a county welfare agency confirms abuse or neglect in a foster or group home placement, or removes a child from one for it, it must notify the parents' dependency attorney, the tribe for an Indian child, and attorneys for other children in that placement.
People adopted abroad can file their own readoption to get a California birth record
An adoptee of any age may petition to be readopted in California when both the adoptive parents and the agency failed to file. Courts may waive missing documents if the adoptee proves identity, that the papers can't be obtained, and the basic facts.
Probation and child welfare agencies may issue work permits to foster and court-ward teens
County probation departments may issue work permits to juvenile court wards, and county child welfare agencies may issue them to dependent children of the court, when the job is in the minor's best interest. Schools and employers must accept these permits.
Public guardians must confirm referrals within 2 business days and finish their investigations
County public guardians, who already must start investigating a conservatorship or guardianship referral within 2 business days, must now acknowledge it in that time and finish within a reasonable period, deciding whether a temporary or general conservatorship is warranted.
Social workers must seek emergency care for dependent children who urgently need it
A county social worker who sees that a child in the dependency system needs immediate emergency care must now take reasonable steps to get it, such as calling emergency services, and must tell an Indian child's tribe. Child welfare social workers are also defined as non-officers under the records-tampering law.
State may give childcare providers priority for space in new or remodeled state offices
When the state builds, buys or substantially remodels an office building, licensed childcare providers may get priority to run a daycare center there at a state-set rent. Children of workers in the building come first, then other state workers, then families living within five miles.
State must issue new birth certificates within 11 weeks after an adoption
The State Registrar must create a new birth certificate within 11 weeks of getting an adoption report or readoption order. If papers are missing, it must ask for them within 14 weeks and may return the file if they don't arrive in 90 days.
State reviews of county child welfare must track anti-poverty help for foster youth over 18
The state's review system for county child welfare agencies must include measures of how nonminor dependents, young adults still in foster care, use programs meant to reduce poverty. The Department of Social Services must review county performance on those measures.
Violent felony denies reunification services only if the victim was a child or co-parent
A juvenile court may deny family reunification services to a parent convicted of a violent felony only if the victim was a child or someone the parent shared a child with at the time. Before, any violent felony conviction was enough.
Youth programs need a parent's written OK to use kids' photos in public marketing
Camps, leagues and other youth programs not run by schools need a parent's written consent to publicly use a child's photo, video or voice, can't require it to enroll, and may never sell it. Parents may sue for up to $2,500 per child, or $5,000 for repeat offenses.
Youth transport escort rules now cover trips to facilities inside California
Companies paid to transport minors to residential facilities or youth programs must use trustline-registered staff for trips within California, not only out of state. They need written safety policies and may use restraints only to prevent imminent serious harm when nothing less restrictive works.
July 2027 3
CalWORKs eligibility no longer depends on parents working under 100 hours
CalWORKs drops the rule that a parent must work under 100 hours in four weeks for a child to count as lacking support. Hours no longer matter if the family is under the income limits. It starts later if the welfare computer system isn't ready.
CalWORKs ends the rule that an unrelated man living with a family must pay toward it
CalWORKs families no longer lose aid because an unrelated adult man living in the home must make a financial contribution to them. The change can start later than the date shown if the state's welfare computer system is not ready.
Parents' birthplaces move to the confidential part of California birth certificates
The birthplace of each parent is no longer printed in the public part of a new birth certificate. It goes in the confidential medical and social section, alongside items such as race and ethnicity of the parents.
January 2028 1
Public libraries can't require a parent present for a 16- or 17-year-old's card
Public libraries may not require a parent or guardian to be present to issue a library card to a California resident aged 16 or 17. Libraries may still require a parent's consent or signature unless the teen is emancipated.
July 2028 1
Paid family leave for military family needs expands to training and stateside duty
Paid family leave for needs tied to a relative's military service will cover duty during training, deployments that are not overseas, and state active duty for reservists, not only foreign deployment. It may start sooner, once the state's claims system is updated.