The following initiative was written sponsored by

Coalition of Parents Support (Cops)

California Family Law Reform Act

The people of California find and declare that it is the public policy of this state and in the best interest of children to assure children frequent and continuing contact with both parents when parents have dissolved their marriage or relationship with each other. It is further recognized by the people of the State of California that it is in the best interest of children for the family courts to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of child rearing. Hereinafter California Family Courts are required, through their decisions and by order, to ensure that children have the opportunity to spend a substantial amount of time with both parents, which is in keeping with the best interest of the child.

Therefore:

1. In any judicial proceeding concerning any issue of child custody, the court shall order joint legal custody with joint and equal physical custody to both parents unless:

a) there is a written agreement between the parents to the contrary; [or]

b) a parent has been convicted of a felony under a Federal or any State's Penal Code which the court finds, in its discretion, places the child at risk; [or]

c) a parent abandons the child(ren); is physically or mentally cruel to the child(ren); or does not provide food, clothing or shelter for the child(ren) while the child(ren) are in their care, which the court finds, in its discretion, places the child at risk: [or]

d) there is a substantiated claim of substance or alcohol abuse under existing Family Code section 3011(d), which the court finds, in its discretion, places the child at risk.

In any motion requesting modification of parenting time, the court shall be required to meet a standard of clear and convincing proof that such modification is warranted and is properly supported by evidence.

2. All proceedings within the Family Court shall be conducted under the California Evidence Code, Section 300 et. seq.

3. Each parent shall submit a parenting plan to the court with his or her moving or responsive papers. If the parents cannot agree to a parenting plan, the judge shall select the parenting plan that best allows the child(ren) to have equal time with both parents.

4. Parenting plans shall be designated for minimum periods of two years for the benefit of the child (ren)'s stability, and automatically renewed, absent a change of circumstances.

Parenting time shall exclude actual school time, and shall also exclude time when the child (ren) are in day care provided by someone other than one of the parents.

The court shall have the discretion to consider reasonable temporary unequal parenting time during the time the infant is breast feeding with the mother. In recognition of the importance of the infant's early need to bond with the father, the court shall order regular and substantial parenting time to each parent during this period.

5. In the interest of protecting the best interest of children, the court may modify an accused party's parenting time when they have been accused of a crime as noted in section 1(b) and a formal written complaint has been filed with the proper authorities. However, unless formal criminal charges are filed against the accused by the appropriate agency within ninety (90) days of the original filing date of the complaint, such complaint shall be deemed to be without merit.

During the ninety (90) day investigation period, if the court determines supervised parenting time is warranted, preference shall be given to supervised parenting time in an environment familiar to the child(ren) and/or supervised party. In the event that no formal criminal changes are filed within the said ninety (90) day period, full equal parenting rights under section 1 above shall be granted by the court.

6. A false allegation of neglect or abuse for the purpose of depriving a child of access to a parent shall constitute a criminal misdemeanor, and the State of California shall amend the Penal Code accordingly. Any person making a false allegation with the intent of depriving a child of access to a parent shall be referred by the court to the district attorney for prosecution for the commission of a criminal misdemeanor. Any person convicted of making a false allegation, or to have caused a false allegation to be made with the intent of depriving a child of access to a parent, shall be held financially liable for all costs related to the defense and exoneration of the falsely accused party.

7. In the event that a parent willfully denies co-parenting time to the other parent in violation of the court-adopted parenting plan without good cause, the court shall order the offending parent to complete a private fee-paid class addressing shared-parenting time issues, at the offending party's expense, with proof of completion filed with the court within ninety (90) days of such order.

Upon subsequent violations of denied co-parenting time without good cause, the offending parent shall be ordered to perform community service equivalent to the co-parenting hours denied, and the offended parent and child(ren) shall be entitled to compensatory time for those hours denied.

If there are repeated incident(s), which violate the co-parenting time without good cause, the offending parent shall be subject to a criminal misdemeanor charge of Willful Crueltv under Penal Code section 11165.3, and shall be referred by the court to the District Attorney for prosecution.

8. In the event that a parent, without good cause, exhibits a pattern of willful disregard for the parenting plan by not fulfilling their obligations under said plan, the court may, in its discretion, modify the terms of the existing plan to reflect the actual level of responsibility and commitment demonstrated by the non-complying parent.

In the event that a child is removed by appropriate authorities from the physical custody of both of his or her parents, the relatives and/or grandparents shall be first choice caretakers, absent a finding of risk, primary to temporary or permanent protective care, foster care, or adoption. In the event that such governmental intervention occurs, the appropriate agency shall be obligated to identify, locate, and provide appropriate notice to such relatives and/or grandparents under the same laws and policies as those affecting parents. When there are maternal and paternal families to be considered, the court shall, absent a finding of risk, ensure that the child(ren) have the opportunity to establish and maintain a relationship with both families.

10. Should the Court order attorney fees to be paid for another party's attorney in any custody or time-share proceeding, such award shall not exceed ten (10) percent of the payor's adjusted annual net income after taxes, additionally computed by deducting all court-ordered obligations, including spousal support, family support, child support, medical expenses, child care expenses, and visitation costs, computed over a twelve (12) month period. Additionally, such fee award shall not exceed seven-thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.00) total per (12) twelve month period for all such custody or time-share action(s).

11. The establishment of this act Constitutes a change of circumstances for the purpose of any modification of any child custody order entered into prior to this act's operative date.

12. If any provision or clause of this act or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable. If this act is found to be in conflict with existing law, any and all sections of this act shall take precedence. Any statute must be interpreted to be consistent with the intent of this initiative.