California Family Law Update:
California Courts Adopt Rules to Protect Personal Privacy and Prevent Identity Theft
Effective January 1, 2008, all documents filed with California courts (including family law courts) must have full social security numbers and financial account numbers redacted (either blacked out or not shown). If it is necessary to list social security numbers or financial account numbers in court papers, only the last 4 digits of these numbers may be used. This rule does not apply to documents filed confidentially or under seal.
Child Custody Evaluation Reports Should Not Be Considered as Binding or the Court's Factual Findings but are Subject to Certain Due Process Safeguards
In any contested child custody or visitation proceeding, the court can order a child custody evaluation if it determines that it is in the best interests of the child. However, the court order has to specify the purpose and scope of the evaluation, as the evaluator does not have an unrestricted right to conduct an "open-ended" evaluation.
Since custody evaluators are not judicial officers, they cannot make binding fact determinations or decisions on a custody or visitation issue. The evaluator's report is simply relevant evidence which is considered and weighed by the court in making its factual findings and orders for visitation and custody. Unless the parties to the custody proceeding are given the opportunity to cross-examine the evaluator or waives that right, the court may not act or make any orders based on the evaluation report. The parties do not have to stipulate to the evaluation report as competent evidence of the issues discussed in the report.
If the court is doing its job, it should not simply "rubberstamp" the evaluator's recommendations. However, parties to the proceeding should be prepared to show why the recommendations are not in the child's best interests, if they disagree with the recommendations.
Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is Ratified by the U.S.
S ince the United States ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention) in December 2007, there has been changes to the adoption and immigration procedures affecting the inter-country adoption of children. These changes only applies when the Sending Country (country from where the adoptive child originated)
AND the Receiving Country (country where the adoptive child will be residing with the adoptive parents) are both signatories to the Hague Convention. If the adoptive child came from a Sending Country which is not a signatory to the Hague Convention but is being adopted by U.S. citizen adoptive parents residing in the U.S., then the former adoption and immigration procedures under U.S. law would apply.
Over 70 countries are signatories to the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption, including China, Panama, and Mexico. However, South Korea, Ethiopia and Russia are not signatories to the Hague Adoption Convention.
For cases which fall under the Hague Convention, new immigration forms will be used (i.e., I-800 and I-800A), and I-130 petitions can no longer be filed by parents for their adopted children (unless adoption was finalized before April 1, 2008). A major change in adoptions affected by the Convention is that the adoption process can no longer be initiated in the Receiving Country, but has to be initiated in the Sending Country. There will a "Central Authority" designated in the Sending Country to perform adoption services such as conducting a home study and evaluation as to whether basic principles of the Hague Convention are met, e.g. 1 ) whether a child is eligible to be adopted, 2) whether it is in the child's best interests, 3) consent was freely given, and 4) no payment was given to obtain the consent to the adoption.
For a list of countries which are signatories to the Hague Adoption Convention, click on the following link:
www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.statusprint&cid=69