AB 3248: Judiciary omnibus.

(1)Existing law continues the parental duty to support an unmarried child who has attained 18 years of age, is a full-time high school student, and who is not self-supporting, until the time the child completes the 12th grade or attains 19 years of age, whichever occurs first.

This bill would excuse a child from the requirement to be a full-time high school student for purposes of these provisions if the child has a medical condition documented by a physician that prevents full-time school attendance.

(2)Existing law provides various procedures for the collection of child support and establishes, within the Department of Child Support Services, the State Disbursement Unit for the collection and disbursement of payments pursuant to support orders. Existing law also provides for the collection of child support by private child support collectors and requires those entities to take specified actions, including establishing a direct deposit account with the State Disbursement Unit and, within 2 business days from the date the funds are disbursed from the State Disbursement Unit to the private child support collector, if a portion of the funds constitute an obligors fee, to notify the department of the portion of each collection that constitutes a fee.

This bill would remove the requirement that a private child support collector establish a direct deposit account with the State Disbursement Unit and would remove the notification requirement. The bill would require any payment required to be made to a family through the State Disbursement Unit to be made directly to the obligee parent in the child support order requiring the payment, a special needs trust for the benefit of the obligee parent, or other specified individuals.

The bill would also remove requirements relating to the transfer of child support collection and distribution functions to the state, including a requirement that all child support collections remaining undisbursed, with interest earned on these funds, be transferred to the department for deposit in the Child Support Payment Trust Fund.

(3)The Uniform Parentage Act authorizes a hearing or trial held under its provisions to be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than those necessary to the action or proceeding. Under the act, all papers and records, other than the final judgment, pertaining to an action or proceeding are subject to inspection and copying only in exceptional cases upon an order of the court for good cause shown, except as specified.

This bill would authorize the papers and records relating to establishing paternity and establishing and enforcing child support orders in a proceeding under the act to be subject to inspection and copying by any local child support agency.

(4)Existing law authorizes a trial court to, by local rule, require the electronic filing and service of documents in civil actions, subject to certain conditions. Existing law exempts, until January 1, 2019, a local child support agency from a trial courts mandatory electronic filing and service requirements, unless the Department of Child Support Services and the local child support agency determine it has the capacity and functionality to comply with those requirements.

This bill would extend the above-described exemption for a local child support agency until January 1, 2021.