Thurman W. Arnold, III

2020 Legislative Changes to California Family Code

We've Updated our California Family Code Statutes Page for 2020!

As many of your know, since 2011 we've provided free access to various Family Code and other California statutes that are relevant to family law proceedings, along with important Rules of Court that also apply. We've also provided commentary on many of them, with links to Blog Articles that Michael Peterson and I have authored. Its a pretty time intensive effort given that our day job involves a very busy family law litigation, mediation, and Second Opinion practice. Given that, I tend to layer in materials on our website as I can, and then struggle not to burn out on the whole thing - as I confess I have regarding new blogs (sorry!).

But the only good that comes for me from the coronavirus epidemic is that it allows me time to come back to the Enlightened Divorce Blog, and to tweak and update our cite. I get so many lovely emails about how people find it, and it is our honor to maintain it.

This year scores of Family Code provisions have changed, many just slightly to reflect the new gender neutral rules regarding speech. It is high time that the Family Code has been freed or all his references to spouses and "he and she". Other changes strike me as silly, and I'll comment about that later (if I feel it is safe to do so).

So, for this round I want you to know that I believe that every one of our 400 plus statutes or the Family Code pages are current, so that they can be safely read, copied, and pasted into your briefs or other filings. There are some new statutes this year, including some that need to be added to our Statute's page, and I will circle back to them in the coming days. More to come!

As always, be safe out there!

Also, Michael Peterson and I remain available for Second Opinion consults, particularly as the courts remained effectively closed. These are offered at rates significantly less than what we charge for litigated cases.

Thurman W. Arnold, III

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