The Editors of Nolo Nolo’s Guide to California Law “ Finally, a user-friendly book to demystify the legalese of everyday law for real people.” ATTORNEY JEANNE F. STOTT, SMALL CLAIMS LEGAL ADVISOR 11TH EDITION A concise guide to the laws of the Golden State 15 YEARS IN PRINT Free Legal Updates at Nolo.com  e Story Dear friends, Founded in 1971, and based in an old clock factory in Berkeley, California, Nolo has always strived to off er clear legal information and solutions. Today we are proud to off er a full range of plain-English law books, legal forms, software and an award-winning website. Everything we publish is relentlessly researched and tested by a dedicated group of in-house legal editors, who together have more than 150 years’ experience. And when legal changes occur after publication, we promptly post free updates at Nolo.com. Tens of millions of Americans have looked to Nolo to help solve their legal and business problems. We work every day to be worthy of this trust. Ralph Warner Nolo co-founder Emma Cofod Books & Software Get in-depth information. Nolo publishes hundreds of great books and software programs for consumers and business owners.  ey’re all available in print or as downloads at Nolo.com. Legal Encyclopedia Free at Nolo.com. Here are more than 1,400 free articles and answers to common questions about everyday legal issues including wills, bankruptcy, small business formation, divorce, patents, employment and much more. Plain-English Legal Dictionary Free at Nolo.com. Stumped by jargon? Look it up in America’s most up-to-date source for defi nitions of legal terms. Online Legal Documents Create documents at your computer. Go online to make a will or living trust, form an LLC or corporation or obtain a trademark or provisional patent at Nolo.com. For simpler matters, download one of our hundreds of high-quality legal forms, including bills of sale, promissory notes, nondisclosure agreements and many more. Lawyer Directory Find an attorney at Nolo.com. Nolo’s unique lawyer directory provides in-depth profi les of lawyers all over America. From fees and experience to legal philosophy, education and special expertise, you’ll fi nd all the information you need to pick a lawyer who’s a good fi t. Free Legal Updates Keep up to date. Check for free updates at Nolo.com. Under “Products,” fi nd this book and click “Legal Updates.” You can also sign up for our free e-newsletters at Nolo.com/newsletters/index.html. Products & Services “ In Nolo you can trust.” THE NEW YORK TIMES “ Nolo is always there in a jam as the nation’s premier publisher of do-it-yourself legal books.” NEWSWEEK “ Nolo publications…guide people simply through the how, when, where and why of the law.” THE WASHINGTON POST “ [Nolo’s]…material is developed by experienced attorneys who have a knack for making complicated material accessible.” LIBRARY JOURNAL “ When it comes to self-help legal stuff , nobody does a better job than Nolo…” USA TODAY “  e most prominent U.S. publisher of self-help legal aids.” TIME MAGAZINE “ Nolo is a pioneer in both consumer and business self-help books and software.” LOS ANGELES TIMES  e Trusted Name (but don’t take our word for it) Nolo’s Guide to California Law The Editors of Nolo 11th edition LAW for ALL Eleventh Edition JUNE 2011 Editor JANET PORTMAN Cover Design SUSAN PUTNEY Book Design TERRI HEARSH Proofreading CATHERINE CAPUTO Index ELLEN SHERRON Printing BANG PRINTING International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 1546-7279 ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1394-9 ISBN-10: 1-4133-1394-9 Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2011 by Nolo. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission. Reproduction prohibi- tions do not apply to the forms contained in this product when reproduced for personal use. For information on bulk purchases or corporate premium sales, please contact the Special Sales Department. Call 800-955-4775 or write to Nolo, 950 Parker Street, Berkeley, California 94710. Please note We believe accurate, plain-English legal information should help you solve many of your own legal problems. But this text is not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. If you want the help of a trained professional—and we’ll always point out situations in which we think that’s a good idea—consult an attorney licensed to practice in your state. Table of Contents About is Book 1 Looking Up the Law 3 Abbreviations Used in is Book 9 Children 11 Citizens’ Rights 55 Consumers’ Rights 65 Copyrights and Patents 95 Courts, Lawsuits, and Mediation 103 Debts, Loans, and Credit 133 Dogs 171 Employees’ Rights 183 Government Benefits 217 Inheritance and Wills 235 Landlords and Tenants 255 Real Estate 285 Relationships 311 Serious Illness 337 Small Businesses 349 Traffic and Vehicle Laws 377 Index 397 About is Book W e’re taught from an early age that we are presumed to know the law. Ignorance—as many of us learn the hard way—is no excuse. But how do we learn about the laws that affect our dealings with neighbors, family members, landlords, employers, or creditors? Most schools make little effort to teach us even the basics. Trying to read up on our own is often a frustrating experience. Most books about law are written for lawyers and stay tucked away on law library shelves or on expensive, nonpublic websites. Even if we do manage to get our hands on them, we find they are filled with nearly impenetrable jargon. is book gathers key legal rules into a readable, affordable book that you can keep on your reference shelf. When you have questions about state laws that affect Californians on a day-to-day basis, you’ll have the information you need at your fingertips. What the Book Covers We have covered the legal topics likely to affect most people in the ordinary course of their lives: consumers’ rights, divorce, traffic tickets, real estate, adoption, and so on. We’ve also included a few basic topics covered by federal law, such as Social Security and bankruptcy. Obviously, no one book can cover all points of California law. So we opted not to discuss criminal law (except traffic violations) or such specialized topics as environmental regulations or banking laws. How the Book Is Organized To make it easy to find the information you need, we have grouped laws into broad categories: Relationships, Landlords and Tenants, Real Estate, Inheritance and Wills, and Consumers’ Rights, for example. e Table of Contents lists them all. 2 | NOLO’S GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA LAW At the beginning of each section, you will find a list of the topics covered there (they’re arranged alphabetically), plus a list of related topics covered elsewhere in the book. You may need to look at several entries to find the information you need, especially if your question doesn’t fit neatly into any one category. Check the index for keywords. Additional Resources Each section of the book also contains a list of additional resources. ese include books, pamphlets, organizations, and websites that can give you more information about a particular subject. For example, under “Children,” we list several books and groups that help adoptive parents. Because Nolo is by far the state’s largest publisher, online and off, of do-it-yourself law materials, inevitably some of our referrals are to other Nolo publications. Keeping Up to Date e law changes constantly as the state legislature passes new bills and courts hand down their rulings. We will publish new, revised editions of this book periodically, but it’s always your responsibility to be sure a law is current before you rely on it. For updates, go to www.nolo.com, and click Legal Updates for Nolo Products at the bottom of the home page. Click the title of the book to be taken to the updates page. You can get updates via email by subscribing to our online newsletter, NoloBriefs. Legal Citations is book summarizes most laws of general interest. ere may be times, however, when you will want to go further and read the full text of a statute. For this reason, citations to California and federal statutes (and, occasionally, crucial court cases) appear throughout the book. e section on “Looking Up the Law” at the front of the book explains how to use these citations to find the laws you need. l [...]... the Law N olo’s Guide to California Law not only summarizes many laws but also serves as a way to find the text of any law you want to read word for word And once you find the law, you’ll probably also find references to articles and court cases that discuss the law This brief discussion tells you how to use a reference from this book to look up a state or federal statute or a court decision A law. .. path Don’t pass up the opportunity to read the helpful paragraphs on the main legal 4  |  nolo’s guide to california law research page, which include an explanation on how to find municipal ordinances online To find California cases online, start with www.findlaw.com That site has appellate and Supreme Court cases available for free, from 1934 to the present The California court system has its own... click Legal Research You’ll be taken to a page that allows you to search for California and federal resources For example, if you wanted to read California Civil Code 1954, you’d click State Resources, then California The next page gives you a link right to the official California codes, as well as lots of other helpful information Or, if you wanted to read a federal law, you’d choose Federal Resources,... Shepard’s system is too complicated to explain here If it’s important to you, consult one of the legal research tools mentioned in this chapter More Legal Research Legal research is a subject that can (and does) easily fill a whole book For a thorough, how -to approach to finding answers to your legal questions, see Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law, by Stephen R Elias and the Editors of Nolo... monthly fee Westlaw, at www.westlaw.com, and Lexis, at www.lexis.com, are the largest electronic legal databases Although subscriptions to these services are pricey, both offer some free and fee-based services to nonsubscribers Finding a Law Library If you want (or need) to do research the old-fashion way, you still can To look up state or federal statutes or court decisions, go to your county law library... agree to give up their parental rights 18  |  nolo’s guide to california law • Intercountry or international adoptions occur when parents adopt a child from outside the U.S Adoptive parents may (and sometimes must, depending on the country) readopt the child in California The advantage to doing so is that a new California birth certificate will be issued (Fam Code § 8904.) In 2007, the U.S agreed to. .. • The parents agree to something else • Sale of the family home is postponed by the court and the custodial parent and children are allowed to stay there for some specified period of time to provide stability for the children 26  |  nolo’s guide to california law • Either parent has remarried or has a new nonmarital partner who is helping with basic living expenses • The noncustodial parent has such... injury However, in California, 24  |  nolo’s guide to california law lawsuits based on sexual abuse suffered as a child can be brought until the person reaches age 26, or until three years have passed since the person discovered or reasonably should have discovered that their injuries were related to childhood sexual abuse If suit is brought after the person turns 26, the victim’s attorney and a licensed... You can get copies more quickly by going to the county recorder in the county where the birth took 20  |  nolo’s guide to california law place or, if the birth was within the last two years, to the county health department in that county Another good resource for getting a birth certificate or other similar documents, especially if the birth was outside of California, is www.vitalcheck.com Unmarried... a noncustodial parent to seek a modification promptly if the parent is unable to make the payments required by a child support order Using a Computer Program to Determine Support The best way to calculate child support payments is to use a computer program In fact, virtually all judges require such a computer determination to be made before they will set child support Most judges and divorce lawyers . “Looking Up the Law at the front of the book explains how to use these citations to find the laws you need. l Looking Up the Law N olo’s Guide to California Law not only summarizes many laws but. The Editors of Nolo Nolo’s Guide to California Law “ Finally, a user-friendly book to demystify the legalese of everyday law for real people.” ATTORNEY JEANNE F. STOTT, SMALL CLAIMS. Name (but don’t take our word for it) Nolo’s Guide to California Law The Editors of Nolo 11th edition LAW for ALL Eleventh Edition JUNE 2011 Editor JANET PORTMAN Cover Design SUSAN PUTNEY Book