Child custody: deceased parent.

Existing law provides that the mother of an unemancipated minor child and the father, if presumed to be the father, as specified, are equally entitled to the custody of the child, and that if one parent is dead, unable or refuses to take custody, or has abandoned the child, the other parent is entitled to custody. Existing law permits a court, during the pendency of a custody proceeding or any time thereafter, to make an order for the custody of a child during minority that seems necessary or proper. This bill would specify that a court, in the event of the death of a parent, retains jurisdiction to make any orders required to effect the right of a parent to custody, as described above, and would prescribe notice requirements in this regard.