Family law.

(1) The Uniform Parentage Act defines the parent and child relationship as the legal relationship existing between a child and the child's parents, including the mother and child relationship and the father and child relationship, and governs proceedings to establish that relationship. The bill would define "natural parent" as a nonadoptive parent, as specified, whether biologically related to the child or not. The bill would also make certain provisions gender neutral and refer instead to a "presumed parent" or "parent." The bill would make other conforming changes. (2) Existing law specifies the number of judges of the superior court for each county, and allocates additional judgeships to the various counties in accordance with uniform standards for factually determining additional need in each county, as approved by the Judicial Council, and other specified criteria. Existing law provides for the conversion of 146 subordinate judicial officer positions in eligible superior courts upon the occurrence of specified conditions, including that the proposed action is ratified by the Legislature, except that no more than 16 positions may be converted to judgeships in any fiscal year. Notwithstanding this provision, up to 10 additional subordinate judicial officer positions may be converted to judgeships in any fiscal year, if the conversions will result in a judge being assigned to a family law or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by a subordinate judicial officer and the proposed action is ratified by the Legislature. Existing law ratifies the authority of the Judicial Council to convert 10 of those subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in the 2011–12 fiscal year. This bill would ratify the authority of the Judicial Council to convert 10 subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in the 2013–14 fiscal year where the conversion will result in a judge being assigned to a family law or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by a subordinate judicial officer. (3) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Sections 7601 and 7612 of the Family Code, proposed by SB 274, to be operative only if SB 274 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective January 1, 2014, and this bill is chaptered last.