(1) Existing law provides that a person may pass real property to a beneficiary at death by various methods including by will, intestate succession, trust, and titling the property in joint tenancy, among others. This bill would, until January 1, 2015, create the revocable transfer on death deed (revocable TOD deed) , as defined, which would transfer real property on the death of its owner without a probate proceeding. The bill would require that a person have testamentary capacity to make or revoke the deed and would require that the deed be in a statutory form provided for this purpose. The revocable TOD deed must be signed, dated, acknowledged, and recorded, as specified, to be effective. The bill would provide, among other things, that the deed, during the owner's life, does not affect his or her ownership rights and, specifically, is part of the owner's estate for the purpose of Medi-Cal eligibility and reimbursement. The bill would void a revocable TOD deed if, at the time of the owner's death, the property is titled in joint tenancy or as community property with right of survivorship. The bill would establish priorities for creditor claims against the owner and the beneficiary of the deed in connection with the property transferred and limits on the liability of the beneficiary. The bill would establish a process for contesting the transfer of real property by a revocable TOD deed. The bill would also make conforming and technical changes. The bill would require the California Law Revision Commission to study and make recommendations regarding the revocable TOD deed to the Legislature by January 1, 2014. (2) Existing law provides that a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent is not entitled to specified property, interests, or benefits, including any gifts of personal property made in view of impending death. This bill would specify that a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent is not entitled generally to property and interests that are transferred outside of probate, including real property transferred by a revocable TOD deed. (3) Existing law establishes simplified procedures for dealing with a decedent's estate valued under $100,000, including authorizing the successor of the decedent to collect and distribute property due the decedent without letters of administration or awaiting probate of a will. Existing law provides that a beneficiary who receives real or personal property under these circumstances, as specified, may be liable to the estate if probate proceedings are subsequently commenced. Existing law provides, in this context, that a spouse has liability for the debts of a deceased spouse if the decedent's property is in the control of the surviving spouse. Existing law permits a court judgment to enforce liability in these instances only to the extent necessary to protect the heirs, devisees, and creditors of the decedent. This bill would delete the reference to court judgment and provide instead that the personal representative of the estate is permitted to enforce liability only to the extent necessary to protect the heirs, devisees, and creditors of the decedent.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides that no handgun ammunition vendor, as defined, shall sell, offer for sale, or display for sale, any handgun ammunition in a manner that allows that ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser without the assistance of the vendor or employee thereof. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law requires, subject to exceptions, commencing February 1, 2011, that handgun ammunition vendors obtain a thumbprint and other information from ammunition purchasers, as specified. Existing law provides, subject to exceptions, that commencing February 1, 2011, the delivery or transfer of ownership of handgun ammunition may only occur in a face-to-face transaction, with the deliverer or transferor being provided bona fide evidence of identity of the purchaser or other transferee. Violations of any of the above provisions are misdemeanors, some with specified penalties. This bill would repeal those provisions.
Existing tax law provides, pursuant to the authorization of the California Constitution, for the exemption from property taxation of specified amounts of the assessed value of the home of a disabled veteran, or a veteran's spouse in the case in which the person has, as a result of a service-connected disease or injury, died while on active duty in military service, contingent upon a claim being filed, as specified. Existing law requires, if the exemption would have been available but for the claimants's failure to receive a timely disability rating from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) , the refund or cancellation of taxes on that portion of the assessed value of the property that would have been exempt under a timely and appropriate claim, provided a claimant meets certain filing requirements, including, among others, that the claimant subsequently file an appropriate claim on the later of 30 days of receipt of the disability rating from the USDVA or on or before the next following lien date. This bill would extend the time period the claimant has to subsequently file an appropriate claim from 30 days to 90 days of receipt of the disability rating from the USDVA.
(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA exempts specified projects from its requirements. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA activities or approvals of the initial construction of the High Desert Health System Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center project, as defined. The bill would repeal this exemption on January 1, 2015. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether this exemption applies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the High Desert Health System Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center project. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, which, among other things, provides for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools in the state. Existing law establishes the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to regulate private postsecondary institutions through the powers granted, and the duties imposed, by the act. This bill would prohibit the bureau, for the period July 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, inclusive, from enforcing the act against institutions that offer flight instruction or institutions that offer Federal Aviation Administration certified educational programs in aircraft maintenance. The bill would also require those institutions to notify the bureau if they operate during that period. (2) The act prohibits institutions, as defined, from performing various actions. This bill would prohibit an institution from offering an unaccredited doctoral degree program without disclosing to prospective students that the degree program is unaccredited, and any known limitation of the unaccredited degree, including, but not limited to, whether the degree is recognized for licensure or certification in other states. (3) The act prohibits an ability-to-benefit student, defined as a student who does not have a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or a recognized equivalent of that certificate, from enrolling in an institution unless the student achieves a specified score on an independently administered examination from a specified list of examinations prescribed by the United States Department of Education that demonstrates that the student may benefit from the education and training being offered. This bill would authorize the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to publish its own list of acceptable examinations if the United States Department of Education does not have a list of relevant examinations that pertain to the intended occupational training. (4) The act requires specified private postsecondary institutions to refund 100% of the amount paid for institutional charges, less specified expenses, if notice of cancellation is made through attendance at the first class session, or the 7th class day after enrollment, whichever is later. This bill would change the 2nd deadline for notice of cancellation from the 7th class day after enrollment to the 7th day after enrollment. (5) Existing law defines "graduates employed in the field," for purposes of the act, as graduates who are gainfully employed within 6 months of graduation in a position for which the skills obtained through the education and training provided by the institution are required or provided a significant advantage to the graduate in obtaining the position. This bill would revise this definition to remove skills obtained that have provided a significant advantage to the graduate in obtaining the position, and include skills that are utilized to perform the purpose or objective of the position or the major responsibilities of the position. (6) Existing law appropriates $580,000 from the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, for the purpose of funding 5 private postsecondary education specialist and senior specialist positions. This bill would require those positions to be permanent, full-time positions to perform work in conformity with the classification specifications as directed by the bureau chief. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing and makes a violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires a licensee renewing his or her license to submit proof to the board that during a specified time the licensee has been informed of developments in the registered nursing field either by pursuing a continuing education course offered by a provider approved by the board or by other means deemed equivalent by the board. Existing law requires the board to establish, by regulation, standards for continuing education. Existing law requires these standards to make a variety of alternative forms of continuing education available to licensees. Existing law requires the content of all courses of continuing education to be relevant to the practice of nursing. This bill would provide that continuing education courses, as specified, that advance or promote labor organizing on behalf of a union, or that advance or promote statutory or regulatory changes, political candidates, political advocacy, or political strategy shall not be considered content relevant to the practice of nursing and shall not be acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal. The bill would also prohibit an approved provider from representing that such a continuing education course is acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal and would require the board, subject to specified procedural requirements, to withdraw its approval of a provider that violates that requirement for no less than 5 years, as specified. Because a violation of these requirements by a provider would constitute a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would recognize the Lunar New Year 4708 celebration.
This measure would call upon the State Air Resources Board, prior to any regulatory action being taken consistent with the scoping plan for the implementation of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to perform an economic analysis that will give the State of California a more complete and accurate picture of the costs and benefits of the act's implementation. The measure would also call upon the Governor to use the authority granted by the act to adjust any applicable deadlines for regulations.
Under existing law, businesses are required to obtain various licenses from regulatory agencies. Existing law also requires state agencies to take specified actions, including, but not limited to, designating a small business liaison, to assist small businesses achieve compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. This bill would create the Business Master License Center, which would have prescribed duties, including, but not limited to, developing and administering a computerized one-stop master license system capable of storing, retrieving, and exchanging license information, as well as issuing and renewing master licenses, as specified. The bill would permit the Governor to appoint a 3rd-party facilitator from the business community, to provide oversight over the creation of the center and the development of its master license system. This bill would charge license applicants, in addition to any other fees or deposits required to obtain a particular license, a master license administrative fee in specified amounts, to be deposited into the Master License Fund, which this bill would create. This bill would require that the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used only to administer the Business Master License Center.
This measure would encourage state government to make the retention of private sector employment and the creation of new employment opportunities its highest priority, and it would declare the Legislature's leading role in restoring the business climate in the state to encourage economic growth.