This section of the law establishes the official name of the Family Law Facilitator Act, which outlines the statutes related to family law facilitators.

This section highlights the issues faced in obtaining child and spousal support orders due to heavy family court caseloads and insufficient staff. It emphasizes the success of family law pilot projects in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which have helped unrepresented individuals efficiently handle support and insurance matters. These projects have proven cost-effective and satisfying for those involved, underscoring the need for a statewide system that is quick, reduces conflict, and is accessible to families without legal representation. The Legislature intends to expand these successful services to all California counties.

Every superior court must have a family law facilitator's office. This office should be run by a lawyer who is licensed in the state and experienced in family law mediation, litigation, or both. The superior court is responsible for appointing the family law facilitator.

This law applies to cases dealing with temporary or permanent child support, spousal support, health insurance, child custody, or visitation. It covers situations related to the end of a marriage, like divorce, annulment, or legal separation, as well as cases involving parental rights or domestic violence.

The family law facilitator offers various services to help parents in legal matters related to children and support. These services include providing educational materials and court forms for establishing and modifying child and spousal support, as well as assistance in filling out these forms.

They also help prepare support schedules according to the law and can refer individuals to relevant local agencies and resources. In areas with a family law information center, they focus on child support issues.

This section allows the superior court to assign extra duties to family law facilitators. These duties can include helping resolve child and spousal support issues, drafting agreements, preparing documents for court, maintaining records, and assisting with child custody calculations related to support. If both parties are not represented by lawyers, they get priority. Facilitators can also help the court with research and create outreach programs to assist unrepresented and low-income individuals in accessing the family court system. These programs may provide information on expedited child support orders and other court resources like supervised visitation.

This law ensures that everyone involved in a court case, whether they have a lawyer or not, can have a hearing in front of a judge.

This law requires the Judicial Council to set basic standards for the role of a family law facilitator and create any needed court forms or rules to make these standards work effectively.

This law requires the Director of the State Department of Social Services in California to ask for permission from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement to use specific federal funds, known as Title IV-D funds from the Social Security Act, to support services related to child support outlined in this division.

If there's a history of domestic violence or a protective order in a required mediation case, the family law facilitator must meet with each party separately, if the affected party requests it in writing under penalty of perjury. Additionally, any forms that need to be filled out before mediation must inform parties that they can request separate meetings with the mediator if they have alleged domestic violence or are protected by an order.

This section explains that a family law facilitator is not allowed to represent anyone in a legal sense, meaning they won't act as your lawyer. Since they're not your attorney, any conversation you have with them isn't protected by attorney-client privilege. They must clearly inform you that there's no lawyer-client relationship, and this means they can also assist the other party involved in your case without any conflict of interest.

This law prohibits employees or those directly supervised by the family law facilitator from making public comments about ongoing or upcoming court cases. It requires these individuals to receive a copy of specific ethical guidelines and acknowledge they understand these rules by signing a document.

The Judicial Council must create forms to inform people about the services family law facilitators provide. These forms should clarify that there's no attorney-client relationship, the facilitator isn't responsible for case outcomes, they don't represent any party or go to court for them, and both involved parties can receive the facilitator's help.