Fam. Code, § 7664 · Chapter 5. Termination of Parental Rights in Adoption Proceedings
Fam. Code, § 7664
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) If, after the inquiry, the biological father is identified to the satisfaction of the court, or if more than one man is identified as a possible biological father, notice of the proceeding shall be given in accordance with Section 7666. If an alleged biological father fails to appear or, if appearing, fails to claim parental rights, those parental rights with reference to the child shall be terminated.
(b) If the biological father or a man claiming to be the biological father claims parental rights, the court shall determine biological parentage. The court shall then determine if it is in the best interest of the child that the biological father retain parental rights, or that an adoption of the child be allowed to proceed. The court, in making that determination, may consider all relevant evidence, including the efforts made by the biological father to obtain custody, the age and prior placement of the child, and the effects of a change of placement on the child.
(c) If the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child that the biological father should be allowed to retain parental rights, the court shall order that the biological father’s consent is necessary for an adoption. If the court finds that the man claiming parental rights is not the biological father, or that if the man is the biological father it is in the child’s best interest that an adoption be allowed to proceed, the court shall order that the consent of that man is not required for an adoption. This finding terminates all parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the child.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 115, Sec. 97. (AB 1817) Effective January 1, 2020.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=FAM§ionNum=7664.
- Text hash
- sha256 7845dcceeabc21bafd6c8ec99f5665af8d89236c0ef46be3e0cd803817cb4f58
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Family Code
Cited by 1 provision
Provisions in this library whose text cites Fam. Code, § 7664. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Family Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.