Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.488 · Chapter 2. Indian Child Welfare Act
Adoption record keeping
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Copies of adoption decree and other information to the Secretary of the Interior
After granting a decree of adoption of an Indian child, the court must provide the Secretary of the Interior with a copy of the decree and the following information:
(1) The name and tribal affiliation of the Indian child;
(2) The names and addresses of the biological parents;
(3) The names and addresses of the adoptive parents; and
(4) The agency maintaining files and records regarding the adoptive placement.
(b) Affidavit of confidentiality to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
If a biological parent has executed an affidavit requesting that his or her identity remain confidential, the court must provide the affidavit to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which must ensure the confidentiality of the information.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
Rule 5.488 renumbered effective January 1, 2020; adopted as rule 5.487 effective January 1, 2008; previously amended effective January 1, 2013.
Title 5, Family and Juvenile Rules-Division 2, Rules Applicable in Family and Juvenile Proceedings-Chapter 3, Adoptions under the Hague Adoption Convention; adopted effective July 1, 2013.
Advisory Committee Comment
This chapter was adopted, effective January 1, 2008, as the result of the passage of Senate Bill 678 (Ducheny; Stats. 2006, ch. 838), which codified the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into California's Family, Probate, and Welfare and Institutions Codes affecting all proceedings listed in rule 5.480. Rule 5.664, which applied the Indian Child Welfare Act but was limited in its effect to juvenile proceedings, was repealed effective January 1, 2008, and was replaced by this chapter.
As of January 1, 2008, only the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California is authorized under the Indian Child Welfare Act to exercise exclusive jurisdiction as discussed in rule 5.483.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/five/rule5_488
- Text hash
- sha256 d7ab123c46b9b7f88650260df77ee5b65edfa102f5bb2b69a2dc9620f8fb4833
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
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