Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.825 · Article 5. Reviews and Sealing
Freeing wards for adoption
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Applicable law (§§ 294, 366.26, 727.2, 727.3, 727.31)
Except as provided in section 727.31, the procedures for termination of parental rights to free children described in that section for adoption are stated in sections 294 and 366.26. Rules 5.725 and 5.730 are applicable to these proceedings.
(b) Joint county protocol
In each county, the county probation department and the county child welfare department must jointly develop a protocol for freeing wards for adoption. The protocol should address questions such as:
(1) When and how will wards be referred to the licensed county adoption agency, or State Department of Social Services when it is acting as the adoption agency, for a determination of whether the ward is adoptable, as described by section 727.3(i)(2)?
(2) Once a finding has been made that the permanent plan for the ward must be adoption and the case is set for a section 727.31 hearing, how will the referral be made to the licensed county adoption agency, or to the State Department of Social Services when it is acting as the adoption agency, to prepare an adoption assessment, as required by section 727.3(j)?
(3) Will the probation department continue to have ongoing case management and supervision of the case, pending the termination of parental rights hearing?
(4) Will the probation department or the child welfare department prepare the notices and other legal documents required before a termination of parental rights hearing?
(5) In counties in which different judicial officers hear delinquency and dependency matters, what procedure will be used to ensure that the dependency judge will hear each 727.31 hearing?
(6) Will the probation department or the child welfare department prepare the petition for adoption and other forms needed after the 727.31 hearing to complete the adoption process?
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective January 1, 2006.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
Rule 5.825 amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as rule 1496.5 effective January 1, 2001; previously amended effective January 1, 2006.
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_825
- Text hash
- sha256 1c57f895c9c23802cc88ad75143f16892f83ba56fb0ac3dcad8ae632ed78116f
- 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
This rule 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.
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.