Could the Stepmom Be Getting Legal Rights? – Stepmom Advice-SB CA Bill #1476

It Takes a Village to Raise a Child
Stepmoms Live in the Village and Adore Your Children

Who says that there should only be two parents?  That is what California Bill #1476 is asking.  This bill, introduced in California by Senator Mark Leno, allows more than two adults to be defined as a parent.  All parents would be responsible for support, determined by how much time they spend with the child and their earnings.  In addition, all the parents would be considered in the custody arrangements, if there was a dissolution of marriage.  The idea is to grant parental rights to those individuals who play a meaningful role in a child’s life, if  it would serve in the best interest of the child. Stepmoms definitely fill the “bill”.   Here is a summary:

“This bill would authorize a court to find that a child has 2 presumed parents notwithstanding the statutory presumption of parentage of the child by another man. The bill would authorize the court to make this finding if doing so would serve the best interest of the child based on the nature, duration, and quality of the presumed or claimed parents’ relationships with the child and the benefit or detriment to the child of continuing those relationships.” (“SB 1476: Family Law, Parentage, Around the Capitol: An Inside Look at California Policies and Politics)

This bill is a really interesting concept.  When you think about it, how great would it be to have more than two parents?  Doesn’t this go back to my very first blog, The Best Book Ever Written?  The idea behind that story was that anyone who wanted to love my child was welcomed into this life.

Think about it.  There are stepmoms who, for all intents and purposes, are the mother to the children.  These are the cases where the mother has passed away or abandoned the children.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to give these parents full legal custody?  Right now, they have no legal rights.  Suppose the biological parent passes away and the only parent the children has known has no legal right to stay and parent them.

I imagine that a bill like this strikes fear in the heart of all parents.  Can you just hear it?  “No way am I going to give custody rights to his new wife! These are my children and no one else is going to tell me what to do!”  It really sounds scary.  But, is it?  Are there people in your children’s lives that you would trust to be a guardian?  I bet you do.  Relatives. Friends. Teachers.  They love your children, right?  Why assume that a step parent does not adore and love your children?  Here is a big secret.  We love your children dearly.

I was discussing this law with some friends.  They said, “Oh, no!  If there was a disagreement, there would be one deciding vote.”  Isn’t that a good thing?  What that person really wanted to say was that they did not want the step parent to be the deciding vote.  They were also assuming that the step parent would always agree with their spouse and not with the ex-spouse.  All untrue.

It takes a village to raise a child.  Maybe, it is time to include that step parent in the village.