--- type: "Bill" title: "Children." description: "(1) Existing law establishes a procedure for a stepparent to adopt a stepchild and requires a probation officer, qualified court investigator, licensed clinical social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, or licensed adoption agency to conduct an investigation of the proposed stepparent adoption, as specified." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20152016" identifier: "AB 2872" citation: "California AB 2872 (20152016)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Children."] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Patterson"] version_count: 7 action_count: 27 vote_count: 7 first_action: "2016-02-19" last_action: "2016-09-27" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/87b05b32-f6df-4610-b84e-d2ecbe90db72" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872" source_hash: "6f4b9b2c6e323ac6d026b9c38a637e842d3daf195e3e6ee3d4b9f3a89b3839a4" vintage: "2026-07-01" source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump" retrieved_at: "2026-07-06" confidence: "reported" tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"] --- # California AB 2872 (20152016) — Children. (1) Existing law establishes a procedure for a stepparent to adopt a stepchild and requires a probation officer, qualified court investigator, licensed clinical social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, or licensed adoption agency to conduct an investigation of the proposed stepparent adoption, as specified. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **02/19/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872&version=20150AB287299INT) 2. **04/05/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872&version=20150AB287298AMD) 3. **06/06/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872&version=20150AB287297AMD) 4. **08/04/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872&version=20150AB287296AMD) 5. **09/27/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872&version=20150AB287294CHP) 6. **AB2872** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872) 7. **08/23/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2872&version=20150AB287295ENR) ## Votes - Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **10–0** (pass) · lower - AB 2872 PATTERSON Consent Calendar Second Day — **79–0** (pass) · lower - Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **19–0** (pass) · lower - 3rd Reading AB2872 Patterson By Cannella — **38–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · upper - AB 2872 PATTERSON Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **78–0** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Patterson — primary (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2016-02-19** Introduced. To print. `introduction` - **2016-02-21** From printer. May be heard in committee March 22. - **2016-02-22** Read first time. `reading-1` - **2016-03-14** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee` - **2016-04-05** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1` - **2016-04-06** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee` - **2016-04-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (April 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2016-04-27** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 19. Noes 0.) (April 27). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2016-04-28** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2016-05-05** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 4688.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1` - **2016-05-05** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1` - **2016-05-12** Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and JUD. `referral-committee` - **2016-06-06** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1` - **2016-06-15** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 15). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2016-06-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2016-08-01** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage` - **2016-08-02** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2016-08-03** From Consent Calendar. - **2016-08-03** Ordered to third reading. - **2016-08-04** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1` - **2016-08-08** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2016-08-15** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 4972.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1` - **2016-08-16** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 18 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77. - **2016-08-22** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 6046.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage` - **2016-08-29** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m. - **2016-09-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2016-09-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 702, Statutes of 2016. ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/87b05b32-f6df-4610-b84e-d2ecbe90db72`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).