Existing law authorizes the award of attorney's fees in family law cases as a sanction. Existing law authorizes the court to base an award of attorney's fees and costs on the extent to which the conduct of each party or attorney furthers or frustrates the policy of the law to promote settlement of litigation and, where possible, to reduce the cost of litigation by encouraging cooperation between the parties and attorneys. Existing law permits an award of attorney's fees and costs as a sanction to be imposed only after notice to the party against whom the sanction is proposed and opportunity for that party to be heard.
California AB 1179 (20232024) — Family law: attorney's fees.
Existing law authorizes the award of attorney's fees in family law cases as a sanction. Existing law authorizes the court to base an award of attorney's fees and costs on the extent to which the conduct of each party or attorney furthers or frustrates the policy of the law to promote settlement of litigation and, where possible, to reduce the cost of litigation by encouraging cooperation between the parties and attorneys. Existing law permits an award of attorney's fees and costs as a sanction to be imposed only after notice to the party against whom the sanction is proposed and opportunity for that party to be heard.
Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
AB 1179 Pacheco Consent Calendar Second Day — 79–0 (pass) · lower
Consent Calendar — 39–0 (pass) · upper
Do pass as amended. To Consent Calendar. — 9–0 (pass) · lower
Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar — 10–0 (pass) · upper
Sponsors
Pacheco — primary (person)
Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
2023-02-16 Read first time. To print. reading-1
2023-02-17 From printer. May be heard in committee March 19.
2023-03-02 Referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
2023-03-28 From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (March 28). amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage
2023-03-29 Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2
2023-03-30 Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. reading-1, reading-2
2023-04-17 Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 1178.) passage, reading-1, reading-3
2023-04-18 In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. reading-1
2023-05-03 Referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
2023-06-14 From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 13). committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
2023-06-15 Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. reading-1, reading-2
2023-06-22 Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1682.). passage, reading-1, reading-3
2023-06-22 In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. committee-passage
2023-07-03 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
2023-07-13 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
2023-07-13 Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 67, Statutes of 2023. became-law
Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/1e6604cd-a79b-4d9b-b811-855a3e00d02f. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).
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