Bill Text: CA SB1343 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Civil procedure: property subject to attachment.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-06 - Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [SB1343 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB1343-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1343 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wyland
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 15657.5 487.010
of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
Code of Civil Procedure, relating to financial abuse.
civil procedure.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1343, as amended, Wyland. Financial abuse.
Civil procedure: property subject to attachment.
Existing law, known as the Attachment Law, authorizes a plaintiff
to use the remedy of attachment against a defendant's property to
secure the amount of the claimed indebtedness to the plaintiff and
specifies the property of the defendant that is subject to
attachment. The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act
authorizes an attachment to be issued in any action for damages for
financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult, as specified.
This bill would provide that, if an attachment is issued in an
action for damages for financial abuse of an elder or dependent
adult, any property of the defendant would be subject to attachment.
The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act
authorizes compensatory damages and other relief for an elder or
dependent adult who suffers financial abuse. The act defines
financial abuse as, among other actions, taking, secreting,
appropriating, obtaining, or retaining real or personal property of
an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to
defraud, or both. Existing law also requires a court to award to the
elder or dependent adult reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the
latter provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 487.010 of the Code
of Civil Procedure is amended to read:
487.010. The following property of the defendant is subject to
attachment:
(a) Where If the defendant is a
corporation, all corporate property for which a method of levy is
provided by Article 2 (commencing with Section 488.300) of Chapter 8.
(b) Where If the defendant is a
partnership or other unincorporated association, all partnership or
association property for which a method of levy is provided by
Article 2 (commencing with Section 488.300) of Chapter 8.
(c) Where If the defendant is a
natural person, all of the following property:
(1) Interests in real property except leasehold estates with
unexpired terms of less than one year.
(2) Accounts receivable, chattel paper, and general intangibles
arising out of the conduct by the defendant of a trade, business, or
profession, except any such individual claim with
a principal balance of less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150).
(3) Equipment.
(4) Farm products.
(5) Inventory.
(6) Final money judgments arising out of the conduct by the
defendant of a trade, business, or profession.
(7) Money on the premises where a trade, business, or profession
is conducted by the defendant and, except for the first one thousand
dollars ($1,000), money located elsewhere than on such
the premises and deposit accounts, but, if the
defendant has more than one deposit account or has at least one
deposit account and money located elsewhere than on the premises
where a trade, business, or profession is conducted by the defendant,
the court, upon application of the plaintiff, may order that the
writ of attachment be levied so that an aggregate amount of one
thousand dollars ($1,000) in the form of such
money and in such the accounts remains
free of levy.
(8) Negotiable documents of title.
(9) Instruments.
(10) Securities.
(11) Minerals or the like (including oil and gas) to be extracted.
(d) In the case of an attachment issued pursuant to Section
15657.01 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, any property of the
defendant.
(d)
(e) In the case of a defendant described in subdivision
(c), community property of a type described in subdivision (c) is
subject to attachment if the community property would be subject to
enforcement of the judgment obtained in the action in which the
attachment is sought. Unless the provision or context otherwise
requires, if community property that is subject to attachment is
sought to be attached:
(1) Any provision of this title that applies to the property of
the defendant or to obligations owed to the defendant also applies to
the community property interest of the spouse of the defendant and
to obligations owed to either spouse that are community property.
(2) Any provision of this title that applies to property in the
possession or under the control of the defendant also applies to
community property in the possession or under the control of the
spouse of the defendant.
SECTION 1. Section 15657.5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
15657.5. (a) Where it is proven by a preponderance of the
evidence that a defendant is liable for financial abuse, as defined
in Section 15610.30, in addition to compensatory damages and all
other remedies otherwise provided by law, the court shall award to
the plaintiff reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The term "costs"
includes, but is not limited to, reasonable fees for the services of
a conservator, if any, devoted to the litigation of a claim brought
under this article.
(b) Where it is proven by a preponderance of the evidence that a
defendant is liable for financial abuse, as defined in Section
15610.30, and where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence
that the defendant has been guilty of recklessness, oppression,
fraud, or malice in the commission of the abuse, in addition to
reasonable attorney's fees and costs pursuant to in subdivision (a),
compensatory damages, and all other remedies otherwise provided by
law, the limitations imposed by Section 377.34 of the Code of Civil
Procedure on the damages recoverable shall not apply.
(c) The standards set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 3294 of
the Civil Code regarding the imposition of punitive damages on an
employer based upon the acts of an employee shall be satisfied before
any punitive damages may be imposed against an employer found liable
for financial abuse as defined in Section 15610.30. This subdivision
shall not apply to the recovery of compensatory damages or attorney'
s fees and costs.
(d) Nothing in this section affects the award of punitive damages
under Section 3294 of the Civil Code.
(e) Any money judgment in an action under this section shall
include a statement that the damages are awarded based on a claim for
financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult, as defined in
Section 15610.30. If only part of the judgment is based on that
claim, the judgment shall specify what amount was awarded on that
basis.
