2024 California Rules of Court
Rule 5.481. Inquiry and notice
(a) Inquiry
The court, court-connected investigator, and party seeking a foster-care placement, guardianship, conservatorship, custody placement under Family Code section 3041, declaration freeing a child from the custody or control of one or both parents, termination of parental rights, preadoptive placement, or adoption have an affirmative and continuing duty to inquire whether a child is or may be an Indian child in all proceedings identified in rule 5.480. The court, court-connected investigator, and party include the county welfare department, probation department, licensed adoption agency, adoption service provider, investigator, petitioner, appointed guardian or conservator of the person, and appointed fiduciary.
(1) The party seeking a foster-care placement, guardianship, conservatorship, custody placement under Family Code section 3041, declaration freeing a child from the custody or control of one or both parents, termination of parental rights, preadoptive placement, or adoption must ask the child, if the child is old enough, and the parents, Indian custodian, or legal guardians, extended family members, others who have an interest in the child, and where applicable the party reporting child abuse or neglect, whether the child is or may be an Indian child and whether the residence or domicile of the child, the parents, or Indian custodian is on a reservation or in an Alaska Native village, and must complete the Indian Child Inquiry Attachment (form ICWA-010(A)) and attach it to the petition unless the party is filing a subsequent petition, and there is no new information.
(2) At the first appearance by a parent, Indian custodian, or guardian, and all other participants in any dependency case; or in juvenile wardship proceedings in which the child is at risk of entering foster care or is in foster care; or at the initiation of any guardianship, conservatorship, proceeding for custody under Family Code section 3041, proceeding to terminate parental rights, proceeding to declare a child free of the custody and control of one or both parents, preadoptive placement, or adoption proceeding; and at each hearing that may culminate in an order for foster care placement, termination of parental rights, preadoptive placement or adoptive placement, as described in Welfare and Institutions Code section 224.1(d)(1), or that may result in an order for guardianship, conservatorship, or custody under Family Code section 3041; the court must:
(A) Ask each participant present whether the participant knows or has reason to know the child is an Indian child;
(B) Instruct the parties to inform the court if they subsequently receive information that provides reason to know the child is an Indian child; and
(C) Order the parent, Indian custodian, or guardian, if available, to complete Parental Notification of Indian Status (form ICWA-020).
(3) If the parent, Indian custodian, or guardian does not appear at the first hearing, or is unavailable at the initiation of a proceeding, the court must order the person or entity that has the inquiry duty under this rule to use reasonable diligence to find and inform the parent, Indian custodian, or guardian that the court has ordered the parent, Indian custodian, or guardian to complete Parental Notification of Indian Status (form ICWA-020).
(4) If the social worker, probation officer, licensed adoption agency, adoption service provider, investigator, or petitioner knows or has reason to know or believe that an Indian child is or may be involved, that person or entity must make further inquiry as soon as practicable by:
(A) Interviewing the parents, Indian custodian, and "extended family members" as defined in 25 United States Code section 1903, to gather the information listed in Welfare and Institutions Code section 224.3(a)(5), Family Code section 180(b)(5), or Probate Code section 1460.2(b)(5);
(B) Contacting the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the California Department of Social Services for assistance in identifying the names and contact information of the tribes in which the child may be a member or eligible for membership; and
(C) Contacting the tribes and any other person who reasonably can be expected to have information regarding the child's membership status or eligibility. These contacts must at a minimum include the contacts and sharing of information listed in Welfare and Institutions Code section 224.2(e)(3).
(5) The petitioner must on an ongoing basis include in its filings a detailed description of all inquiries, and further inquiries it has undertaken, and all information received pertaining to the child's Indian status, as well as evidence of how and when this information was provided to the relevant tribes. Whenever new information is received, that information must be expeditiously provided to the tribes.
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2020; previously amended effective January 1, 2013.)
(b) Reason to know the child is an Indian child
(1) There is reason to know a child involved in a proceeding is an Indian child if:
(A) A person having an interest in the child, including the child, an officer of the court, a tribe, an Indian organization, a public or private agency, or a member of the child's extended family informs the court the child is an Indian child;
(B) The residence or domicile of the child, the child's parents, or Indian custodian is on a reservation or in an Alaska Native village;
(C) Any participant in the proceeding, officer of the court, Indian tribe, Indian organization, or agency informs the court that it has discovered information indicating that the child is an Indian child;
(D) The child who is the subject of the proceeding gives the court reason to know he or she is an Indian child;
(E) The court is informed that the child is or has been a ward of a tribal court; or
(F) The court is informed that either parent or the child possesses an identification card indicating membership or citizenship in an Indian tribe.
(2) When there is reason to know the child is an Indian child, but the court does not have sufficient evidence to determine that the child is or is not an Indian child, the court must confirm, by way of a report, declaration, or testimony included in the record that the agency or other party used due diligence to identify and work with all of the tribes of which there is reason to know the child may be a member, or eligible for membership, to verify whether the child is in fact a member or whether a biological parent is a member and the child is eligible for membership. Due diligence must include the further inquiry and tribal contacts discussed in (a)(4) above.
(3) Upon review of the evidence of due diligence, further inquiry, and tribal contacts, if the court concludes that the agency or other party has fulfilled its duty of due diligence, further inquiry, and tribal contacts, the court may:
(A) Find there is no reason to know the child is an Indian child and the Indian Child Welfare Act does not apply. Notwithstanding this determination, if the court or a party subsequently receives information that was not previously available relevant to the child's Indian status, the court must reconsider this finding; or
(B) Find it is known the child is an Indian child, and that the Indian Child Welfare Act applies, and order compliance with the requirements of the act, including notice in accordance with (c) below; or
(C) Find there is reason to know the child is an Indian child, order notice in accordance with (c) below, and treat the child as an Indian child unless and until the court determines on the record that the child is not an Indian child.
(4) A determination by an Indian tribe that a child is or is not a member of, or eligible for membership in, that tribe, or testimony attesting to that status by a person authorized by the tribe to provide that determination, must be conclusive. Information that the child is not enrolled, or is not eligible for enrollment in, the tribe is not determinative of the child's membership status unless the tribe also confirms in writing that enrollment is a prerequisite for membership under tribal law or custom.
(Subd (b) adopted effective January 1, 2020.)
(c) Notice
(1) If it is known or there is reason to know an Indian child is involved in a proceeding listed in rule 5.480, except for a wardship proceeding under Welfare and Institutions Code sections 601 and 602 et seq., the social worker, petitioner, or in probate guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, if the petitioner is unrepresented, the court, must send Notice of Child Custody Proceeding for Indian Child (form ICWA-030) to the parent or legal guardian and Indian custodian of an Indian child, and the Indian child's tribe, in the manner specified in Welfare and Institutions Code section 224.3, Family Code section 180, and Probate Code section 1460.2 for all initial hearings that may result in the foster care placement, termination of parental rights, preadoptive placement, or adoptive placement, or an order of guardianship, conservatorship, or custody under Family Code section 3041. For all other hearings, and for continued hearings, notice must be provided to the child's parents, legal guardian or Indian custodian, and tribe in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code sections 292, 293, and 295.
(2) If it is known or there is reason to know that an Indian child is involved in a wardship proceeding under Welfare and Institutions Code sections 601 and 602 et seq., the probation officer must send Notice of Child Custody Proceeding for Indian Child (form ICWA-030) to the parent or legal guardian, Indian custodian, if any, and the child's tribe, in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code section 727.4(a)(2) in any case described by rule 5.480(2)(A)-(C).
(3) The circumstances that may provide reason to know the child is an Indian child include the circumstances specified in (b)(1).
(4) Notice to an Indian child's tribe must be sent to the tribal chairperson unless the tribe has designated another agent for service.
(Subd (c) relettered and amended effective January 1, 2020; adopted as subd (b); previously amended effective January 1, 2013 and July 1, 2013.)
Rule 5.481 amended effective January 1, 2020; adopted effective January 1, 2008; previously amended effective January 1, 2013, and July 1, 2013.
Advisory Committee Comment
Federal regulations (25 C.F.R. § 23.105) and state law (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 224.2(e)) contain detailed recommendations for contacting tribes to fulfill the obligations of inquiry, due diligence, information sharing, and notice under the Indian Child Welfare Act and state law.