If a parent of a minor child willfully omits, without lawful excuse, to furnish necessary clothing, food, shelter or medical attendance, or other remedial care for his or her child, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. If a court of competent jurisdiction has made a final adjudication in either a civil or a criminal action that a person is the parent of a minor child and the person has notice of such adjudication and he or she then willfully omits, without lawful excuse, to furnish necessary
clothing, food, shelter, medical attendance or other remedial care for his or her child, this conduct is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or in a state prison for a determinate term of one year and one day, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. This statute shall not be construed so as to relieve such parent from the criminal liability defined herein for such omission merely because the other parent of such child is legally entitled to the custody of such child nor because the other parent of such child or any other person or organization voluntarily or involuntarily furnishes such necessary food, clothing, shelter or medical attendance or other remedial care for such child or undertakes to do so.
Proof of abandonment or desertion of a child by such parent, or the omission by such parent to furnish necessary food, clothing, shelter or medical attendance or other remedial
care for his or her child is prima facie evidence that such abandonment or desertion or omission to furnish necessary food, clothing, shelter or medical attendance or other remedial care is willful and without lawful excuse.
The court, in determining the ability of the parent to support his or her child, shall consider all income, including social insurance benefits and gifts.
The provisions of this section are applicable whether the parents of such child are or were ever married or divorced, and regardless of any decree made in any divorce action relative to alimony or to the support of the child. A child conceived but not yet born is to be deemed an existing person insofar as this section is concerned.
The husband of a woman who bears a child as a result of artificial insemination shall be considered the father of that child for the purpose of this section, if he consented in
writing to the artificial insemination.
If a parent provides a minor with treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination, by a duly accredited practitioner thereof, such treatment shall constitute “other remedial care”, as used in this section.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
79
cases (
3 in the last 5 years), 1915–2026 · leading case:
Salas v. Cortez, 593 P.2d 226 (Cal. 1979).
Salas v. Cortez, 593 P.2d 226 (Cal. 1979).
· cites it 6× “(Pen. Code, § 270.) [4] While an indigent is entitled to counsel if prosecuted *29 criminally for nonsupport, the most significant element of the offense paternity may have already been determined in a civil proceeding in which the defendant was unrepresented by counsel.”
Lewis v. Martin, 397 U.S. 552 (1970).
· cites it 2× “For criminal sanctions against a natural father who fails to support his children see Cal. Penal Code § 270 ; Cal. Welf. & Inst'ns Code §§ 11476-11477 (1966).”
People v. Burden, 72 Cal. App. 3d 603 (Cal. Ct. App. 1977).
· cites it 2× “NOTES [1] Penal Code section 270 is in part as follows: "If a parent of a minor child wilfully omits, without lawful excuse, to furnish necessary clothing, food, shelter or medical attendance, or other remedial care for his or her child, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
People v. Arnold, 426 P.2d 515 (Cal. 1967).
· cites it 2× “Penal Code section 270 provides in part: "A father of .”
Am. Academy of Pediatrics v. Lungren, 940 P.2d 797 (Cal. 1997).
“(Pen. Code, § 270.) Second, an unemancipated minor has a right to procedures that will protect her from arbitrary and drastic curtailment of her privacy interest by her parents, or, presumably, by the state, no matter how well motivated.”
Nash v. Clark Cnty. Dist. Attorney's Off. (In Re Nash), 464 B.R. 874 (9th Cir. BAP 2012).
“See Cal.Penal Code § 270. That is a judgment reserved to the state; it is not for the bankruptcy court to disrupt that sovereign determination because it discerns an economic motive behind the criminal statute or its enforcement.”
People v. Belous, 458 P.2d 194 (Cal. 1969).
· cites it 2× “Penal Code section 270 makes punishable a father's wilful failure to provide a minor child with necessary items and provides that "A child conceived but not yet born is to be deemed an existing person in so far as this section is concerned.”
People v. Richard M., 205 Cal. App. 3d 7 (Cal. Ct. App. 1988).
· cites it 3× “1 Penal Code section 270, read in isolation, might appear to provide some support for the “claim of right” argument.”
Cnty. of San Mateo v. DELL J., 762 P.2d 1202 (Cal. 1988).
· cites it 2× “[14] Indeed, the Court of Appeal in its opinion below failed to even mention sections 202 and 903, or the Legislature's amendment of those statutes responsive to the majority holding in Jerald C.”
In Re Marriage of Schulze, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9778 (Cal. Ct. App. 1997).
“9 The criminal child-neglect statute, Penal Code section 270, in contrast to section 4058, specifically mentions “gifts" as within “income” for purposes of determining a parent’s ability to support his or her child.”
Moffat v. Moffat, 612 P.2d 967 (Cal. 1980).
“Moffat for failure to provide (Pen. Code, § 270). 2 None of her efforts were successful; in affirming the order dismissing the criminal charges, *650 the appellate department of the superior court noted the dismissal rested, in part, on the trial judge’s conclusion that the…”
Gutierrez v. Superior Court, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2662 (Cal. Ct. App. 1994).
· cites it 2× “2d 1015 ] The defendant was found guilty of failing to provide for his minor child (Pen. Code, § 270; statutory references, unless otherwise noted, are to the Penal Code).”
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