Section 726.5.

(a) At any time when (1) the minor is a ward of the juvenile court under Section 725, or the court terminates wardship while the minor remains under the age of 18 years, and (2) proceedings for dissolution of marriage, for nullity of marriage, or for legal separation of the minor's parents, proceedings to determine custody of the child, or to establish paternity of the minor under the Uniform Parentage Act, Part 3 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 12 of the Family Code are pending in the superior court of any county, or an order has been entered with regard to the custody of the minor, the juvenile court may issue a protective order as provided in Section 213.5 or as defined in Section 6218 of the Family Code and may issue an order determining parentage, custody of, or visitation with, the minor.

A custody or visitation order issued by the juvenile court pursuant to this subdivision shall be made in accordance with the procedures and criteria of Part 2 (commencing with Section 3020) of Division 8 of the Family Code. An order determining parentage issued by the juvenile court pursuant to this subdivision shall be made in accordance with the procedures and presumptions of the Uniform Parentage Act, Part 3 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 12 of the Family Code.

(b) If the juvenile court decides to issue an order pursuant to subdivision (a), the juvenile court shall provide notice of that decision to the superior court in which the proceeding to decide parentage, custody of, or visitation with, the minor is pending. The clerk of the superior court, upon receipt of the notice, shall file the notice with other documents and records of the pending proceeding and send by first-class mail a copy of the notice to all parties of record in that proceeding.

(c) Any order issued under this section shall continue until modified or terminated by a subsequent order of the juvenile court. The order of the juvenile court shall be filed in the proceeding for nullity, dissolution, or legal separation, or in the proceeding to determine custody or to establish paternity, if that proceeding is pending at the time the juvenile court terminates its jurisdiction over the minor. The order shall then become a part of that proceeding and may be terminated or modified as the court in that proceeding deems appropriate.

(d) If no action is filed or pending relating to the custody of the minor in the superior court of any county at the time the juvenile court terminates its jurisdiction over the minor, the juvenile court order entered pursuant to subdivision (a) may be used as the sole basis for opening a file in the superior court of the county in which the parent who has been awarded physical custody resides. The clerk of the juvenile court shall transmit the order to the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the order is to be filed. The clerk of the superior court shall, upon receipt, open a file, without a filing fee, and assign a case number.

(e) The clerk of the superior court shall, upon the filing of any juvenile court order pursuant to subdivision (d), send by first-class mail a copy of the order with the case number, to the juvenile court and to the parents at the address listed on the order.

(f) The Judicial Council shall adopt forms for orders issued under this section. These orders shall not be confidential.

(Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 390, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1999.)