California AB 2789 Changes How Courts Must Notify Parents of Custody Mediation

California AB 2789 Changes How Courts Must Notify Parents of Custody Mediation

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2789 on August 22, 2026, enacting Chapter 118, Statutes of 2026, and amending Family Code section 3176. Starting January 1, 2027, California courts may deliver mediation notice by several methods, not certified mail alone, and must tell parties in writing about the confidentiality rule and the domestic violence separate sessions option.

Information last verified on August 27, 2026. This is a developing story; we update it as the record changes.

Jurisdiction scope: This article addresses California state law on notice of mediation in contested child custody and visitation cases under Family Code sections 3160 through 3188. It does not address custody mediation procedures in other states, federal custody disputes, or private mediation outside the court system. For the broader framework courts use to decide custody in the first place, see our hub on child custody laws.

What Happened

Governor Newsom signed AB 2789 on August 22, 2026. The bill, carried by the Assembly Committee on Judiciary rather than an individual member, is titled "Mediation: child custody and visitation" and amends a single section, Family Code 3176, which sets the notice rules for the mediation California courts must order in contested custody and visitation cases. It became Chapter 118, Statutes of 2026, and was filed with the Secretary of State the same day it was signed. The Legislative Counsel's Digest for the chaptered bill summarizes the change directly:

"This bill would require all parties to be given written notice of mediation, including, among others, by court staff when all parties are present for a court hearing. The bill would require the court to develop a notice of mediation that includes that all communications between the mediator and the disputing parties are required to be confidential and, if there has been a history of domestic violence between the parties or a protective order is in effect, that the mediator is required to meet with the parties separately and at separate times at the request of the party alleging domestic violence, as specified."

Before this amendment, Family Code 3176(b) read in full: "Notice shall be given by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, to the last known address." As amended, subdivision (b) instead lists five permitted methods: delivery by court staff when all parties are present for a hearing; delivery by court staff when a party is present at the courthouse; inclusion in a notice of hearing or court order filed by the clerk and served on the other party; mail, express mail, overnight delivery, or facsimile; and electronic service on represented parties, or on self-represented parties who consent, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6 and California Rules of Court, rule 2.251. Subdivision (a), which lists who is entitled to notice, is unchanged.

What the Law Actually Says

California requires mediation before a judge holds a contested hearing on custody or visitation. Family Code section 3161 states the purpose of that mediation is to reduce acrimony between the parties, help them develop an agreement that assures the child close contact with both parents where that serves the child's best interest, and settle disputed visitation issues. Family Code 3176(a), unchanged by AB 2789, requires notice to go to each party and each party's counsel of record, or, where a stepparent or grandparent seeks visitation, to that stepparent or grandparent and to each parent and their counsel.

Confidentiality in custody mediation rests on two separate statutes, and readers should not treat them as interchangeable. Family Code section 3177 makes mediation proceedings under this chapter private, and states that communications from the parties to the mediator are "official information" within the meaning of Evidence Code section 1040, a chapter-wide rule that applies regardless of county. Family Code section 3188 is narrower: it lets a superior court selected by the Judicial Council voluntarily adopt a confidential mediation program under which the mediator generally cannot recommend a custody or visitation outcome to anyone but the parties. Section 3188(c) says the section applies in four or more superior courts that the Judicial Council selects from among courts that currently allow a mediator to make custody recommendations and that have more than 1,000 family law case filings a year, and it also lets the Judicial Council extend the section to courts with fewer filings. Section 3188(b) makes the section operative only upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. Amended Family Code 3176(c)(1) requires every court's notice to state that mediator communications are kept confidential "pursuant to Section 3188." The pre-amendment statute referenced section 3188 as well, but differently: old subdivision (c) required only a "notice of mediation pursuant to Section 3188" to carry that confidentiality statement, so the requirement reached only courts running the section 3188 program. The amendment moves the cross-reference into a disclosure every court must print.

That confidential model is not how every California county runs mediation. Under Family Code section 3183, a mediator may, consistent with local court rules, submit a custody or visitation recommendation to the court, but only if the mediator has first provided the parties and their attorneys, including counsel for any minor children, with the recommendation in writing in advance of the hearing, and the court must ask at the hearing whether they received it. Section 3183 requires that this process be called child custody recommending counseling and the mediator a child custody recommending counselor. Whether a given county uses the recommending model under section 3183 or the confidential model under section 3188 is a matter of local court policy, and AB 2789 leaves that choice untouched. It only standardizes what the notice document must say and how it may be delivered.

The domestic violence provision the notice must now disclose already exists independently in Family Code section 3181. Under that section, where there has been a history of domestic violence between the parties, or a protective order as defined in Family Code section 6218 is in effect, a party alleging domestic violence in a declaration under penalty of perjury, or a party protected by such an order, may require the mediator to meet with the parties separately and at separate times. AB 2789 does not change that underlying right. It requires new subdivision (c)(2) of Family Code 3176 to tell parties, on the mediation notice itself, that the right exists and where to find it, referencing section 3181 and California Rules of Court, rule 5.215.

For the custody standard mediation feeds into once it concludes, see how California courts weigh the child's best interest once a contested issue reaches a judge.

Analysis: Why This Matters

The following is analysis from the Recording Law Editorial Team.

The most consequential line in this bill is not the domestic violence provision, which restates an existing right rather than creating one; it is the demotion of certified mail from the only method of notice to one of five. Certified mail with a return receipt has a documented delivery record, which matters when a party later disputes whether they were ever told to appear for mediation. In-person delivery by court staff, the first option listed in amended 3176(b), trades that paper trail for immediacy: a party physically present in a courtroom or courthouse can be handed notice on the spot rather than waiting days for mail. Whether courts adopt in-person delivery as their default, or keep mail as a backstop, is an operational choice each superior court will make; the statute permits either.

The Legislative Counsel's Digest frames this as a bill that "would require" a standardized notice, which is a real procedural change even though the underlying substantive rules, confidentiality under section 3188 and separate sessions under section 3181, already existed in some form. Requiring every court to put both disclosures on one form closes a gap in which a party could receive technically compliant certified-mail notice that said nothing about a domestic-violence safeguard. Family Code section 3181(b) already required the family court services intake form to disclose the separate-sessions right, but that form is completed before mediation begins, which is later than the notice and after a party has already decided how to prepare. That timing gap, not the mediation rules themselves, is what AB 2789 addresses.

What Happens Next

AB 2789 contains no urgency clause and no separate operative-date section; its only substantive provision is Section 1, amending Family Code 3176. Under California Constitution article IV, section 8(c), a statute enacted at a regular legislative session without an urgency clause goes into effect on January 1 following a 90-day period after enactment. Measured from the August 22, 2026 chaptering date, that places the effective date at January 1, 2027. Until then, the current version of Family Code 3176, including the certified-mail-only requirement, remains the operative law. Because the amended statute directs "each court," not the Judicial Council centrally, to develop its own notice form, the specific wording and layout of the new notice may vary by county once the law takes effect.

How This Affects You

A California parent notified of mediation before January 1, 2027 will still receive that notice by certified mail under the current statute. A parent notified on or after that date may instead receive notice in person from court staff, in a court order, or electronically, depending on which method the local court adopts, and the notice itself should state that mediator communications are confidential and that a party alleging domestic violence may ask for separate mediation sessions. None of this changes who must attend mediation, what a mediator does during it, or how a judge ultimately rules on custody or visitation; it changes only how notice is delivered and what the notice document must disclose.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. It covers California state law under Family Code sections 3161, 3176, 3177, 3181, 3183, 3188, and 6218, and reflects sources verified on August 27, 2026. Laws change and this story is developing; consult a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction about your specific situation. If you are in immediate danger, contact local law enforcement or the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Related articles

• how custody works once mediation concludes and a judge gets involved
• how California divorce cases proceed from filing to judgment

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Last updated: 2026-08-27. This is a developing story; details verified as of 2026-08-27.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does California's AB 2789 take effect?

January 1, 2027. The bill was signed and chaptered on August 22, 2026, and contains no urgency clause, so it follows the standard timing for regular-session statutes under California Constitution article IV, section 8(c), rather than taking effect immediately.

Does AB 2789 change who has to go to mediation in a California custody case?

No. AB 2789 amends only Family Code section 3176(b) and (c), the notice-delivery and notice-content rules. Subdivision (a), which lists who must receive notice, is unchanged, and the underlying requirement that contested custody and visitation issues go to mediation is set out elsewhere in Family Code chapter 11.

Can a California court still use certified mail to notify parents of mediation?

Yes. As amended, Family Code section 3176(b)(4) keeps mail, express mail, overnight delivery, and facsimile among the permitted methods; it is simply no longer the only method a court may use.

What does 'confidential' mean in California custody mediation?

Family Code section 3177 makes mediation communications 'official information' under Evidence Code section 1040 for all mediation under this chapter. Family Code section 3188 separately authorizes a narrower confidential-mediation program that a superior court selected by the Judicial Council may voluntarily adopt, in which the mediator generally does not recommend an outcome to the court. Section 3188(c) has the Judicial Council select four or more courts that already allow mediator recommendations and have more than 1,000 family law case filings a year, and it lets the Council extend the section to courts with fewer filings; section 3188(b) makes the section operative only upon a Budget Act appropriation. The new notice required by AB 2789 must state that communications are confidential under section 3188.

Can a party ask for separate mediation sessions because of domestic violence?

Family Code section 3181 allows a party who alleges a history of domestic violence in a declaration under penalty of perjury, or a party protected by a protective order as defined in section 6218, to require the mediator to meet with each parent separately and at separate times. AB 2789 does not create this right; it requires the mediation notice to disclose that the right exists.

Does every California county run custody mediation the same way?

No. Some courts use a 'recommending' model under Family Code section 3183, in which the mediator may submit a written custody or visitation recommendation to the court after notifying the parties. Courts selected by the Judicial Council under Family Code section 3188 may instead voluntarily adopt a confidential model in which the mediator generally does not make such a recommendation. AB 2789 does not change which model a given county uses.

Who introduced AB 2789 and who signed it?

The Assembly Committee on Judiciary carried AB 2789. Governor Gavin Newsom signed it on August 22, 2026, and it was chaptered as Chapter 118, Statutes of 2026.

Will a mediator tell the judge what a parent said during mediation?

It depends on which model the local court uses. Under the confidential-mediation program authorized by Family Code section 3188, the mediator generally cannot recommend an outcome to the court. Under the recommending model authorized by Family Code section 3183, the mediator, called a child custody recommending counselor, may submit a recommendation to the court only after giving the parties and their attorneys that recommendation in writing in advance of the hearing.