Bill Commons

CA AB 2542

enacted

Human remains: disposition.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower

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Quick answers

Did CA AB 2542 pass?

Yes. CA AB 2542 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-30): Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 951, Statutes of 2026.

What is CA AB 2542 about?

Under existing law, the right to control the disposition of the remains of a deceased person vests in persons pursuant to an established priority, beginning with an agent under a power of attorney for health care, except as otherwise directed by the decedent. A person upon whom the duty of interment is imposed by law who omits to perform that duty within a reasonable period of time is guilty of a misdemeanor. If a person has been charged with first- or second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter in connection with the decedent's death and those charges are known to the funeral director or cemetery authority, existing law passes the right of control to the next of kin in accordance with the aforementioned priority. This bill, Marissa's Law, would pass the right of control to the next of kin in accordance with the aforementioned priority if a funeral director or cemetery authority knows that (1) the person with right of control was subject to a restraining order for domestic violence against the deceased at the time of the decedent's death or (2) a court determination or legally determinative document, as specified, evidences that vesting the right to control to the person would have been contrary to the decedent's best interests. The bill would prohibit a funeral director or cemetery authority from being held civilly or criminally liable for, or their license from being subject to disciplinary action for, a determination made pursuant to these provisions.

Who sponsors CA AB 2542?

Patterson is the primary sponsor of CA AB 2542.

Description

Under existing law, the right to control the disposition of the remains of a deceased person vests in persons pursuant to an established priority, beginning with an agent under a power of attorney for health care, except as otherwise directed by the decedent. A person upon whom the duty of interment is imposed by law who omits to perform that duty within a reasonable period of time is guilty of a misdemeanor. If a person has been charged with first- or second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter in connection with the decedent's death and those charges are known to the funeral director or cemetery authority, existing law passes the right of control to the next of kin in accordance with the aforementioned priority. This bill, Marissa's Law, would pass the right of control to the next of kin in accordance with the aforementioned priority if a funeral director or cemetery authority knows that (1) the person with right of control was subject to a restraining order for domestic violence against the deceased at the time of the decedent's death or (2) a court determination or legally determinative document, as specified, evidences that vesting the right to control to the person would have been contrary to the decedent's best interests. The bill would prohibit a funeral director or cemetery authority from being held civilly or criminally liable for, or their license from being subject to disciplinary action for, a determination made pursuant to these provisions.

Introduced
2026-03-18
Latest action
2026-09-30 — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 951, Statutes of 2026.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Pattersonauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-09-30

    Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 951, Statutes of 2026.

    became-law

  2. 2026-09-30

    Approved by the Governor.

    executive-signature

  3. 2026-09-15

    Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.

    executive-receipt

  4. 2026-08-31

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling.

  5. 2026-08-31

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 75. Noes 0.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  6. 2026-08-31

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 7046.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  7. 2026-08-26

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0.).

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  8. 2026-08-26

    Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-3

  9. 2026-08-26

    From special consent calendar

  10. 2026-08-19

    In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  11. 2026-08-19

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0.).

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  12. 2026-08-19

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 5558.).

  13. 2026-08-17

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  14. 2026-08-13

    Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  15. 2026-08-06

    From Consent Calendar.

  16. 2026-08-06

    Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-3

  17. 2026-08-04

    Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

    reading-1,reading-2

  18. 2026-08-03

    From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar.

    committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  19. 2026-06-25

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  20. 2026-06-24

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 23).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee

  21. 2026-06-09

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  22. 2026-05-06

    Referred to Com. on JUD.

    referral-committee

  23. 2026-04-23

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

    reading-1,referral-committee

  24. 2026-04-23

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 4795.)

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  25. 2026-04-16

    Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

    reading-1,reading-2

  26. 2026-04-15

    From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (April 15).

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  27. 2026-03-24

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (March 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee

  28. 2026-03-19

    Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

    referral-committee

  29. 2026-03-18

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  30. 2026-03-09

    Referred to Com. on JUD.

    referral-committee

  31. 2026-02-21

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

  32. 2026-02-20

    Read first time. To print.

    reading-1

Versions

  • 02/20/26 - Introduced — 2026-02-20Compare
  • 03/18/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-03-18Compare
  • 06/09/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-06-09Compare
  • 06/25/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-06-25Compare
  • 08/13/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-08-13Compare
  • 09/04/26 - Enrolled — 2026-09-04Compare
  • 09/30/26 - Chaptered — 2026-09-30Compare
  • (document, no version)Compare
  • AB2542Compare

Documents

Votes

  • Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar

    2026-03-24 · pass · 12-0

    Member-level votes (12)
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Macedo: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Sanchez: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Dixon: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Papan: yes

  • Do pass. To Consent Calendar.

    2026-04-15 · pass · 13-0

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Dixon: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Hoover: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Tangipa: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Ta: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Pellerin: other
    • Muratsuchi: other

  • AB 2542 Patterson Consent Calendar Second Day

    2026-04-23 · pass · 74-0

    Member-level votes (80)
    • Irwin: yes
    • Ellis: yes
    • Quirk-Silva: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Jackson: yes
    • Gabriel: yes
    • Gipson: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Ta: yes
    • Rivas: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Davies: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Garcia: yes
    • Jeff Gonzalez: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Johnson: yes
    • Hart: yes
    • Patterson: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Petrie-Norris: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Hoover: yes
    • Nguyen: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Wallis: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Valencia: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Dixon: yes
    • Lowenthal: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Castillo: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Gallagher: yes
    • Alvarez: yes
    • Sanchez: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Chen: yes
    • DeMaio: yes
    • Flora: yes
    • Muratsuchi: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Papan: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Ortega: yes
    • Lackey: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Macedo: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Bains: yes
    • Tangipa: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • McKinnor: yes
    • Patel: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Alanis: yes
    • Boerner: yes
    • Michelle Rodriguez: yes
    • Hadwick: other
    • Soria: other
    • Addis: other
    • Wicks: other
    • Celeste Rodriguez: other
    • Sharp-Collins: other

  • Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar

    2026-06-23 · pass · 13-0

    Member-level votes (13)
    • Ashby: yes
    • Valladares: yes
    • Reyes: yes
    • Stern: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Laird: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Umberg: yes
    • Wiener: yes
    • Weber Pierson: yes
    • Durazo: yes
    • Allen: yes
    • Niello: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2542

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-02T08:27:01.163491Z

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