“Shall” is mandatory and “may” is permissive. “Shall not” and “may not” are prohibitory.
Cal. Fam. Code § 12
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
Known as the Family Code
The act spans §§ 1–13 (13 sections).
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case 16 Cal. 4th 90 - People v. Ledesma (1997)
Most recently applied in S.H. v. M.M. (In re C.E.) (January 2019)
Enacted by Stats. 1992, Ch. 162, Sec. 10
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.