2009 California Evidence Code - Section 1310-1316 :: Article 11. Family History

1310.  (a) Subject to subdivision (b), evidence of a statement by a
declarant who is unavailable as a witness concerning his own birth,
marriage, divorce, a parent and child relationship, relationship by
blood or marriage, race, ancestry, or other similar fact of his
family history is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule, even
though the declarant had no means of acquiring personal knowledge of
the matter declared.
   (b) Evidence of a statement is inadmissible under this section if
the statement was made under circumstances such as to indicate its
lack of trustworthiness.

1311.  (a) Subject to subdivision (b), evidence of a statement
concerning the birth, marriage, divorce, death, parent and child
relationship, race, ancestry, relationship by blood or marriage, or
other similar fact of the family history of a person other than the
declarant is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if the
declarant is unavailable as a witness and:
   (1) The declarant was related to the other by blood or marriage;
or
   (2) The declarant was otherwise so intimately associated with the
other's family as to be likely to have had accurate information
concerning the matter declared and made the statement (i) upon
information received from the other or from a person related by blood
or marriage to the other or (ii) upon repute in the other's family.
   (b) Evidence of a statement is inadmissible under this section if
the statement was made under circumstances such as to indicate its
lack of trustworthiness.

1312.  Evidence of entries in family Bibles or other family books or
charts, engravings on rings, family portraits, engravings on urns,
crypts, or tombstones, and the like, is not made inadmissible by the
hearsay rule when offered to prove the birth, marriage, divorce,
death, parent and child relationship, race, ancestry, relationship by
blood or marriage, or other similar fact of the family history of a
member of the family by blood or marriage.

1313.  Evidence of reputation among members of a family is not made
inadmissible by the hearsay rule if the reputation concerns the
birth, marriage, divorce, death, parent and child relationship, race,
ancestry, relationship by blood or marriage, or other similar fact
of the family history of a member of the family by blood or marriage.

1314.  Evidence of reputation in a community concerning the date or
fact of birth, marriage, divorce, or death of a person resident in
the community at the time of the reputation is not made inadmissible
by the hearsay rule.

1315.  Evidence of a statement concerning a person's birth,
marriage, divorce, death, parent and child relationship, race,
ancestry, relationship by blood or marriage, or other similar fact of
family history which is contained in a writing made as a record of a
church, religious denomination, or religious society is not made
inadmissible by the hearsay rule if:
   (a) The statement is contained in a writing made as a record of an
act, condition, or event that would be admissible as evidence of
such act, condition, or event under Section 1271; and
   (b) The statement is of a kind customarily recorded in connection
with the act, condition, or event recorded in the writing.

1316.  Evidence of a statement concerning a person's birth,
marriage, divorce, death, parent and child relationship, race,
ancestry, relationship by blood or marriage, or other similar fact of
family history is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if the
statement is contained in a certificate that the maker thereof
performed a marriage or other ceremony or administered a sacrament
and:
   (a) The maker was a clergyman, civil officer, or other person
authorized to perform the acts reported in the certificate by law or
by the rules, regulations, or requirements of a church, religious
denomination, or religious society; and
   (b) The certificate was issued by the maker at the time and place
of the ceremony or sacrament or within a reasonable time thereafter.