Notwithstanding Section 364, in a county of the first class, a copy of the report required pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 364 shall be provided to all parties at least 10 calendar days before the hearing. This may be accomplished by electronically serving the report pursuant to Section 212.5 or by mailing the report at least 15 calendar days before the hearing to a party whose address is within the State of California, or at least 20 calendar days before the hearing to a party whose address is outside the State of California. The court shall grant a reasonable continuance, not to exceed 10 calendar days, upon request by any party or his or her counsel on the ground that the report was not provided at least 10 calendar days before the hearing as required by this section, unless the party or his or her counsel has expressly waived the requirement that the report be provided within the 10-day period or the court finds that the party’s ability to proceed at the hearing is not prejudiced by the lack of timely service of the report. In making this determination, the court shall presume that a party is prejudiced by the lack of timely service of the report, and may find that the party is not prejudiced only by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 319, Sec. 131. (AB 976) Effective January 1, 2018.)