California Grandparent Visitation Rights

For many families, grandparents play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren, and perhaps even fill the role of parents in some households. In these cases, a divorce or separation can leave grandparents wondering whether or not they’ll still be able to visit their grandkids.

In California, grandparent visitation rights are determined by a number of factors that include the parents, courts, and family history between grandparents and grandchildren.
 

Can Grandparents Ask For Visitation Rights?

Parents are free to allow grandparent visitation without a court order. If, however, the parents have decided to stop allowing grandparents to see their grandchildren, grandparents may be able to petition the court for visitation.

Courts in California will not accept a petition for grandparent visitation when the child’s parents are still married, unless one of the following scenarios exist:

• The parents are separated
• One parent’s whereabouts have been unknown for at least a month
• One of the parents joins the grandparents in the request for grandparent visitation
• The child doesn’t live with either parent
• The child has been adopted by a stepparent
• One of the parents is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized

If a grandparent has visitation based on one of the above scenarios, and those circumstances cease to exist, the parents can ask the court to terminate grandparent visitation. For example, if the parents are separated, but move back in with each other, they can request that grandparent visitation end.
 

How Courts Decide Grandparent Visitation Rights

If grandparents decide to file for visitation rights, that courts automatically send all grandparent visitation rights requests to mediation. If the parents and grandparents can’t settle their matter in mediation, the court will be notified and a hearing before a judge will be scheduled.

Hearings regarding grandparent visitation rights begin with the presumption that visitation shouldn’t be allowed if both parents (or one parent with sole custody) agree that the grandparent(s) shouldn’t have visitation rights.

In court, it’s the grandparent’s burden to prove that visitation is in the children’s best interests.

When considering grandparent visitation rights, the courts consider a range of factors, including:

• The child’s health, safety, and wellbeing
• Any history of domestic abuse by anyone seeking custody or visitation
• Each person’s use of drugs or alcohol
• The nature and frequency of contact between the child and person seeking custody.

A judge will determine whether there is a pre-existing relationship between grandparents and grandchildren to the extent that it’s in the children’s best interests to continue that relationship and grant visitation rights.

When a court grants a grandparent visitation rights with a child, the judge may also order a parent or grandparent to pay child support for limited purposes, such as transportation, medical expenses, day care costs, or other necessities.

For example, if a child must fly or take other transportation to reach the grandparent for visitation, the court may order the grandparent to pay the transportation costs directly to the child’s parent.
 

Grandparent Visitation Rights After Adoption

In California, if a child is adopted by someone other than a stepparent or grandparent, all visitation rights with the previous family are automatically terminated.

An adoption removes all relationships with the child’s original family, including extended family like grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

For children that are removed from their parent’s custody and placed in another environment, such as a children’s home, a judge must determine grandparent visitation rights and the children’s best interests. However, in these cases, courts don’t automatically assume that grandparent visitation is against the child’s best interests, regardless of the parents’ views or desires.
 

Grandparents And Child Custody

California courts may grant custody to the child’s parents, or to any other person who may provide a good home for the child. Judges will first try to place the child with one or both parents, but if neither parent is eligible to have custody, the court will try to grant custody to a person in the child’s current residence if it’s a wholesome and stable environment.

Children whose parents are unable to care for a child often live with grandparents, and many California grandparents have legal custody of their grandchildren for this reason. If the child isn’t currently living with either parent or in another stable home, a judge may grant legal custody to any other person who shows the ability to provide care and guidance for a child, including grandparents who don’t currently have physical custody of the child.