Grandparents can play an important role in a child’s life, particularly when they have developed a close and longstanding relationship with a grandchild. California family law allows grandparents to seek court-ordered visitation in certain circumstances, but grandparents do not have the same custody and visitation rights as parents. A fit parent’s decisions concerning who spends time with their child receive substantial legal protection.

Grandparent Visitation Is Available Only in Certain Circumstances

California law provides several situations in which a grandparent may seek visitation.

For example, a grandparent may be able to request visitation when a divorce or another family law proceeding is already pending and child custody is at issue. During a marital dissolution proceeding, this procedure is available only until a judgment dissolving the marriage and awarding custody is entered. Different grandparent visitation provisions apply after that point.

Grandparent visitation may also potentially be requested when the child’s parents are not married to each other, including after their marriage has been dissolved.

When the parents remain married, the circumstances in which grandparents can seek visitation are more limited. Qualifying circumstances can include parents who are living separately and apart on a permanent or indefinite basis, a parent whose whereabouts have been unknown for more than a month, a parent joining in the grandparent’s request, the child not residing with either parent, adoption by a stepparent, or a parent being incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.

Separate rules can also apply when one of the child’s parents has died.

A Parent’s Decision About Visitation Receives Significant Weight

The fact that a grandparent is legally permitted to request visitation does not mean the family court will automatically grant it.

Parents have a fundamental interest in making decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children. California’s grandparent visitation laws contain protections designed to respect those parental rights.

For example, when both parents agree that a grandparent should not receive visitation, California law creates a rebuttable presumption that grandparent visitation is not in the child’s best interests.

A similar presumption can apply when a parent who has been awarded sole legal and physical custody objects to grandparent visitation.

A fit parent’s decision concerning the amount of contact between a child and a grandparent also receives significant legal weight. This can become especially important when the parent is already voluntarily allowing reasonable contact but objects to a court-imposed visitation schedule.

The Child’s Relationship With the Grandparent Can Matter

The court’s analysis can involve the relationship between the grandparent and child.

California grandparent visitation law does not simply ask whether spending time with a grandparent would generally be beneficial. The applicable statutory requirements and constitutional protections for parental decision-making must also be satisfied.

This makes the factual history of the relationship important.

A grandparent who has been a significant and consistent part of a child’s life may present different circumstances from a relative who has had little prior involvement with the child. California cases addressing grandparent visitation have considered the importance and history of these relationships while also protecting the decision-making rights of fit parents.

Grandparent Visitation Requires More Than Showing That Contact Would Be Positive

California allows grandparents to seek visitation only under specified circumstances, and eligibility to file a request does not guarantee that visitation will be ordered. The family court must apply the relevant statutory requirements while giving appropriate weight to the decisions of fit parents. As a result, grandparent visitation cases can involve both the child’s established family relationships and important constitutional protections surrounding parental decision-making.