Know the Laws: California

UPDATED July 31, 2009

WomensLaw.org strongly recommends that you get in touch with a lawyer in your community for more information on custody. Go to the CA Where to Find Help page for a listing of organizations that can help.

• Definitions and basic info
• Who can get custody
• Who can get visitation
  • Can a parent who committed violence get visitation?
  • Can grandparents get visitation?
• The custody process
• After an order is in place

Who can get visitation

back to topCan a parent who committed violence get visitation?

Sometimes.  When making a visitation order in a case in which an emergency protective order, protective order, or other restraining order has been issued, the court must consider whether it is in the best interest of the child to have unsupervised visitation or whether the visitation should be supervised by a third party, suspended or denied altogether.*

Note: If the abusive parent uses drugs or abuses alcohol, the judge could make the parent undergo tests for alcohol and illegal drug use if s/he decides that the parent is a frequent or habitual user.  If the tests show that the abuser does use drugs or alcohol, this could be a factor that the judge considers when deciding whether or not to grant him visitation.  When deciding if the parent is habitually using, one type of evidence the judge will consider is any convictions for illegal drug use or possession within the past 5 years.**

* Ann.Cal.Fam.Code § 3031(c)
** See Ann.Cal.Fam.Code § 3041.5(a)

back to topCan grandparents get visitation?

Sometimes.  Whether or not the parents of the child are married or unmarried, the grandparent will have to prove that s/he has such a close relationship and bond with the grandchild that visitation would be in the best interest of the child.  However, if both parents agree that the grandparent should not be granted visitation rights, or if the one parent who the child lives with (with that parent having sole legal and physical custody over the child or if there is no court order) does not want the grandparent to have visitation, the judge will assume that the visitation of a grandparent is NOT in the best interest of the child.  It is then up to the grandparent to try to change the judge’s mind and prove that the visitation IS in the child’s best interests.

However, if the parents are married, there are additional restrictions that the grandparent has to follow.  The grandparent can file for visitation only if one or more of the following circumstances exist:

1. The parents are currently living separately on a permanent basis;
2. One of the parents has been absent for more than one month without the other spouse knowing where s/he is;
3. One of the parents joins in the petition with the grandparents (consents to the visits);
4. The child is not living with either parent; or
5. The child has been adopted by a step-parent.*

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