Do grandparents have legal visitation rights in California?

Answer 1

They don't have any automatic rights, but they do have the right to petition the court for visitation. However, if the child's parents are married then the grandparents can only petition under certain circumstances (ie the parents are separated, the child doesn't live with either parent, etc).

Answer 2

Briefly, all states require that the grandparents have the burden of proving the visits are in the best interest of the child. Be advised that when the grandparents are trying to wrest control of grandchildren of their deceased child from the surviving parent- that type of situation may not be considered to be in the best interest of the child.

Some states are more permissive: Some examples are Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina and New York. Other state are more strict such as Florida, Minnesota and Pennsylvania where the child must have lived with them or they must have had a parent-child relationship with the grand-child. Some state requirements are extremely narrow where the grandparent must prove they took the child to normal activities such as doctors appointments or school and they cared for the child over extended periods.

State laws differ on this issue and you need to consult with an expert in family law in your particular jurisdiction who is up to date on current legislation in your state. You can also check the law in your state at the related link.

First and foremost to consider is a parent's fundamental legal right under the Constitution to raise their own children.The concept of grandparent "rights" is relatively new. Grandparents, and other individuals with a connection to the child, in every state have the right to petition a court for custody or court ordered visitations but those cases are decided on a case by case basis and they are costly. Grandparents have no legal constitutional rights nor common law rights to their grandchildren. Mediation should be the first step in arriving at a solution.

Many states have passed legislation granting certain rights in certain circumstances to grandparents. However, the state of Washington's statute was found to be too permissive and therefore unconstitutional, in violation of parents' rights to raise their children (Troxel v Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 2000). After that ruling states now give much greater weight to a fit parent's right to decide what is best for their own child in respect to visits with non-parents.

See the related links for summaries of related state laws and several excellent articles that explore this issue.

Answer 3

1. If there was a pending action involving the child, the court may have allowed the grandparents standing to pursue visitation, and in the course of evaluating the particular facts, ordered such visitation. 2. In limited circumstances, courts granted standing and visitation to grandparents even when there was no other matter before the court. 3. Some courts granted standing to grandparents to seek visitation with their grandchildren and then conducted a best interest analysis. 4. Lastly, some courts denied grandparents standing to request visitation outright and never addressed whether or not the visitation was in the child's best interests.