Mens Family Law & Divorce Attorneys San Diego

San Diego Grandparents’ Rights Lawyers
Protecting Your Family’s Interests

When people get divorced and there are children of the marriage, two of the central issues that must be decided if it cannot be worked out by those parents are child custody and child visitation.  While custody and visitation orders mostly deal specifically with the parents of the child, they generally do not take into account other relatives such as grandparents.  As such, many grandparents are left out of the equation and could face the prospect of not being able to see their grandchild.  If this situation arises, those who are being harmed need to contact San Diego grandparents’ rights lawyers as soon as possible, as the law and previous court decisions help to define these rights.

California Statutes Dealing with Visitation

Generally, California law directs family court judges to provide for ‘reasonable visitation rights’ by the non-custodial parent of the child or children if this visitation schedule would be in the best interests of the child or children.  The law also loosely defines a right for others who have an interest in the welfare of the child to be provided visitation rights, but for many years this language was unclear as it pertained to grandparents.

Butler v. Harris

In 2004, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling that dealt directly with the issue of grandparent visitation rights.  Previously, the United States Supreme Court had struck down a law in Washington that provided for grandparent visitation rights, and the reasoning was that allowing this form of visitation against the wishes of the biological parents infringed on the parents’ Constitutional rights to make decisions regarding their children.

However, the California law at issue was much narrower in scope, and the California Supreme Court ruled that grandparents could go to court and make a motion to enforce visitation rights with their grandchild or grandchildren.  These visitation rights will be granted if the moving grandparents meet the burden with the court that shows that these visits would be in the best interests of the child even considering the objection of at least one biological parent.

How These Situations Arise

Generally, these types of unfortunate situations arise when parents are divorced and the custodial parent refuses to allow the grandparents of the non-custodial parent to spend time with the child or the children.  The most positive solution to this problem occurs when the parents and others involved are able to work out a civil arrangement so that the grandparents can have contact with the child or children.  When this compromise is not possible, grandparents can now assert their rights to have contact with their grandchildren in court in California.

If you or your parents are not being allowed to see the child or children of your marriage, you need to take steps to enforce these legal rights.  Contact the San Diego grandparents’ rights lawyers at the Law Offices of James D. Scott today to schedule an initial consultation.