Many people are confused or don’t realize that grandparents have rights for visitation with their grandchildren. There are many resources available on the Internet. Here is a brief summary of an article I found regarding grandparent’s rights to visitation.
According to the article, grandparent visitation is governed under California Family Code Section 3100 et seq. The law supports what is considered “the best interest” of the child. That is an ever evolving societal concept, now that family units are no longer traditional nuclear families. One argument is that it is in the best interests of the child to spend with their grandparents.
According to the article, California law supports the best interest of the child, and that often means spending time with grandparents. Grandparents play a significant role in the daily operation of a healthy family, and can have a tremendous impact on the lives of their grandchildren.
To have legal rights, grandparents must file a petition with the court to join the action. The grandparents can file a petition for visitation rights if the legal parents are currently involved in a marital dissolution proceeding, or if either legal parent have passed. According to the article, they cannot file for visitation if the legal parents are married and are living together on a permanent basis, have not been absent for more than a month without the other spouse knowing the whereabouts of the absent spouse, or are currently residing with the child and the child has not been adopted by a stepparent.
If there are any legal questions you may have, I encourage you to, please contact my San Jose Divorce Lawyers office. My San Jose Family Lawyer offices assists many people who are going through family law related issues. We have many Affordable San Jose Divorce Lawyer solutions for many different budgets. We help many individuals through this very chaotic period in their life. Proudly serving the following cities, Fremont, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Santa Clara.