Grandparents Visitation Rights In California

Grandparents are important people in the lives of children. They provide love, care, and a sense of security that many parents are unable to give their children. If you're a grandparent seeking visitation rights for your grandchildren because their parents will not allow you to be their children's lives, you may find the following information valuable.

Grandparents Rights in California

In California, grandparents cannot petition the court for visitation rights unless there are legitimate reasons to do so. The state has conditions that must be met before a grandparent can receive visitation rights.

• If the parents of your grandchildren live separately, you may be able to receive visitation for when they are staying with the other parent. 
• If one of the parents of your grandchildren is missing for more than a month, grandparents can ask for visitation rights. Usually, this situation occurs when the son or daughter of the grandparents is the one missing, and the other parent refuses to allow them to see the children.
• When children live with neither of their parents, grandparents can ask for an order to visit them regularly.
• If your grandchildren's parent remarries, grandparents can request visitation rights, especially if the children do not visit the grandparents' son or daughter.

How to Increases Chance of Receiving Grandparents Rights

If any one of the conditions is met, grandparents can increase their chances of receiving grandparents' rights by having one the grandchildren's parents accompany them to court. By having one of the parents with parental rights vouch for the grandparents, the judge is more likely to see the order to be in the best interest of the children.

As you're starting the process of visitation rights, attempt to stay away from your grandchildren's parent that isn't allowing you to see them. It's important not to cause any problems because the court could use it to justify that having visitation could be too stressful on the children, which wouldn't be good for them.

Since the court does consider what is in the best interest of the children, grandparents can also increase their chances of receiving visitation rightsb y gathering evidence proving it's in the best interest of the children. Having a heath Newton San Francisco family law attorney on your side can help you do this because he knows what type of documentation is needed.

Starting the Process of Recieving Visitation Rights

Before you head to court, attempt to speak to your grandchildren's parent about visiting them. if he or she is still unwilling to alow you to have a relationship with your grandchildren, you should start the process by filing a petition for visitation rights at the courthouse. If you are unsure where to go, or the documentation you need for rights, consider contacting a Heath Newton San Francisco Family law attorney. He can help you understand the process, gather necessary evidence, and represent you in court if needed. This can be a great relief, especially when you really want to visit your granchildren, but you're not confidence about proceeding with the law.