• California visitation laws include fathersCalifornia flag image by palmer530 from Fotolia.com
  
  Under California law, fathers have the same visitation rights as mothers. The laws regarding these rights are found in California's Family Code, Division 8, Part 2, Chapter 5 'Visitation Rights' (sections 3100-3105). Learning about these laws may help you understand your rights and assist you in your visitation case.
  
  

Reasonable Visitation, Protective Orders, Domestic Violence, Shelters

• Parents will be granted reasonable visitation unless it is 'detrimental to the best interest of the child'. The court must consider any protective order against a parent, how much time has elapsed since it was issued, and whether visitation should be supervised. If there is domestic violence, the court will specify the day, time and location of visitation to assure the safety of all family members. If family members are in a domestic violence shelter, orders shall ensure their location remains confidential.
  
  

Step Parent Visitation

• Step parents may be granted reasonable visitation, unless protective orders against the step parent are not in the best interests of the child. Step parent visitation will not be granted if it conflicts with the custody or visitation rights of a birth parent.
  
  

Visitation When Either Parent Is Deceased

• If either parent is deceased, the 'children, siblings, parents, and grandparents of the deceased parent' may be granted visitation. For anyone other than grandparents, the court will consider how much contact they had with the child. This section will not apply if the child has been adopted by a person other than step parents or grandparents.
  
  

Grandparent Visitation

• This section affords the same rights of visitation to grandparents as those of step parents (in section 3101). However, grandparents will not be granted visitation if the parents agree it is not in the child's best interests. Visitation cannot be the basis for a child's change of residence. Visitation may be divided between grandparents and parents on a percentage basis and the court may order support to be paid by grandparents for visitation costs.
  
  

Grandparent Visitation in Greater Detail

• A majority of the information in this section is identical to that in section 3103, with a few additions. In determining whether to grant visitation, the court must find there is a preexisting relationship which has produced a bond between grandparent and child. The court must also balance the grandparent's visitation with the parent's right to authority. There may not be a petition for grandparent visitation if the parents are still married unless the parents are separated, one parent is absent for a month, one parent joins the petition, the child resides with neither parent, or the child is adopted by a stepparent.
  
  

Parent and Child Rights; Previous Legal Guardian

• The legislature declares that a parent's rights are compelling but not absolute. In fact, children have a 'fundamental right to maintain healthy, stable relationships with a person who has served in a significant, judicially approved parental role'. Reasonable visitation may be granted to a previous legal guardian of a child. If there is no current or pending action for visitation, a former legal guardian may file a separate action. If both parents of the child are deceased, visitation will be determined in a guardianship proceeding.