As we’ve seen in celebrities and their families, step parents often have a hand in raising children and form meaningful bonds with them. That’s why when a child’s parent and stepparent get a divorce, California allows stepparents to petition for visitation rights. Court’s will generally show preference to the birth parents’ wishes. But they can also take a variety of factors into account. California expressly grant stepparents the right to seek visitation if it’s in the best interests of the child.
To figure out the best interests of a child, a court will consider a host of factors that include:
- Personal involvement. How involved is the stepparent in the child’s life?
- Length of relationship in parental role. How long has the stepparent filled the role of the child’s natural parent?
- The emotional relationship. How close are the step parent and child to each other?
- Financial contributions. How much financial support has the stepparent provided to the child?
- Potential detriment to the child. How much harm, if any, will the child suffer if visitation rights aren’t granted?
But since the sound rule in family law is the best interests of the child, a stepparent can try to overcome that parental preference by showing the court that denying visitation rights will be detrimental to the child. An experienced family law attorney can help figure out the best way to proceed in your particular case.
Each county in Southern California conducts their custody mediation in a different manner. Our experienced attorneys will advise you of the mediation process for your case and fully prepare you for it.
At The Law Offices of Amy Montes, we understand how important the issues of child visitation and parenting time are and we work hard to secure a meaningful parenting future for each of our clients. If you are concerned about your current visitation rights or how custody and visitation rights issues might be resolved in a pending divorce — the experience of our attorneys is a valuable asset to have working for you on these issues.
For a free telephone consultation — call our office directly or contact us online to schedule a call today. We Proudly Serve All Orange County.
