Who Gets Child Custody in California? Like most states, the standard for child custody determinations in
California is the overall best interest of the child with an emphasis
on assuring the “
health, safety, and welfare” of the child and “
frequent and continuing contact”
with both parents absent child abuse, domestic violence, or where the
contact would not be in the best interest of the child as provided in
the California family code section 3011 (See California Family Code
Section 3011, 3020, 3040, 3080. Further, according to California family
code section 3040,
child custody should be granted in an order of preference and according to the best interest of the child.
A common challenge for the court is to decide who will get custody of
the child. Child custody may be petitioned by parents, grandparents,
stepparents, or any person who believes they can provide suitable care
and guidance to the child. So how does the California family court or
California judge handle competing persons seeking custody of the child?
According to California family code section 3040 child custody should
be granted in an order of preference and according to the best interest
of the child. The court looks first to grant custody to both parents
jointly or to either parent before looking to grant custody to other
persons.
California however does not currently establish a preference
or a presumption for or against joint custody arrangements. Instead, if
the parents are unable to come to an agreement on child custody and
visitation it allows the California family court or California judge to
make the parenting arrangement decision on a case-by-case basis
according to what it believes reflects the overall best interest of the
child. If neither parent is granted custody, then the court may look
towards the person’s home in which the child has been living and the
stability of that environment and then to any person deemed by the
court to be able to provide appropriate care for the child. In short,
the court will typically look to grant child custody first to the
parents according the best interest of the child and if they are deemed
unfit the court will then look to grant child custody to other persons
according to the best interest of the child.
To schedule a consultation with any of our attorneys regarding your
family law matter, please
contact us by e-mail or by telephone at (916)
924-1867.
Our firm represents individuals across the nation in resolving their California family law disputes.