As a new Grandparent I can fully appreciate a Grandparent’s desire to see their grandchild as much as possible. We are fortunate. In our case, visiting little June Thomas is welcomed by his mom and dad.

Grandparent’s Sue for More Visitation

That is not the case with the Balandran family. David and Felicia Balandran had two young kids when David contracted Covid-19 and died. After David’s death, Felicia continued to allow David’s Grandparents to visit with the girls – multiple times each month with visits particularly frequent in November and December. The Grandparents wanted visitation on alternative weekends, weekday dinner visits, and various holidays and vacations. They filed suit seeking a specific visitation schedule.

Trial Court Favors Grandparents

The Los Angeles County trial court ruled that even though Felicia was a “fit parent”, the Grandparents should have more specific visitation which was ordered by the court. Felicia appealed.

California Law

The Civil Code governs Grandparent’s visitation rights if a parent of a minor child is deceased: “… the children, siblings, parents, and Grandparents of the deceased parent may be granted reasonable visitation with the child during the child’s minority upon the finding that the visitation would be in the best interest of the minor child”.

Three rules govern when courts consider overriding a fit parents visitation: first, courts must presume fit parents act in their children’s best interests; second, courts must give “special weight” to the surviving parent’s determination of the child’s best interest rather than placing the burden on the parent to justify his/her decisions; and third, courts must consider whether the

parent has offered “meaningful visitation” rather than denying contact altogether. That’s the basic law.

The Court of Appeal reviewed the Kyle O case which held, “…that a fit parent who allows visitation is entitled to a presumption that he will act in his child’s best interest and that his preference for “less structured and more normal and spontaneous” visitation must be given deference.”

Court of Appeal Favors the Minor’s Parent

The Second Appellate District Court of Appeal concluded that because Felicia is a fit parent who allowed the Grandparent’s meaningful or “reasonable visitation”, it is presumed that her visitation preferences are in the best interest of her children. Further, the Grandparents failed to prove “by clear and convincing evidence” that the visitation allowed by Felecia was detrimental to the children. The Court found the trial court should have given “special weight” to Felicias preferences.

The Balandran children are lucky to have a loving mother and loving Grandparents. In California the right of Grandparents to visit their deceased son’s minor children favors the birth mother.

Jim Porter is a retired attorney from Porter Simon, formerly licensed in California and Nevada. Porter Simon has offices in Truckee California and Reno, Nevada. These are Jim’s personal opinions. He may be reached at jameslporterjr@gmail.com. Like Porter Simon on Facebook. ©2025