Grandparents’ Rights at Wienick Law

 
In some families, grandparents are not peripheral figures; they are stabilizers, caregivers, cultural anchors, or the only emotionally safe adults a child consistently interacts with.

 

GRANDMA

What We Do

Our firm represents grandparents and parents in visitation matters involving:

  • estrangement due to coercive control

  • parental substance abuse or instability

  • the death or unavailability of one parent

  • psychologically unsafe home environments

  • situations where grandparents have served as primary or secondary caregivers

Grandparent visitation cases require a sophisticated, trauma-aware understanding of family systems and an ability to articulate the child’s psychological needs in court. At the Law Office of Darshann M. Wienick, our team has extensive experience navigating the sensitive and often emotionally complex issues surrounding grandparents’ rights. Our staff has represented both grandparents seeking meaningful access to a child and children whose safety and well-being are at the center of the dispute. This dual perspective allows us to understand the full family system and advocate with clarity and compassion.

 

As a child-centered practice, we represent the protective party, who is prioritizing the child’s emotional safety, stability, and developmental needs. Whether the concern involves estrangement, safety-based boundaries, or maintaining a healthy connection with extended family, we understand that every family dynamic is unique and approach every case with a trauma-informed lens.

 

We help families craft legally sound, psychologically informed solutions that respect a child’s relationships while protecting their wellbeing. When children are involved, the stakes are always high. Our expertise allows the court to receive a clear, grounded understanding of what arrangement truly serves the child’s best interest.

We craft arguments that go far beyond “quality time” and instead highlight:

  • the child’s attachment patterns

  • the regulation and safety grandparents provide

  • the emotional cost of severing stable generational connections

  • the trauma impact when a child loses a primary support figure

 

When Grandparents Should Seek Legal Guidance

Grandparents may need support when:

  • A parent is preventing healthy contact

  • There are concerns about neglect, instability, or substance use

  • The child used to have a strong bond, but contact suddenly stopped

  • A parent passes away or becomes unavailable

  • The family is in high conflict, and the child is caught in the middle

Not every request for contact is safe, and not every restriction is harmful. Our role is to help courts distinguish between protective boundaries and unnecessary barriers, always centering the child’s wellbeing.

 

Where family relationships are complex, we bring clarity.

Where children need emotional protection, we bring strength.

FAQ

Do grandparents have automatic visitation rights in California?

No. California law does not guarantee visitation, the court must balance the child’s best interest against parental autonomy.

When do grandparents have a strong case?

When the child has an established bond and cutting off that relationship would be harmful, or when a parent is unavailable or unable to safely care for the child. 

Can parents block grandparents from seeing the child?

Not when the restriction harms the child emotionally or interrupts a stable attachment, courts may intervene.