When California parents with young children go through a divorce, one of them will normally be granted primary physical custody. This usually results in the child living with the custodial parent and being able to see the other parent during visitation. In some rare cases, a parent will be completely denied visitation by the court, but even then, the parent may be able to regain some visitation rights by completing a course in anger management or undergoing substance abuse treatment.
If there is a question of the children being able to safely spend time with a parent, the court may order supervised visitation. This means that those parents will still have access to children, but they will need to see them in settings with a person present to ensure the safety of children.
There are also some circumstances where the custodial parent will deny a non-custodial parent access to children for reasons not supported by the legal system. In these situations, people may need to file for visitation rights with the court.
Even if parents were denied custody of their child during a divorce, it does not mean that they will never be able to revisit the parenting issue. If the circumstances of one or both parents change or it appears that a child may be in danger by staying with the custodial parent, a change of custody may be possible. A family law attorney could explain what situations may allow for such a client to seek custody and assist with preparing and filing the required motion.