Legal Question in Family Law in California
do I need to specifically list the people that are allowed to pick up my daughter from my house for visitation instead of her father on our parenting agreement (child custody only, never married)?
-in case he is not able to pick her up presonally. or it it only up to my discretion?
if so, can you please reference the form number(s) and any family law codes that I can read up on?
1 Answer from Attorneys
As much as it seems that the law has a rule or regulation for everything in our lives these days, that is not the case. The law, especially in Family Law, expects or at least hopes that people will act like grown-ups and work out the details themselves. Unfortunately, the law is often disappointed. In any case, there is no rule that answers your question. If you feel that it is necessary and desirable to specifically designate only certain people as being allowed to pick up your daughter, then list them. If you leave it open, plan to be flexible about it since the law WILL expect you not to unreasonably interfere with a custody pick-up by someone he has authorized. Unless you have objective reason to doubt the person is authorized or to believe the person is a danger to the child - such as obvious intoxication - refusing to allow the child to go will put you at risk of contempt of court charges for interfering with the visitation order. Bottom line: talk to him like mature grown-ups and come to an agreement on how to handle this that will work for both of you AND most importantly your daughter, and that agreement is what you should put in the parenting plan and agreement.