Visitation: Grandparent’s Rights vs. Mother’s Right To Parent.

A juvenile court judge in dependency court terminated the court’s jurisdiction over a minor.  At the same time, the court ordered regular visitation with the paternal grandmother. The child’s mother contended the visitation order impermissibly infringed on her fundamental parenting rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Welfare and Institutions Code section 362.4 states: “[w]hen the juvenile court terminates its jurisdiction over a minor who has been adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court prior to the minor’s attainment of the age of 18 years, and . . . an order has been entered with regard to the custody of that minor, the juvenile court on its own motion, may issue . . . an order determining the custody of, or visitation with, the child.” A few courts have interpreted this statute as authorizing a juvenile court to enter an order upon termination of jurisdiction that provides for visitation between a child and a nonparent. In the instant case, the appellate court agreed that section 362.4 gave the juvenile court that authority, and rejected the mother’s argument that the juvenile court was required to refer the matter to a family law court for a visitation order. (In re J.T., Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services v. Jasmine M. (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 8; August 7, 2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 953, [175 Cal.Rptr.3d 744].)