Most people think that there’s a gender bias in California family courts— that mothers are automatically granted child custody over the fathers or the fathers’ visitation rights are dependent on the mothers’ decisions. None of this is true. California law assumes that each parent has equal rights and responsibilities concerning their child/children.
California makes legal custody and child visitation decisions based on the child’s best interests. A father’s rights may be lost or diminished because of abuse or negative influence on the child. However, these kinds of allegations must be substantiated, not assumed. Otherwise, a father’s rights won’t change.
Before, courts virtually always granted child custody to the mother, and the father would be granted visitation rights and required to pay child support to a given extent. But these days, fathers too receive custody if they can prove that they can take care of the minor and establish a closer relationship with them. Additionally, fathers who have been awarded custody can seek child support similarly as a mother with primary custody would do.