Casey Kasem Inspired Bill Advances In California

Casey, Kerri Kasem

California Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) legislation to provide reasonable accommodations for adult children who want to visit their parents cleared its biggest legislative hurdle yet, passing the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 6-0, according to the California Newswire.

The legislation, AB 2034, seeks to protect children from being denied access to a parent by a parent’s future spouse or child.

Currently, adult children are not afforded the legal right to visit an ailing parent. With divorce and remarriage becoming more prevalent, there is a greater possibility of conflict between a subsequent spouse and an ailing parent’s children from a previous marriage. Gatto’s legislation would help resolve these situations by creating a legal process for adult children to petition a court for visitation with their parent if a caretaker stands in the way.

Since introducing the legislation in January, Assemblyman Gatto has been contacted by hundreds of people who have been denied access to their ailing parents, and has been working closely with several of them, including radio and television personality Kerri Kasem. Kerri is an outspoken advocate of visitation rights for adult children as a result of her struggle to see her beloved father, broadcasting legend Casey Kasem, who died last week.



Speaking publicly for the first time since her father’s passing, Kerri shared her struggle to obtain even basic visitation rights during Casey’s final hours. She also emphasized that her story is not unique to celebrities, a point underscored when she presented a stack of letters representing a small sample of the thousands of letters she has received from folks across the country with similar stories of heartache.