My son is bipolar and originally managed a wine store in NY Because of his illness the judge awarded sole custody to the wife with no visitation right to him as long as he had that job. He has since relocated to another state and has a different job but can no longer afford the original child support. He is in the process of having the support payments modified according to his income but also can not afford to sue for visitation . But I would like to see my granddaughter who I haven't seen in three years. I live in NY and she lives somewhere in California now. What can I do?

Since it does not cost anything to "sue" for visitation, I do not find that excuse compelling.

As for what you can do, you file for visitation in CA.

California law confers discretion on the court to grant "reasonable visitation" rights "to any other person [a nonparent] having an interest in the welfare of the child." [Ca Fam § 3100(a) --"reasonable visitation may be ordered to any other person . . ." (emphasis added); Barkaloff v. Woodward (1996) 47 Cal.App.4th 393, 398, 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 167, 170]

Also may I assume your son did not have an attorney since his job * since it is legal, has no bearing on this. Unless he was taking child into a bar that he may own

But people who work in wine shops even bars get full custody, there had to be another reason you may not be aware of, or he did not have an attorney and just signed anything put in front of him