Orlando Gonzalez Estrada v. Mayra Del Carmen Rocha
Case No: 18FL00295
Hearing Date: Tue Aug 06, 2019 10:30

Nature of Proceedings: Req. for Order: Modification Child Custody/Visit/Consolidate Case with #1416215/Compel Attendance in PEACE Class/Sum Certain Reimburse. for Uninsured Exp.

Respondent’s Req. for Order: Modification Child Custody/Visit/Consolidate case with #1416215/Compel Attendance in PEACE Class/Sum Certain Reimbursement for Uninsured Expenses

Attorneys: Clifton Earl Reed for Petitioner [“father”]; Respondent [“mother”] in pro per

Rulings:

1. The Court CONSOLIDATES this case with Santa Barbara County Superior Court Case No. 1416215 Orlando Gonzalez Estrada v. Mayra del Carmen Rocha, which is a Department of Child Support Services enforcement action. Parentage of the second minor child is established in the DCSS enforcement case. FROM NOW ON ONLY FILE DOCUMENTS IN CASE #18FL00295.

2. The Court will NOT MODIFY THE CUSTODY ORDERS. The Court retains joint legal custody and the current language in their current order: “All times not designated with Father, the minor child shall be with Mother, all times not designated with Mother, the minor child shall be with Father.”

3. The Court WILL CHANGE THE PARENTING SCHEDULE AS FOLLOWS:

a. Visitation to father:

(1) Father has the minor children every night Tuesday through Sunday from 6:30 pm. to the next day at 7:30 am.

(2) Mother is responsible to drop off the children at father’s home at 6:30 pm. He must be there to accept the children.

(3) Father will return the children to mother’s care as follows:

(a) If school is in session, then father will drop off Daisy (age 11) directly at school at 7:30 am. She is to be dressed appropriately and have her backpack packed with her completed homework.

(b) Father will drop off Orlando (age 2 ½) at mother’s house at 7:30 am.

(c) If school is not in session, then father will also drop off Daisy at 7:30 a.m. at mother’s house.

(d) If a child is sick during the day, Mother will take care of the child.

b. Visitation to mother:

(1) Mother has the minor children every Monday from 7:30 am. to Tuesday 7:30 pm.

(2) Mother has the minor children all other days from 7:30 am. — 6:30 pm.

(3) Father is responsible to drop off the minor children at mother’s home.

4. CHILDREN’S CLOTHING AND PERSONAL ITEMS: Each parent is responsible for maintaining sufficient clothing and personal care items for the minor children while the children are in that parent’s care.

5. The Court WILL SET A REVIEW DATE, as mother requested, to review how well the new court-ordered parenting plan is working. Mother asked for the review to be in three months but that is much too short; the Review date is January 14, 2020, at 10:30; mother’s Status Report due January 2; father’s Status Report due January 2; any “Reply” due January 8.

Analysis

This Petition to Establish Parental Relationship was filed by mother in 2/2/18; one child, Daisy, born 2008; a Judgment was entered in 2/2018.

On 5/23/19 mother filed a request for modification of custody and visitation; set it for hearing on 6/25/19; now there are two children, Daisy and Orlando.

Hearing on 6/25/19

Appearing were: Clifton Earl Reed, Attorney for Petitioner (“father”); Respondent (“mother”) in pro per

Both the attorney for father and mother had the Court’s analysis that day. The Court said it had reviewed the file and said: Mother’s 20-pge RFO has been read; can summarize only; she seeks a modification of child custody (she seeks sole legal and physical custody); parenting time modification (she seeks a change in the present schedule which is to consolidate case with #1416215; compel attendance in PEACE class; sum certain reimbursement for uninsured expenses; there are two children, one born 2008 (age 11) and the other born 2017 (age 2); the underlying order was filed 2/2/18; provides for joint legal custody; as for physical custody: “All times not designated with Father, the minor child shall be with Mother; all times not designated with Mother, the minor child shall be with Father.” The Court ordered a 3-2-2 schedule.

Specifically, mother seeks a Court Order to (1) compel father’s attendance at the PEACE parenting class; (2) consolidate this case with #1416215 (DCSS case with paternity judgment for second MC); (3) judicial determination of sum certain for reimbursement from father to mother for her payment of an uninsured health care expense for a minor child.

Mother testifies that right now, under their verbal agreement, father gets the children from Tuesday to Sunday from 7:00 pm- the next morning at 7:00 am he brings son to her and he takes daughter, Daisy, to school at 7:30 am; they created this schedule because she works nights as an Uber driver from 7:00 pm – 2:00 am Tuesday to Saturday; father works Monday – Friday from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Mother wants to change her work schedule so that she works Monday – Friday in the days; she wants children to spend the night with her; father wants to share physical and legal custody, but he does nothing for them; he is not a co-parent; he is deliberately making her life difficult.

The specific order re parenting time: mother is requesting for father to have every single weekend with the children from Friday at 5pm to Sunday at 8am; needs a new detailed schedule that can work for them; she wants the children to live with her and he can visit them on the weekend from Friday 5:00 pm. to Sunday 8:00 am. Mother wants Sundays to be with her; proposes “other” visitation too.

Alternative time share proposed by mother: If the Court is not in favor of changing the custody in order to grant her sole physical and legal custody, then she suggests a 3-2-2 schedule; the former schedule from Ventura was a 5-5-2-2 schedule, but this would be hard on son who is only 2 1/2 years; she therefore alternatively proposes as follows:

(1) Week #1: The children with mother on Monday from after school or 5:00 pm-Wednesday at 5:00 pm or after school. The children are with father from Wednesday 5:00 pm or after school – Friday at 5:00 pm or after school.

(2) Week #2: The children are with father on Monday from after school or 5:00 pm – Wednesday at 5:00 pm, or after school and with mother from Wednesday 5:00 pm or after school – Friday at 5:00 pm or after school.

(3) Then the parents alternate the weekends so that each parent is never more than three days away from seeing the children. Mother also agrees with the holiday schedule ordered by Ventura.

On 6/25 this Court ruled, and told the parties, that the mediation date is July 22, 2019. Do not miss that opportunity to settle your case. The case is continued to August 6 at 10:30. If the case is settled in mediation, I will be informed and you do not need to appear on August 6. If the case is not settled, father will file his Response to mother’s RFO by July 29; mother’s Reply, if any due August 1. Mother reported she has her PEACE certificate.

Mediation

On 7/23 Mediation reported: No agreement has been reached between the parties; this matter will need to be determined by a court hearing upon motion by either party.

Mother’s Supplemental Declaration filed 7/24

She testifies that father and she went to mediation and thoroughly discussed this matter, but did not come to an agreement; she proposes the following as what she is asking the Court to do:

1. Consolidate this case with Santa Barbara County Superior Court Case No. 1416215 Orlando Gonzalez Estrada v. Mayra del Carmen Rocha, which is a Department of Child Support Services enforcement action. Parentage of the second minor child is established in the DCSS enforcement case.

2. DO NOT modify the custody orders. Retain joint legal custody and the current language in our current order: “All times not designated with Father, the minor child shall be with Mother, all times not designated with Mother, the minor child shall be with Father.”

3. CHANGE THE PARENTING SCHEDULE AS FOLLOWS:

a. Visitation to father:

(1) Father has the minor children every night Tuesday through Sunday from 6:30 pm. to the next day at 7:30 am.

(2) Mother is responsible to drop off the minor children at father’s home at 6:30 pm. He must be there to accept the children.

(3) Father will return the minor children to mother’s care as follows:

(a) If school is in session, then father will drop off Daisy (age 11) directly at school at 7:30 am. She is to be dressed appropriately and have her backpack packed with her completed homework.

(b) Father will drop off Orlando (age 2 ½) at mother’s house at 7:30 am.

(c) If school is not in session, then Father will also drop off Daisy at 7:30 am at Mother’s house.

(d) If a child is sick during the day, Mother will take care of the child.

b. Visitation to mother:

(1) Mother has the minor children every Monday from 7:30 am. to Tuesday 7:30 pm.

(2) Mother has the minor children all other days from 7:30 am. — 6:30 pm.

(3) Father is responsible to drop off the minor children at Mother’s home.

4. CHILDREN’S CLOTHING AND PERSONAL ITEMS: Each parent is responsible for maintaining sufficient clothing and personal care items for the minor children while the children are in that parent’s care.

5. SET REVIEW DATE: Mother asks the court to set a date to review in approximately three months how well the new Court-ordered parenting plan is working.

Mother testifies as to the BACKGROUND: She has filed these legal papers because the parenting plan is not currently working:

a. First, they are not following the current order and they have devised their own parenting schedule; need to have a specific parenting plan order.

b. The problem is that father does not return the children to her on time in the evening; she needs to start work normally at 5:00 pm; she is an Uber driver; can start at any time, but doesn’t want to be out late at night; makes more money earlier in the evening; their verbal agreement was that father would pick up the children at 7:00 pm; in reality, he comes whenever he wants: 7:30, 8:00, and 9:00 pm; this is really hard on her and very frustrating; tried to talk to him; he’s told her that she can’t hurry him up; she had to rely on her grandmother (the maternal great grandmother) to watch the children so she can get to work; this is unreasonable and very unnecessary.

Mother testifies that to remedy this situation, she proposes that she drop the children off at his house at 6:30 pm; she just need his promise that he will be there to take them into his home; father has historically dropped the children off at her house, but she wants to reverse this so she can be sure that they arrive on time.

Mother testifies that another problem is father does not buy any clothes for the children; kids return with the same clothes she had given them; she asks the Court to order that each parent must maintain sufficient clothing and personal care items in his or her respective home for the children.

Mother testifies that father has told her that he wants to keep things the way they are. Mother testifies the proposed schedule is what they are currently doing with two changes:

(1) She wants to drop the kids off at father’s home at 6:30 pm. every evening when they are in his care; and

(2) She wants to be the one to drop the kids off into father’s care. He can continue to drop the kids off to mother for when they are in mother’s care (or directly to the school when school is in session).

The Supplemental Declaration was mailed to father on 7/24.

Father’s Response

The Court had specifically ordered father to file his response by July 29; nothing has been filed. That is to say, even though the Court has addressed father’s failure to submit a response, or for that matter any declaration, the file is devoid of anything from him; unaccountably, father has filed nothing at any time.

The Court’s Conclusions

Father has left me with no alternative; mother’s requests must be granted; if it does not work he can report at the next Status Hearing on January 14, 20120.