eBook details
- Title: Montenegro V. Diaz
- Author : California Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 30, 2001
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 66 KB
Description
In a story that has become all too familiar, Deborah Diaz and Alex Montenegro could not agree on custody and visitation over their son, Gregory. During the child custody proceedings, Diaz and Montenegro entered into various stipulations, confirmed by the trial court, "resolving" their disputes over Gregory. In the last such stipulation, Diaz and Montenegro agreed to joint legal custody of Gregory, with Diaz having primary physical custody. When Gregory was to start kindergarten, however, they were unable to resolve their differences and asked the trial court to modify its last stipulated custody order. After an adversarial hearing, the trial court awarded primary physical custody to Montenegro based on the "best interests" of the child. The Court of Appeal reversed, concluding that the trial court applied the wrong standard. Finding that two of the stipulated orders were final judicial custody determinations, the Court of Appeal held that the custody arrangement was subject to modification only if Montenegro established a significant change in circumstances. We now reverse and hold that the trial court properly applied the best interest standard, rather than the changed circumstance rule.