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Filed 12/14/23 Marriage of Gethin CA1/5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for 

publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or 

ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. 

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

In re the Marriage of AURORA and 

SHAUN GETHIN.

AURORA GETHIN,

Appellant,

v.

SHAUN GETHIN,

Respondent.

 A168083

 (Alameda County

 Super. Ct. No. HF18890606)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On March 27, 2023, the trial court issued a child custody order denying

the request of appellant Aurora Gethin (mother) to receive two additional 

days of custody each month of the five minor children she shares with her

former spouse, respondent Shaun Gethin (father).

1 Mother has filed an 

1 Under the governing custody order, the parents share legal and 

physical custody of the children. However, father has primary custody of the 

children during the week while mother has custody from 9 a.m. Wednesday 

to 9 a.m. Saturday. Mother’s unsuccessful request, the subject of this appeal, 

sought additional custody of the children two Saturday overnights each 

month. We decline to recite the full factual and procedural background of 

this case for purposes of this opinion because the opinion is unpublished and 

the parties know or should know the case’s underlying facts and procedural 

history. (People v. Garcia (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 847, 851 [unpublished 
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opening brief in propria persona in which she challenges this order on the 

grounds that the trial court failed to adequately consider the children’s best 

interest, improperly modified an earlier court order by a different family 

court judge regarding how parents were to select a coparenting counselor, 

and failed to order a follow-up hearing to address ongoing issues relating to 

the children’s custody and the parties’ participation in coparent counseling. 

Father declined to file a respondent’s brief. Having reviewed the relevant 

record, we now affirm.

On March 3, 2023, the parties met separately with the court-appointed 

mediator, Supervising Family Court Counselor Shamont Hussey, LCSW, to 

discuss several issues, including the parties’ inability to decide on a coparent

counselor, mother’s request for two additional days of custody each month, 

and mother’s concerns regarding the parties’ eldest son’s refusal to abide by 

the court order that he spend more than half the week at father’s home due 

to what mother deemed the combative nature of the father–son relationship. 

The mediator subsequently issued a report in which he recommended no 

change to the current custody schedule due to the children’s need for 

consistency and predictability. The mediator further recommended that the 

custody schedule be reconsidered once parents completed six coparent

counseling sessions, noting that any schedule change should occur during an 

extended break from school, such as winter or summer break, to avoid undue 

disruption to the children’s schedule. Finally, with respect to the strained 

relationship between father and the eldest son, the mediator recommended 

that the child be encouraged but not forced to abide by the court-ordered 

opinion that simply reviews the correctness of the lower court decision “does 

not merit extensive factual or legal statement”].)
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custody schedule and that the child enroll in individual therapy with a focus 

on strained parent–child relationships.

On March 27, 2023, the trial court heard mother’s request to modify the 

prior court order regarding child custody. The court considered the 

mediator’s March 3, 2023 report and permitted both parties to testify. 

Among other things, father expressed opposition to granting mother two 

additional custody days per month, explaining, inter alia, that the children 

were currently “in a good state with . . . their extracurricular [activities] and 

their academics and I do not want to bring upon them another change at this 

time.” Mother, in turn, complained about father’s parenting style, which she 

described as “confrontational and aggressive.”

Afterward, the court adopted the recommendations set forth in the 

mediator’s report with two minor modifications: (1) with respect to the 

mandatory coparent counseling sessions, the court ordered that if the parties 

could not agree on a counselor, they were to submit the names of two 

counselors by April 7, 2023, to permit the court to select one and, similarly,

(2) with respect to the court-ordered individual therapy for the eldest son, the 

court ordered that if the parties remained unable to agree on a therapist, 

they were to submit two names by April 7, 2023, so that the court could make 

the final selection. Otherwise, all previous orders, including the custody 

order, were to remain in place. The court’s order further stated, “No further 

dates shall be set in this matter.”

On May 15, 2023, following a contested hearing, the trial court denied 

mother’s motion for reconsideration of the March 27, 2023 order. 

Accordingly, on June 14, 2023, mother filed the operative notice of appeal.

On appeal, mother has identified no meritorious grounds for disturbing 

the court’s order. Among other things, this order was consistent with the 
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mediator’s recommendations to maintain the current custody schedule and to 

require the parties to participate in coparent counseling. As reflected in the 

mediator’s report, the recommendations were based on the mediator’s 

consideration of the children’s best interests, including their need for 

consistency and predictability and the parents’ need for coparent counseling 

to improve their communication skills prior to any scheduling change. Before 

adopting these recommendations, the court heard from both parties, each of 

whom expressed their view as to the children’s best interests with respect to 

the family’s custody arrangement. The court thus had a reasonable basis for 

denying mother’s request for two additional days of custody per month. (In re 

Marriage of Fajota (2014) 230 Cal.App.4th 1487, 1497 [child custody orders 

are reviewed only for abuse of discretion, which occurs “if there is no 

reasonable basis on which [the court] could conclude that its decision 

advanced the best interests of the child” or if the court “applies improper 

criteria or makes incorrect legal assumptions” (italics omitted)]; see Burchard 

v. Garay (1986) 42 Cal.3d 531, 535 [“[the court] should preserve the 

established mode of custody unless some significant change in circumstances 

indicates that a different arrangement would be in the child’s best interest. 

The rule thus fosters the dual goals of judicial economy and protecting stable 

custody arrangements”].)

None of mother’s arguments persuades us otherwise. First, the record, 

discussed ante, belies mother’s claim that the court failed to adequately 

consider the children’s best interests in denying her request. Second, while 

mother complains that a different family law judge heard her request than 

the judge who was previously assigned to the case, she identifies no prejudice 

arising from the new assignment. Nor do we find prejudice. To be sure, we 

agree with mother that, as a matter of policy, the family court should strive 
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to have one judge preside over a family law action for its duration. However, 

contrary to mother’s suggestion, there is no rule of court that forbids the 

assignment of multiple judges in these actions. (Cal. Stds. Jud. Admin., 

§ 5.30(b) [“To the extent possible, family law actions related to the same 

family should be assigned to the same judicial officer for all purposes, so that 

all decisions that are made in a case through final judgment are issued by the 

same judicial officer”].) And, in the absence of prejudice, the mere fact of 

multiple judicial assignments does not warrant reversal. (See In re Marriage 

of Pearlstein (2006) 137 Cal.App.4th 1361, 1371 [“A trial court’s 

determination to grant or deny a request for modification of a child support 

order will be affirmed unless the trial court abused its discretion, and it will 

be reversed only if prejudicial error is found from examining the record 

below”].)

Finally, mother faults the mediator and the court for failing to include 

a “date or time frame for the outstanding issues to be discussed.” Without 

such date or time frame, mother complains, there is no means to enforce the 

parties’ compliance with the court-ordered six sessions of coparenting 

counseling. We disagree. As with any custody order, it is enforceable or 

modifiable by the court based upon a proper showing by the petitioning 

parent. (Fam. Code, § 3022 [“The court may, during the pendency of a 

proceeding or at any time thereafter, make an order for the custody of a child 

during minority that seems necessary or proper”]; Burchard v. Garay, supra,

42 Cal.3d at p. 535.) However, in the absence of such a showing, the current

custody order stands.
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DISPOSITION

The March 27, 2023 order denying mother’s request to modify the 

governing child custody order and the related May 15, 2023 order denying 

her request for reconsideration are affirmed.

Jackson, P. J.

WE CONCUR:

Burns, J.

Chou, J.

A168083/Gethin v. Gethin