Opinion ID: 902008
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Trial Court's stated reasons for preferring Jason over Kelly have an evidentiary basis in the record.

Text: [¶ 38.] Kelly argues that the trial court stitched together three anecdotes, based on bare assertions by Jason, to arrive at the conclusion that Kelly was engaged in an effort to alienate the children from Jason. She cites as those three anecdotes the naming of the twin girls without consulting Jason, Kelly's decision to breast feed the twins that resulted in minimal contact between them and Jason during this period, and Kelly's failure to consult Jason regarding whether Dylan should enter kindergarten at age five or wait another year. Kelly attempts to narrow this Court's review down to these three examples noted by the trial court, rather than focusing on how these examples, and numerous others, were utilized by the trial court in assessing the Fuerstenberg factors to arrive at its conclusion that it was in the best interest of the children to be in Jason's primary care. [¶ 39.] The trial court found that Kelly viewed the children as more hers than Jason's, blocked contact with Jason, attempted to alienate the children from him, and did not involve him in medical, educational, and daycare decisions. There were more than these three examples cited in the trial court's findings of fact and in the record to support the ultimate custody decision. In addition, Jason was repeatedly denied reasonable time with his children during holidays and with the twins for the first year of their lives. As a consequence, Jason was forced to file motions with the court for almost every holiday due to Kelly's refusal to negotiate an alternating holiday schedule as ordered by the trial court in December 2006. He also had to seek court orders to establish reasonable visitation with the twins, which was not established until the twins were one-year-old. [¶ 40.] Kelly asks this Court to retry the case by identifying a few examples rather than viewing the record as a whole in light of the Fuerstenberg factors. This we will not do. The trial court entered 107 findings of fact that have support in the record. It then entered conclusions of law based on its findings of fact in which it addressed the Fuerstenberg factors. It engaged in a balanced and systematic approach under the best interests standard. The result was a determination that addressed what the trial court believed to be in the best interests of the children based on all the evidence submitted. We find no abuse of discretion by the trial court. [¶ 41.] Affirmed. [¶ 42.] ZINTER, MEIERHENRY, and SEVERSON, Justices, concur.