Marriage of Bulcao and Simmons CA1/1

Filed 2/29/16 Marriage of Bulcao and Simmons CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 ONE

In re the Marriage of JAMES M. and CHRISTIE L. BULCAO.

JAMES M. BULCAO, A145530

Respondent, (Alameda County v. Super. Ct. No. FF08413292) CHRISTIE L. SIMMONS, Appellant.

Christie L. Simmons appeals from trial court orders granting her ex-husband, James M. Bulcao, additional weekend visits with their daughter Olivia and custody of Olivia for six weeks during her summer vacation.1, 2 Christie argues the trial court erred by holding hearings on matters not properly before it, rendering an order contrary to the evidence, and providing James with legal advice. While we question the trial court’s decision to entertain James’s requests to modify visitation without requiring him to file a proper motion, we find any error was harmless since Christie was provided with notice and a hearing. We also conclude the trial court’s order was supported by the evidence, and the court did not provide James with legal advice.

1 For simplicity, we refer to the parties by their first names. We intend no disrespect in doing so. 2 James has declined to file a respondent’s brief.

I. BACKGROUND James and Christie were married for almost 12 years. They had two children together, Evan in 1996 and Olivia in 2004. James petitioned for dissolution of the marriage in or around 2008. Christie did not respond to the petition, and judgment of dissolution was entered in July 2009. The couple was ordered to share joint legal custody of the children, with Christie retaining physical custody of Olivia, and James retaining physical custody of Evan. In February 2010, the trial court issued an order allowing Christie to move Olivia to Richmond. Olivia was to spend two weekends per month with James, and the court ordered Christie to provide transportation for these visits. In April 2014, Christie filed a motion requesting permission for Olivia to relocate to Morgan Hill, where Christie and her new husband were purchasing a house. The Morgan Hill home was about 40 miles from James’s residence, the same distance as Christie’s old home in Richmond. Additionally, Christie requested modification of the time of day on which Olivia was to be exchanged and the exchange location. She also requested that James provide some transportation for Olivia’s visits. All other aspects of James’s visitation were to remain the same. Olivia was to visit James on the second and fourth weekends of the month and remain with Christie on the first, third, and fifth weekend, to the extent there was one. The parties separately met with a child custody mediator. James conveyed to the mediator he wanted custody of Olivia because he believed she was not performing well academically, and would do better in the school district in which he resided. James also opposed the change in exchange time. The mediator concluded James had not provided a compelling reason to consider a change of custody. He also found the move to Morgan Hill would not adversely affect James’s time share or the distance Olivia would need to travel. A hearing was held on the matter on June 26, 2014. James appeared in propria persona. The trial court asked James if he would like to increase visitation to the first,