S.B. v. B.J. CA5

Filed 11/19/21 S.B. v. B.J. CA5 Prior opinion vacated

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

S.B., F080954 Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. BPT-19-002075) v.

B.J., OPINION Defendant and Respondent.

THE COURT* APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Kern County. Susan M. Gill, Judge. S.B., in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant. No appearance for Defendant and Respondent. -ooOoo- S.B. appeals from the dismissal of his parentage action filed in Kern County. The trial court found that venue was more appropriate in Los Angeles County. The trial court made several key factual findings showing that the parentage action was more related to Los Angeles County than Kern County. On appeal, S.B. fails to challenge those key factual findings or their sufficiency to warrant the trial court’s decision. Furthermore, his

* Before Poochigian, Acting P. J., Smith, J. and Snauffer, J.

other objections are either irrelevant, fail to cite authority, or fail to develop cogent legal arguments. We affirm. FACTS This appeal arises from a parentage action in Kern County pursuant to Family Code, section 7600 et seq. Because our decision does not require an in-depth factual analysis, and the action concerns three minor children and allegations of abuse, we summarize only the facts necessary to our decision. The Kern County Parentage Action S.B. and B.J. lived in Los Angeles and together were parents of three minor children. S.B. moved out of the family home with the oldest child in February 20191 and briefly lived in Los Angeles before relocating to Bakersfield. The two youngest children lived with B.J. in Los Angeles. On February 19, S.B. filed a parentage action in Kern County Superior Court. Though B.J. was served on February 28, proof of service was not filed until June 10. B.J. attempted to file a response to the parentage action in March; however, the clerk’s office rejected it for failure to pay a filing fee and to include proof of service. S.B. served a declaration of default on B.J.’s attorney, which he filed on July 22. The Kern County Superior Court then issued and filed a default judgment against B.J. on July 26. B.J. subsequently filed a request to set aside the default parentage judgment on September 11, which was heard and granted on October 30. On November 14, B.J. filed a request to quash service of the Kern County parentage summons and to dismiss the action because, B.J. argued, venue was more proper in Los Angeles County. B.J.’s challenge was timely.