Brief the case of Montenegro v. Diaz (facts, procedural history, issue, rule, analysis, conclusion) with the following materials:

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.

FACTS.

Montenegro and Diaz were unmarried when their son Gregory was born in November 1994. For the first 18 months after the birth, Montenegro had short visits with Gregory, usually in the home Diaz shared with her mother.

In March 1996, Montenegro visited Gregory while Diaz was at work and Gregory was in the care of his grandmother. Although Montenegro had made no previous arrangements with Diaz, he took Gregory for an overnight visit. After that incident, Diaz refused to allow visitation without a court order. Montenegro then filed a complaint and order to show cause to establish paternity and requested joint legal and physical custody. Diaz conceded paternity but sought sole physical custody of Gregory. She also sought child support and a restraining order preventing Montenegro from harassing her at home or work. The trial court referred them to *577 family court services, including mediation counseling.

Montenegro and Diaz were both represented by counsel and initially stipulated to a temporary custody order after mediation. Under the order, Diaz retained physical custody and Montenegro had visitation rights that would increase by stages to one weekday a week and alternate weekends.

On September 30, 1996, the superior court entered another order, signed by the parents and their attorneys, captioned "Stipulation and Order to Show Cause for Judgment." The order stated that Montenegro was Gregory's biological father and that Diaz had "primary responsibility for the care, custody and control of the minor." The order included a detailed visitation schedule for Montenegro, specifying weekend and midweek visits, holiday visits on alternate years, and visits on alternate weeks in the summer "when [the] child reaches 5 years old." The order further provided that "[t]his stipulation covers all matters in dispute in this Order to Show Cause. This Order when signed is the formal Order. No further documents are necessary." The minute order, however, was virtually identical in form to the previous temporary minute orders, and the end of the order contained a "Notice to Parties Without Attorneys" stating that "[t]his order, although temporary, shall remain in effect until further order of court."

Despite the September 30, 1996 order, several disputes concerning custody and visitation arose, which resulted in additional mediation and in orders that were, on their face, temporary. One of these temporary orders referred Montenegro and Diaz "to Dr. Bradbury for [a] co-parenting class.".

On June 24, 1997, the trial court entered another stipulated order signed by the parents and their attorneys after both parents filed orders to show cause seeking to modify the custody arrangement. Prior to this stipulation, neither Montenegro nor Diaz claimed that the September 30, 1996 order was a final judgment as to custody. In the new stipulation, the parents agreed to joint legal custody. Diaz had "primary physical custody," and Montenegro had "secondary physical custody." The order also included the following detailed visitation schedule: Montenegro had physical custody of Gregory on the first weekend of each month and twice weekly, on holidays in alternating years, and for week-long vacations in the summer and winter. His physical custody of Gregory amounted to approximately 12 out of every 28 days, and a nearly equal division of time during holidays. Although the June 24, 1997 order did not provide for further review, it never stated that it was a permanent custody order.

Not surprisingly, this order did not end the feuding as Montenegro and Diaz had a disagreement over Gregory's future school. As a result, Montenegro filed an order to show cause requesting that the June 24, 1997 order be modified to provide for joint physical custody, with Gregory living with each parent on alternating weeks. Diaz filed a responsive declaration indicating that a joint custody arrangement would not be feasible once Gregory began to attend regular school, and that it would be in his best interest to be with her. Although she argued that Montenegro had not made "the requisite showing of a 'change in circumstances' or that a change in custody would be 'in the best interests' of their child, she did not contend that the June 24, 1997 order was a final judicial custody determination.

Trial commenced on August 4, 1999. At the outset, both parents agreed that the triggering event for the hearing was Gregory's impending enrollment in kindergarten *578 and the need to choose his school. They also agreed that the current custody arrangement would no longer be appropriate once Gregory began kindergarten, because his new daily schedule would necessitate that he spend the majority of his time with one parent.

At trial, Montenegro argued that he should have sole physical custody of Gregory. Although he admitted that the situation had improved somewhat since the June 24, 1997 order, he claimed that Diaz was still unwilling to share Gregory with him. She was also hostile to Laura, his new wife and the mother of his second child, and had referred to Laura, in Gregory's presence, in very derogatory terms. Diaz argued that she should have sole physical custody of Gregory. She denied that she was unwilling to share Gregory with Montenegro, but conceded that she had not given Montenegro medical information about Gregory, even though Gregory was frequently ill. She also admitted that she had not attended all court-ordered sessions with Dr. Bradbury, and that she had not attended previously arranged meetings concerning a childcare provider used by Montenegro. Dr. Bradbury testified that Diaz was "consistently quite hostile toward Mr. Montenegro and . appeared ... to be unwilling to try to establish an amicable relationship." In contrast, Montenegro "was quite willing to extend himself and go to almost any length in order to maintain contact with his son and to make the relationship between himself and the mother an amicable one.".

On September 10, 1999, the trial court issued a statement of intended decision. In the decision, the court acknowledged that the parents had previously entered into stipulated orders concerning custody. It. however, concluded that "[t]his is an initial trial on custody" and held that a showing of changed circumstances was not required for a change in custody. Because Montenegro was more willing to share Gregory, the court ruled that it was in "the best interests of Gregory ... that he be in the primary physical custody of the father....' Consistent with these rulings, the trial court entered an order awarding physical custody to Montenegro and visitation to Diaz on alternate weekends, alternate holidays, and, during the summer, alternate weeks.

The Court of Appeal reversed. Concluding that the September 30, 1996 and June 24, 1997 orders were final judgments as to custody, the court held that the trial court should have applied the changed circumstance rule described in Burchard v. Garay_ (1986) 42 Cal.3d 531, 534, 538, footnote 4, 229 Cal. Rptr. 800, 724 P.2d 486 (Burchard) and In re Marriage of Biallas (1998) 65 Cal.App.4th 755, 761, 76 Cal. Rptr.2d 717 (Biallas), rather than the best interest standard.[1] After reviewing the evidence presented at trial, the Court of Appeal determined that there was no evidence of a significant change of circumstances. Consequently, the court abound that application of the changed circumstance rule likely would have yielded a different result.

We granted review.

Montenegro now contends that stipulated custody orders cannot be final judicial custody determinations for purposes of the changed circumstance rule absent a "judicial inquiry as to whether the agreement results in an actual custody arrangement that fosters the child's best interest." We disagree. Nothing in our statutes or case law supports this contention, and we see no basis for treating a permanent custody order obtained via stipulation any differently than a permanent custody order obtained via litigation. Indeed, Montenegro's proposed requirement contravenes the stated intent behind our custody statutes. The Legislature has adopted a comprehensive statutory scheme designed to promote the mediation of all custody disputes. In doing so, the Legislature has indicated a strong preference for resolving custody disputes outside the courtroom through parental stipulations, on the apparent belief that cooperation is more likely to produce a sound resolution than litigation. Making stipulated permanent custody orders less binding than litigated permanent custody orders absent a judicial inquiry runs counter to this preference and would likely lead to instability in custody arrangements. (See 3160-3164.)

Moreover, Montenegro's contention ignores the reality that most parents resolve their custody disputes by agreement rather than litigation. These parents presumably do so because they believe these stipulated arrangements are in the child's best interest. Indeed, most courts and commentators agree that parents can adequately determine and protect their children's best interests. (See Sharp, supra, 68 Va. L.Rev. at p. 1263; Mnookin & Kornhauser, Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: The Case of Divorce (1979) 88 Yale L.J. 950, 957-958 (Mnookin).) Requiring a judicial inquiry similar to the inquiry courts make when a defendant pleads guilty in order to attain finality would burden courts and parties with unnecessary expense and delay. (See Sharp, at p. 1286.).

Although we conclude that stipulated custody orders may be final judicial custody determinations for purposes of the changed circumstance rule, we also recognize that many stipulated custody orders are not intended to be final judgments. Child custody proceedings usually involve fluid factual circumstances, which often result in disputes that must be resolved before any final resolution can be reached. Although the parties typically resolve these disputes through stipulations confirmed by court order, they often do not intend for these stipulations to be permanent custody orders. Indeed, these temporary custody orders serve an important role in child custody proceedings, and our statutory scheme expressly provides for them. (See, e.g., 3061.) Because many parties would not enter into a stipulated custody order if a court might later treat that order as a final judicial custody determination, we must be careful in construing such orders. Otherwise, we may discourage these parties from entering into such stipulations.

With this in mind, we hold that a stipulated custody order is a final judicial custody determination for purposes of the changed circumstance rule only if there is a clear, affirmative indication the parties intended such a result. In adopting this holding, we recognize the reality that many family court litigants do not have attorneys and may not be fully aware of the legal ramifications of their stipulations. Because most trial courts ""rubber stamp" stipulations in custody proceedings (Burchard, supra, 42 Cal.3d 531, 548,_*582 229 Cal. Rptr. 800, 724 P.2d 486 (cone. opn. of Mosk, J.)), our holding ensures that courts effectuate the actual intent of the parties when they entered into the stipulation without precluding them from making enforceable promises (Mnookin, supra, 88 Yale L.J. at p. 984 [observing that "the inability to make an enforceable promise may inhibit dispute settlement"l).

Applying this holding to the facts presented here, we conclude that neither the June 24, 1997 order nor the September 30, 1996 order constitutes a final judicial custody determination. Although these orders included detailed visitation schedules and did not provide for further hearings, they did not clearly state that they were final judgments as to custody. For example, the September 30, 1996 order, which did contain the words "for judgment" written by hand, also contained a notice stating that "[this order, although temporary, shall remain in effect until further order of Court." Although the notice ostensibly applied to parties without attorneys, its inexplicable inclusion casts the finality of the judgment into doubt. Meanwhile, the June 24, 1997 order never mentioned the words "final," "permanent" or "judgment." Finally, the minute orders confirming these stipulations resembled the minute orders confirming the parties' temporary stipulations. Thus, neither order contained a clear, affirmative indication that the parties it intended it to be a final judicial custody determination.

In addition to the ambiguities in the orders themselves, the parties' conduct following the entry of these orders strongly suggest that they did not intend for these orders to be final judgments as to custody. Both Montenegro and Diaz regularly sought to modify these orders. During these modification proceedings, Montenegro never claimed that the stipulated orders were final judicial custody determinations and never argued that the changed circumstance rule applied. Although Diaz eventually argued that the changed circumstance rule applied, she did so on the basis that Gregory had lived with her since birth--and not because she had stipulated to a final judgment. In fact, at the hearing, Diaz's counsel argued that the stipulated orders had no "significance at all," and Diaz conceded that a new custody arrangement was necessary because Gregory was to start kindergarten.

Under these circumstances, we will not second-guess the trial court's interpretation of its own orders and conclude that the court correctly applied the best interest standard. Because the record amply supports the trial court's determination that Montenegro should have custody of Gregory, we affirm it under the deferential abuse of discretion standard.

In reaching this conclusion, we do not dismiss the arguments of various amici curie who contend this court should reevaluate the changed circumstance rule in light of new developments in social science and child psychology and development. Although we agree that the changed circumstance rule should be flexible and should reflect the changing needs of children as they grow up, we need not reach this issue today because we conclude that the changed circumstance rule does not apply. Accordingly, we leave any review of the changed circumstance rule for another day.

DISPOSITION.

We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal and remand for turther proceedings consistent with this opinion.