“Can custody orders be modified? Sure they can, but the question is will they be. And in fact many of the modifications that are requested, at least in California, are based on one parent having a preference that is not reflected in the order. That means they didn’t like the order that the court made and they want a different order.

The problem with that inherently is that in order to modify a court’s order – order order – there has to be some change since the order was made. For example six months ago the court orders that Parent X is going to have Johnny for 75% of the time. Parent Y wants to change that. Okay Parent Y, why? What changed? What’s different from the time that the court made the order that the court should now entertain a modification? Simple question, simple thought. People screw that one up all the time. Long story short, you can modify an order, but you need to have a good reason.”