Not Improper To Factor In Ex-Wife’s Parents’ Significant Funding Of Litigation.
In Marriage of Janssens, Case No. C085986 (3d Dist. Dec. 26, 2019) (unpublished), ex-wife and ex-husband were engaged in a contentious dissolution battle over child custody issues relating to their son. Earlier, a family law judge had ordered ex-wife to pay ex-husband $15,000 in “needs based” fees because ex-wife’s parents had funded about $194,000 in her fees up to that point. Later, ex-husband requested another $100,000 in “needs based” fees, given that ex-wife’s parents had now funded about $290,000 in the custody battles. The trial judge ordered that an additional $15,000 in attorney’s fees be paid to ex-husband, even though ex-wife had yet to pay him the prior award. The Third District had no problem affirming this award, even though ex-husband did not file a respondent’s brief (probably because he could not afford it). The moneys loaned by ex-wife’s parents certainly could be considered in the equation, such that the lower court award was not even close to an abuse of discretion under the circumstances.