Wife’s Appeal from Three Awards Dismissed for Lack of Appellate Jurisdiction.
Wife obviously was unhappy with three different fee awards entered against her at various times in Marriage of Powell and Powell, Case No. A129916 (Apr. 5, 2012) (unpublished): one that she pay $120,000 to husband for losing a prior appeal and based upon ex’s financial need; another $115,000 as monetary sanctions for her breach of fiduciary duty to husband; and the third as her share of an allocation from a note balance payable to husband for his attorney’s fees.
However, her appeal was dismissed. Reason? She had failed to appeal each of these three orders, each of which was final and appealable at the time, at the appropriate juncture along the way. (See Sarracino v. Superior Court, 13 Cal.3d 1, 9 (1974); In re Marriage of Skelley, 18 Cal.3d 365, 368 (1976); In re Marriage of Tharp, 188 Cal.App.4th 1295, 1311 (2010) [with Tharp reviewed in other respects in our October 2, 2010 post].) Simply because these earlier final orders were restated in a later judgment did not restart the time to appeal the previous orders. (In re Shaun R., 188 Cal.App.4th 1129, 1139-1141 (2010); Torres v. City of San Diego, 154 Cal.App.4th 214, 222 (2007).) Simply put, the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to entertain review of wife’s appeal from the “later” judgment incorporating the earlier fee awards.