First District, Division Four Sustains Fee Awards Under Abuse of Discretion Standard.
In Marriage of Ciunkaite & Zhou, Case No. A120463 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Oct. 27, 2008) (unpublished), a trial court awarded respondent wife $13,000 in attorney’s fees (in addition to a prior $16,000 award) based on “need.” Wife had spent almost $80,000 in dissolution proceedings. The family judge also ordered that husband pay wife additional fees of $5,000 as a sanction for his obstreperous conduct in attempting to resolve spousal and child support issues. Husband appealed the aggregate $18,000 fee award, and lost.
Family Code section 2030(a)(2) authorizes an award of attorney’s fees based on the parties’ relative needs and ability to pay. In the case before the First District, wife was just entering the work force as a nanny, while husband had an established job that garnered him over $90,000 in income for 2007. No abuse of discretion occurred in awarding $13,000 in fees based on “need.”
Family Code section 271(a) allows a family judge to impose fees against a party whose conduct frustrates efforts to settle a matter or frustrates attempts to reduce the costs of litigation. Husband had commenced a companion Canadian dissolution proceeding and federal RICO lawsuit against wife (with the federal suit eventually being voluntarily dismissed). Based on this multiplicity of actions, the appellate court found the trial court was well within its province in awarding $5,000 in sanctions under section 271(a).