Once Amounts Fixed, Appeal Of Actual Postjudgment Awards Would Be Proper.
The Fifth District case of Estate of Kinerson, Case No. F070309 (5th Dist. Feb. 22, 2016) (unpublished) concerned certain rulings in a probate estate about whether classic cars, shop tools and household furnishings belonged to the surviving spouse as separate property or the as estate property. After determining ownership issues, the trial court determined the estate was the prevailing party entitled to costs and attorney’s fees under both Probate Code section 859 (allowing fee-shifting against a person who in bad faith wrongfully takes, conceals or dispose of property belonging to a decedent’s estate) and Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657.5 (an elder abuse fee-shifting provision against a defendant found liable for financial abuse). The non-prevailing party appealed from these determinations.
The appellate court determined that the appeal was premature. The trial court had yet to determine the amount of the fee award, such that review was not warranted at this time—it had to wait until the fees were “fixed” in amount and then could be challenged in a subsequent appeal. (P R Burke Corp. v. Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority, 98 Cal.App.4th 1047, 1054-1055 (2002).)