Cases: Family Law

Family Law, Fee Clause Interpretation: Wife Properly Allowed Section 217 Sanctions Against Husband For Divorce Decree Enforcement Purposes

Cases: Family Law, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

However, Lower Court Properly Denied Her Fees On Husband’s Prior Efforts To Set Aside The Martial Settlement Agreement.             In Marriage of Mirza, Case Nos. G057613 et seq. (4th Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 1, 2021) (unpublished), husband and wife entered into a marital settlement agreement and divorce decree based upon the agreement.  Husband then attempted

Family Law: Section 271 Sanction Of $85,000 Reversed And Remanded For Determination Of Whether Imposition Of Sanction Would Constitute An Unreasonable Financial Burden

Cases: Family Law

Before Issuing Sanctions Under Family Code § 271, A Trial Court Is Required To Consider The Parties’ Incomes, Assets And Liabilities, And Cannot Impose Sanctions That Constitute An Unreasonable Financial Burden On The Sanctioned Party.             In Marriage of Luu and Avritch, Case No. A161935 (1st Dist., Div. 1 June 29, 2021) (unpublished), the trial

Family Law: Increase Of Monthly Child Support From $989 To $10,658 And $20,000 Attorney Fees Award To Wife Reversed On Appeal

Cases: Family Law

Trial Court Adopted Wife’s DissoMaster Report To Calculate Awards, But It Reflected Wife’s Income At A Level Contradicted By Attachments To Her Incomplete Income And Expense Declaration And Lacked Supporting Documentation.             In Marriage of Behrend, Case No. B305380 (2d Dist., Div. 3 June 22, 2021) (unpublished), the trial court granted wife’s request for a

Family Law, Probate, Sanctions: Lower Court Properly Sanctioned Putative Spouse’s Attorney $3,617.50 Under CCP § 128.7 For Filing A Frivolous Putative Spouse Petition

Cases: Family Law, Cases: Probate, Cases: Sanctions

Putative Spouse Failed To Show She Had A Legal Marriage With The Respondent Under Indian Law, Based On A Res Judicata Finding In A Prior Conservatorship Petition Proceeding.             The problem for putative spouse and her attorney in Nijjar v. Nijjar, Case No. F078265 (5th Dist. June 10, 2021) (unpublished) is that they earlier lost

Family Law: $4,500 Attorney’s Fees Award Reversed, Without Prejudice For Renewal, Based On Claiming On A Different Section Than Section 271

Cases: Family Law

Litigant Will Get Another Shot At It.             In In re Marriage of Orr and Traina, Case No. H046090 (6th Dist. June 1, 2021) (unpublished), a litigant won a $4,500 attorney’s fees award as a sanction under Family Code section 271 against the other side.  That was reversed and remanded, without prejudice, because litigant only

Family Law, Probate: Husband Of Spendthrift Trust’s Beneficiary, Successfully Joining Trustee To Dissolution Proceeding, Potentially Entitled To Needs-Based Fees Even If No Bad Faith Demonstrated Against Trustee

Cases: Family Law, Cases: Probate

Collision Between Family Law And Probate Principles Came Out In Favor Of Section 2030.             In Marriage of Wendt and Pullen, Case No. C084083 (3d Dist. Apr. 28, 2021) (published), the Third District encountered the intersection of Family Code section 2030’s need-based fees award statute with Probate Code/spendthrift provisions relating to trust administration practices (including

Family Law: Grandfather In Custody Battle With Grandson’s Father Loses Appeal Of Trial Court’s Orders That He Pay Needs-Based Attorney Fees Of $66,820 For Father’s Attorney, Plus An Additional $137,010 For Grandson’s Court-Appointed Attorney

Cases: Family Law

Grandfather, Who Paid Almost $500,000 To His Own Attorneys, Stipulated That He Could Afford To Pay Any Reasonable Amount Of Attorney Fees – Even Into The Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars – While Father’s Income & Expense Declarations Indicated A Monthly Income Of Only About $2,100.             After his daughter’s health deteriorated, grandfather stepped

Family Law, Seriously: $7,325 Sanctions Award Under Section 271 Affirmed Where Ex-Wife Failed To Sign Stipulated Judgment After Agreeing To Written Settlement Terms

Cases: Family Law, Seriously

Postjudgment Activities Are Covered Under Section 271.             This next case, Marriage of Randazzo, Case No. E073891 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Feb. 23, 2021) (unpublished), falls under our “SERIOUSLY” new category which we have added to our blog.             What happened here, in brief, was that ex-wife moved to set aside a judgment entered after

Family Law: No Abuse Of Discretion In Trial Court’s $50,000 Award To Husband In Interim Needs-Based Attorney Fees Where Wife Has A Permanent Restraining Order Against Husband And Claims Of Domestic Violence

Cases: Family Law

Nothing In Family Code Section 2030 Absolutely Prohibits A Trial Court From Awarding Interim Attorney Fees Where There Is Documented Evidence Of A History Of Domestic Abuse.             In Marriage of Sangha, Case No. D077062 (4th Dist., Div. 1 February 22, 2021) (unpublished), wife was not happy when the trial court awarded her husband –

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