Cases: Family Law

Family Law: $2.5K Needs-Based Fee Award Of Req. $42K Was Abuse Of Discretion As Ex-Wife Did Attach Sufficient Fin. Info., Notice Not Given That Blanks In Jud. Council Forms Would Result In Denial, And Judge Excluded Her Ltd. Appearance Counsel’s Fees

Cases: Family Law

Appellate Court Found These Combined Errors To Require A “Relook” At the RFO.             Family law is certainly a specialty, where a lot gets done through a Request for Order (RFO) for support, provisional attorney’s fees, visitation, and other matters in a dissolution action. A lot of activity is governed by Judicial Council forms, with […]

Family Law: Court-Appointed Expert Award Against Ex-Husband Reversed Because No Hearing Held To Determine If Request Was Reasonable

Cases: Family Law

Evidence Code Section 730 Makes Reasonableness A Requirement.             In Marriage of Aresh, Case No. G054062 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 25, 2018) (unpublished), an ex-husband was saddled with a $179,561 award to a court-appointed forensic accountant in a dissolution matter. He appealed and was awarded by doing so. The problem was that Evidence Code

Family Law: In Fletcher Jones, Jr. Dissolution, $5.8M Fee Award Of Requested $9.5M To Ex-Wife For CA Litigation Not Abuse Of Discretion, But Remanded To See If Ex-Wife Entitled To More Than $375K For NV Litigation Where She Failed To Invalidate Agrmnts.

Cases: Family Law

Remand Necessary In Nevada Litigation Because California Family Law Judge Improperly Took Judicial Notice Of Factual Finding By Nevada Court In Denying A Request For A Reimbursement Of Additional Fees.                 Admittedly, the Fletcher (Ted) Jones, Jr. dissolution case was going to be messy—after all, the couple lived a lavish lifestyle based on lucrative luxury

Family Law: Section 271 Sanctions For Attempted Sale Of Property, Even Though No Attorney’s Fees Incurred, Had To Be Reversed

Cases: Family Law

Sixth District Follows First District’s Lead As Far As Section 271 Sanctions Limitations.             In Marriage of Henley & Jackson, Case No. H043753 (6th Dist. June 29, 2018) (unpublished), a family law judge imposed Family Code section 271 sanctions of $25,000 against husband for his efforts to sell a community asset without notice to wife,

Family Code: $114,522.50 In Section 270 Sanctions Against Husband In Contentious Dissolution Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Family Law

Attorneys Did Seek Sanctions On Behalf Of Wife And Failure To Include Income/Expense Declaration On Appeal Failed To Support Husband’s Financial Burden Argument.             In Marriage of Sokol & Avidor, Case No. B280783 (2d Dist., Div. 5 June 20, 2018) (unpublished), husband was ordered to pay a total of $114,522.50 in Family Code section 270

Discovery, Family Law, Sanctions: $5,500 Discovery Sanctions Award Against Ex-Client Attorney Reversed Where Attorney Not Given Notice She Was A “Sanctions Target”

Cases: Discovery, Cases: Family Law, Cases: Sanctions

Due Process Violation Was Reason For Reversal.              In Marriage of Mehta & Grover, Case No. A146919 (1st Dist., Div. 4 June 19, 2018) (unpublished), a $5,500 discovery sanction against an ex-attorney for wife was reversed on due process grounds. What happened was that before the discovery sanctions motion was decided, attorney was relieved as

Appealability, Family Law: Litigant’s Failures To Specify Fee Order As Subject Of Notice Of Appeal And As Appeal Subject In Civil Information Statement Were Fatal In Nature

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Family Law

Although Notices Of Appeal Are Construed Liberally, The Order Under Appeal Still Must Be Specified With Some Precision.             Marriage of Schoenfeld, Case No. B281835 (2d Dist., Div. 7 June 18, 2018) (unpublished) is a reminder to appellants that some precision must be made in both the notice of appeal and the appellate civil information

Family Law: Section 271 Sanctions Award Against Ex-Wife And Section 2030/2032 Denial Of Needs-Based Award To Ex-Wife Both Reversed On Appeal

Cases: Family Law

Both Sides Had Paid Or Owed A Cumulative $1.841 Million In Dissolution Proceedings.             We are not sure that the appellate court was happy with any of the parties in this case that we now report on.   After all, in the dissolution saga, ex-husband had paid attorneys $900,000, still owing $70,000, while ex-wife had paid

Family Law: Ex-Husband Receives Full $138,000 Of Fee Request Against Ex-Wife For Modifying Support Order And Ex-Wife Only Received $10,627 In Fees Out Of Requested $159,783 Fee Request Against Ex-Husband Under Family Code Section 271 Sanctions Provision.

Cases: Family Law

Ex-Husband Obtained A Lopsided Win, With Both Parties Expending $1 Million In Litigation Costs Since Separation.            Attorney’s fees awards in family law setting are extremely discretionary and the end rest of litigation costs for both parties along the way, even with some reimbursement awards allowed, can certainly make destitute or bankrupt any party. This is

Family Law: $20,000 Section 271 Sanctions Award And $5,000 Breach of Fiduciary Duty Sanctions Award Affirmed By 4/3 DCA Against Ex-Wife

Cases: Family Law

But No Appellate Fees Awarded To Ex-Husband.             In Marriage of Reed, Case No. G050666 (4th Dist., Div. 3 May 15, 2018) (unpublished), ex-wife was assessed with $20,000 in sanctions under Family Code section 271 and another $5,000 in sanctions for breach of fiduciary duty for failure to disclose the existence of a community property

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