As A Matter Of Law, The Totality Of Circumstances Showed No Predicate For 271 Sanctions.
The result in Marriage of Ortiz and Rivera, Case No. G064694 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 15, 2026) (unpublished) does not happen often, but it does show that an appellate court can review the entire record and determine that, as a matter of law, the predicate for an award is lacking.
In this matter, 271 sanctions were imposed on ex-wife for bringing some motions, i.e., stop the sale motion, a restraining order petition, and a joinder motion, after ex-husband had breached a settlement agreement by refusing to move out of a house and sold it against ex-wife’s wishes. The appellate court reversed because it found the entire record showed that ex-wife informed ex-husband’s counsel that she was not pursuing the last two matters and that stop sale motion was mooted by ex-husband’s sale as well as poor communications from both sides. None of section 271’s policies were furthered given the conduct by ex-husband in the case. Acting Justice Moore authored the 3-0 opinion.