Family Law: $1,500 Attorney’s Fees Award Under Family Code Section 271 Reversed Because No Prior Notice Given Against Sanctioned Party

 

Sanction Imposed After Oral Request At Hearing Overturned on Appeal.

     In Kleytman v. Pechonkina, Case No. A130779 (1st Dist., Div. 2 Apr. 24, 2012) (unpublished), ex-husband was assessed $1,500 in attorney’s fees as a Family Code section 271 sanction for filing a motion for reconsideration that was denied. Usually, that might not be a problem, but there was a fly in the ointment: the fee request was made orally at a hearing, giving ex-husband no prior notice of what was coming. That, our readers, was a due process violation requiring reversal of the sanctions award.

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