Surprise, Last-Minute Reversal In Tentative Decision Required A Reversal.
Due process required a reversal of a family law judge’s decision denying a needs-based fee request by ex-wife in Marriage of Bramhall and Melvoin, Case No. B288129 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Sept. 23, 2019) (unpublished). The parties stipulated to bifurcation of a needs-based fees request, with the trial judge remarking that this would be considered later, only to not address the issue in a tentative decision that became the final statement of decision. The 2/7 DCA reversed because the trial judge had agreed to bifurcate and consider the issues, with a Reporter’s Transcript confirming the trial judge’s intentions which were not followed in a “surprise” last-minute order. Here is our favorite due process case citation in the opinion: Monarch Healthcare v. Superior Court, 78 Cal.App.4th 1282, 1286 (2000) [“fundamental principles of due process . . . call for those with an interest in the matter to have notice and the opportunity to be heard, so that the ensuing order does not issue like a ‘bolt from the blue out of the trial judge’s chambers’”].