Reversal Resulted In A Reinstatement Of A $75,000 Fee Award To Ex-Wife.
Although new trial motion grants in California are usually governed by an abuse of discretion standard, that changes where no statement of reasons is issued: in that situation, the party seeking to uphold the order bears the burden of persuasion and review of the grant on appeal is de novo.
This principle led to a reversal of a new trial grant in Marriage of Geminiuc & Bruneau, Case No. G063535 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 10, 2025) (unpublished), authored by Justice Scott. Because fees can be awarded as sanctions under Family Code section 6344 in a DVRO proceeding, ex-husband was hit with $75,000 in fees in favor of ex-wife for certain conduct in the proceeding. Later, however, the family law judge granted ex-husband a new trial based on not allowing admission of a transcript at a prior DVRO hearing. On appeal, ex-husband could not uphold the new trial grant because he failed to attach the transcript in the appellate record. The upshot was that the new trial grant was reversed, reinstating the $75,000 fee award in ex-wife’s favor.