Rub Here Was That Trial Judge Stayed Any Fee Ruling Pending Determination Of Merits Appeal.
Although procedurally different in nature, Marriage of Haghighat, Case No. G054993 (4th Dist., Div. 3 April 17, 2019) (unpublished) demonstrates how family law judges and appellate justices can impose attorney’s fees and frivolous appeal sanctions when a litigant hides marital assets.
Briefly stated, husband eventually lost a merits appeal that he hid marital assets, which under Family Code section 1101 allows for recovery of interest, attorney’s fees and costs, as well as the invested assets. However, the trial judge stayed any ruling on fees until the appeal on the merits decision was made.
The 4/3 DCA affirmed the merits decision as well as remanded to the family law judge to determine the initial fees requested under section 1101 as well as sanctions for the frivolous appeal. Although normally the appellate court would determine the frivolous appeal sanctions, this one went back to the lower court to set given that it had to determine the initial fees which had to be awarded also. Justice Goethals authored the 3-0 panel decision.