One of the issues decided in In re Marriage of Guiterrez was whether or not the husband should be sanctioned for failing to list all of his real property on his declaration of disclosures.
In this case, the parties owned several pieces of property. The husband did not list one piece of real property on any of his disclosures.
The trial court sanctioned the husband for failing to disclose the property in his declaration of disclosure. The husband appealed, arguing that before issuing the sanction, the judge should have made a finding that the wife did not about the property.
The Second District Court upheld the order. The Court found that the side with superior information about an asset should disclose it. The purpose of Family Code section 271 and Family Code section 1101 is to create an incentive fro divorcing parties to be candid. The goal of these codes is to look forward to spur good conduct and not backward wot right past wrongs.
fc 271(a): Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the court may base an award of attorney’s fees and costs on the extent to which the conduct of each party or attorney furthers or frustrates the policy of the law to promote settlement of litigation and, where possible, to reduce the cost of litigation by encouraging cooperation between the parties and attorneys. An award of attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to this section is in the nature of a sanction. In making an award pursuant to this section, the court shall take into consideration all evidence concerning the parties’ incomes, assets, and liabilities. The court shall not impose a sanction pursuant to this section that imposes an unreasonable financial burden on the party against whom the sanction is imposed. In order to obtain an award under this section, the party requesting an award of attorney’s fees and costs is not required to demonstrate any financial need for the award.
fc 1101(a): A spouse has a claim against the other spouse for any breach of the fiduciary duty that results in impairment to the claimant spouse’s present undivided one-half interest in the community estate, including, but not limited to, a single transaction or a pattern or series of transactions, which transaction or transactions have caused or will cause a detrimental impact to the claimant spouse’s undivided one-half interest in the community estate.
If you need legal advice and are looking for a family law lawyer in Orange County to address a dissolution issue such as division of property or any other divorce matter such as legal separation, annulment, custody, spousal support or assignment of debt, please consider Treviño Law in your divorce attorney search. We are located in Laguna Hills right off Lake Forest exit to both the 405 and 5 freeway.
Although the posting of this information can be considered free legal advice for a divorce in Orange County, it does not address other factors which may play a significant role in a particular dissolution. Circumstances in your divorce may alter the results in your dissolution.
Please note that this legal advice does not establish a family law attorney-client relationship. This is a legal advertisement for Treviño Law, Inc.
