Secondary practice area
Court of Appeal reverses dismissal of a wife’s post-divorce fraud suit over a community property stipulation, holding that her civil complaint was timely under Family Code section 2122 and that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing leave to amend.
Fourth District reverses dismissal of civil fraud lawsuit alleging misrepresentation in connection with marital settlement stipulation, holding that the lawsuit was timely filed and should not have been dismissed under Family Code section 2122 after transfer to family law court.
The California Supreme Court holds that juvenile courts cannot terminate a parent’s rights based solely on a finding that the children are likely to be adopted, and that the mother’s trial counsel here was constitutionally ineffective for failing to assert her statutory right to reunification services.
First District affirms set-aside of default divorce judgment that awarded specific property division beyond what the petition disclosed and was obtained partly through off-the-record communications with the trial judge, applying both Code of Civil Procedure section 580 and Family Code sections 2121 and 2122.
Second District holds that the family law court retains discretion under Family Code sections 2030 and 2032 to consider parties’ relative financial circumstances when fixing attorney’s fees, even where a marital settlement agreement contains a contractual prevailing party fee clause.
First District holds that a juvenile court may consider a victim impact statement at a six-month baseline review hearing if it limits its consideration to material relevant to the juvenile’s rehabilitation.
Fourth District holds that a voluntary declaration of parentage is void where the birth mother had attempted to marry another man in apparent compliance with the law, making him a presumed parent under Family Code section 7611(b).
First District extends its warning about AI-generated fake citations to self-represented litigants and reverses a child support order for failing to include the obligor’s bonus and restricted stock unit income.
First District holds that a default dissolution judgment must be vacated under Code of Civil Procedure section 580 when the petition listed assets only as ‘to be determined’ and the responding spouse lacked notice of the actual property division being sought.
First District reverses a juvenile court order transferring a 16-year-old murder defendant to adult court because the court did not apply the heightened amenability standards required by AB 2361 and SB 545.