Marriage Of Feldman

153 Cal.App.4th 1470 (2007)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

H and W were married in 1969 and separated after 34 years of marriage. W filed a petition for dissolution of marriage in August 2003. H created a large number of privately held companies investing in and developing real estate and owning auto dealerships; Sunroad entities. According to H, his assets are worth in excess of $50 million. The characterization of these separate entities as either separate or community property is an issue in the dissolution proceeding. H provided responses to interrogatories and a schedule of assets and debts on November 24, 2003. He subsequently provided updates to the Schedule at the request of W's attorney. H also produced a significant number of documents in response to the request for production. On September 2, 2004, W filed a motion to impose monetary sanctions for a violation of his fiduciary duty to make financial disclosures to her during the dissolution proceedings. W alleged that H had failed to disclose several different financial transactions, including the purchase of a personal residence through one of his companies, the purchase of a $1 million bond, the existence of a 401(k) account, and the existence of several of the Sunroad entities. The trial court ruled that H breached his fiduciary duty to disclose and imposed sanctions in the amount of $250,000 and attorney fees of $140,000. The trial court found that H intentionally had sought to circumvent the disclosure process. H appealed.