In re Marriage of Walker

Mr. Walker (plaintiff) opened a Keogh retirement account about 20 years before marrying Mrs. Walker (defendant) in 1980, contributed to it during the marriage, and later rolled it into an IRA worth $105,000 by his 1989 retirement. Mrs. Walker, who handled the couple's bookkeeping, repeatedly withdrew IRA funds into their joint checking account to pay bills, trips, and taxes, knowingly incurring tax penalties in the process; Mr. Walker never withdrew from the account himself. By the couple's 2002 separation, the IRA had shrunk to about $3,000. Mrs. Walker argued she owed no fiduciary duty to disclose the withdrawals absent a request from Mr. Walker, which was the governing rule under California law during their marriage. The trial court nonetheless found she breached a duty to disclose and awarded Mr. Walker $71,066 covering her withdrawals and tax penalties. Mrs. Walker appealed.