Marriage of Duffy
Court of Appeal of California
91 Cal. App. 4th 923 (2001)
Vincent (defendant) and Patricia (plaintiff) Duffy, married since 1962, saw Vincent receive a severance package including profit-sharing cash and MCA stock upon leaving MCA Records in 1983; Vincent deposited the cash into an IRA (with Patricia present), then opened an IRA brokerage account and sold the MCA stock, subsequently engaging in various stock purchases and sales over several years without consulting Patricia, though brokerage statements came to their home and Patricia saw them and noticed the MCA stock's absence without ever asking Vincent about it. At trial after their 1997 separation, Patricia testified she had general information about various community-property ventures but that Vincent was dismissive when she asked about financial matters; expert testimony indicated Vincent's investments were too risky. The trial court found Vincent breached his fiduciary duty to Patricia, and Vincent appealed.
Whether (1) the fiduciary duty to disclose requires a spouse to make disclosures about community assets upon demand, and (2) the fiduciary duty between spouses includes the duty of care.