Marriage of Feldman
California Court of Appeal
64 Cal. Rptr. 29 (2007)
During Elena Feldman's (defendant) dissolution proceeding against Aaron Feldman (defendant), Aaron, whose assets were valued at approximately $50 million, failed to disclose certain financial transactions connected to his business; Elena sought payment of her attorney fees and imposition of sanctions against him for breaching his fiduciary duty to disclose all assets and liabilities, separate and community, during the proceeding. The trial court issued an interlocutory order requiring Aaron to pay $250,000 in sanctions and $140,000 toward Elena's attorney fees; Aaron appealed.
Whether a trial court is required to impose monetary sanctions and award reasonable attorney fees if a party breaches the fiduciary duty to disclose all assets and liabilities, both separate and community, during a dissolution proceeding.