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Appellate Result

Following a trial in Los Angeles Superior Court over whether the wife had to reimburse the husband for post-dissolution litigation costs arising from the pre-separation sale of the husband’s electronics business, the trial court found that the wife was not obligated to reimburse the husband for any of the litigation costs. The Court of Appeal affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding that, pursuant to Family Code section 2556, the litigation costs were community debts which has been omitted from the stipulated marital dissolution judgment that divided the couple’s assets and obligations.  As a result, the appellate court found that the wife was obligated to pay 50% of the costs to settle the underlying litigation, but she was not obligated to reimburse the husband for his attorney’s fees and costs in that litigation because he failed to show during trial that any amount of his attorney’s fees and costs was reimbursable by the community.  Prevailing party attorney’s fee award to wife for fees in the dissolution case was reversed and remanded as a result of the partial reversal. In re Marriage of Nassimi, 3 Cal.App.5th 667 (2016) (Second Dist. Court of Appeal, Division 4) (Review Denied 12/14/16).

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