Family Law: $75,000 Section 271 Sanctions Award Against Ex-Wife Upheld On Appeal

Recorded Supported Award, Plus She Had $343,000 Net Worth—Ability To Pay.

            In In re Marriage of Gagliano, Case Nos. B284308 et al. (2d Dist., Div. 4 Aug. 20, 2020) (unpublished), ex-wife suffered an adverse award of $75,000 in Family Code section 271 sanctions.  The record showed that she presented altered emails to a doctor and delayed completing a 730 evaluation, with ex-husband spending $122,083.82 in attorney’s fees and costs during the process.  It also showed that she had $343,000 in net worth, with the lower court believing that she was willfully suppressing her income pictures.  Guess what, on appeal in light of this record, the 2/4 DCA affirmed.