What Caught Our Eye On This One—Total Fees And Court Costs Were $7.5 Million Altogether!
Marriage of Zucker, Case Nos. B281051 et al. (2d Dist., Div. 4 Mar. 3, 2022, modified Apr. 1, 2022) (partially published on invalidity of spousal support provision; fee discussion unpublished) involved a dissolution proceeding where the husband had a much more substantial net worth position than wife, who was unfortunately plagued by psychological problems before and during their marriage. The trial judge’s determinations, which were for the most part affirmed except for a math correction, are not that glaring, but what caught our eye was the amount that can be spent in a contentious divorce case. But, first, we do the technical discussion of the opinion.
What happened here is that the trial court found a premarital agreement (PMA) was valid (a husband win), but it did invalidate the spousal support provision (a wife win). Although there was a prevailing party PMA fees clause, the trial judge found there was no prevailing party given the mixed result, a determination affirmed by the appellate court.
The divorce action was intensively and exhaustively litigated by both sides, such that Family Code section 271 sanctions requests by both sides were properly denied.
Based on wife’s financial disparity in net worth and net spendable income, it was not error to decide that an 80/20 division of fees was proper, with husband bearing the higher brunt of the load.
What really caught our eye was this: each side spent about $3.6 million in attorney’s fees and another $300,000 in court costs were altogether expended – a total of $7.5 million. Wowzer!
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