Family Law, Special Fee Shifting Statutes: Court Of Appeal Decides Current Version Of Domestic Violence Prevention Act, Applies Retroactively To Cases After 2023, Justifying A Fee Award

Family Code Section 6344 Applies Retroactively.

            In Dragones III v. Calkins, Case No. B329659 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Jan. 17, 2024) (published), the 2/7 DCA confronted whether Family Code section 6344, effective 2023, made it easier for a prevailing petitioner to obtain fees and harder for a prevailing respondent to obtain fees in actions brought under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.  The lower court awarded prevailing petitioner $6,000 in fees out of a $13,659 “ask.”  That award was affirmed on appeal.  Newly enacted Family Code section 6344, plus procedural rules relating to fees awards, warranted affirmance of the fee award based on application of retroactivity principles.