Archive for the ‘Appellate Reviews’ Category


■ CALIFORNIA: Offer to Compromise Joint Claims, May Be Made to Either Spouse

on August 9, 2010 in Appellate Reviews, On California Law No Comments »
In California, an offer by a Defendant to settle joint claims of a Husband and Wife (under California Code of Civil Procedure 998) may be made to either of them even if the claims are not identical. This is because recovery from claims of spouses is a community asset (under Family Code Section 760) and either of the spouses have absolute power to  accept or reject such an offer (under Family Code Section 1100(a). Of course, the non-accepting spouse may have a claim for breach of fiduciary duty against the accepting spouse, for improper compromise of community’s claim (under Family  Code Section 1100 (e)).
In the Case of  Barnett et Al., V. First National Insurance Company of America (2010) 184 Cal. App. 4th 1454, filed May 26, 2010, the Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Seven (Los Angels) reversed a prior decision by the same Court (Weinberg v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America (2004) 114 Cal.App.4th 1075), which required separate offer to each spouse. The Court admitted that in reaching the prior decision, it did not consider the effects of the California community property law on the joint offers.
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■ CALIFORNIA: False Proof Of Service Of Petition & Summons Invalidates Judgment of Child Support

on July 22, 2010 in Appellate Reviews No Comments »
For a Judgment of child support to be valid, the Summons and Petition establishing the support must be personally served. A fraudulent declare of service of Summons and Petition, violates the due process rights of the supporting parent, and  renders the subsequent Judgment void and unenforceable.
This is the summary of the decision in the case of County of San Diego v. Graham, reached by the Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, Division One (San Diego), filed on July 21, 2010.
In this Case, the supporting father, Artis Earl Gorham appealed from an order of San Diego Court, denying his motions to set aside a 1998 default judgment obtained against him by the County of San Diego Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) and to dismiss the action. He argued that the trial court never acquired jurisdiction over him in this case because he was never served with a summons and complaint contrary to the fraudulent representation of the process server’s return, and, therefore, the judgment was void. Further, the summons and complaint were not served on him within three years of the date this action was commenced, which requires mandatory dismissal of the case under the Code of Civil Procedure.
The Court of Appeal agreed.
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■ CALIFORNIA: Father Must Pay Child Support to Stepfather

on July 13, 2010 in Appellate Reviews, On California Law No Comments »

Father must Pay Child Support to Stepfather for 18 year-old Highschool Student

July 07, 2007, Court of Appeal of California, Third Appellate District, Sacramento:
After death of mother (M), father (F) shared custody of their daughter (D), with her stepfather (SF). The Court ordered F to pay SF $ 900 each month in child support. One month before turning 18, and Four months before graduation of D from high school, F filed papers with the Court to reduce the child support to zero. The trial court denied F’s motion. The Appellate Court confirmed. On appeal, F argued that as a matter of law, absent express agreement, a trial court cannot order a parent to pay support to third parties. F also agreed neither he nor SF had “primary physical responsibility” for D therefore the guideline support should not be maintained. The Appellate Court rejected both arguments and found that : 1) The F’s offer to the court to pay $ 900 per month in support was an expressed agreement, and 2) A pre-18th birthday guideline child support will continue after the child’s 18th birthday when she is a full time high school student.

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