Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

He signed in front of a notary, which means the notary certifies that at that time he was apparently of sound mind and not coerced. He then 'settled' a divorce, which means he signed under penalty of perjury, or a judge ruled, that this was a 'fair' split of the property. His opportunity to effectively claim coercion was back then. To have a 'case' now would require strong, credible, legally admissible evidence and proof of coercion or of his legal incompetence and mental impairment at the time, and his word now is not such proof. In addition,even if he had such proof, he has now waited three years to change his mind about the wisdom and 'fairness' of the agreements, and the statute of limitations on bringing a fraud claim is generally three years. The time limit for bringing an appeal of the divorce ruling is much shorter. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, he should have hired an experienced divorce attorney at the time to protect whatever rights he had to a 'fair' property split. If you can find one now willing to promptly file a valid case, it will likely cost far more than hiring one at the time of the divorce. If he can find someone willing to file suit for him, keep in mind that in CA lawsuits, generally the loser pays the winners fees and costs, after paying his own attorney's fees and costs. That will be an important discussion with that attorney.