Legal Question in Family Law in California
My ex did not disclose stocks worth more than $100K either in her preliminary declaration or in the discovery process. She also sold these stocks without my knowledge. After a trail, on my request, the court issued a tentative statement of decision. Considering my objections, court issued a Final Statement of Decision.
In the Final Statement of Decision, the court found that my ex breached her fiduciary duty under FC 1100(b) and (e). However, as per 1101(g), it ordered to give me half of the monetary value of the stocks (considering their value on the date when my ex sold these stocks). Since the stock price has increased by 50%, I want the court to award me half of the actual stocks. What can I do now in order to ask the court to modify its order to reflect this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You can't. Your opportunities to ask for that were at the trial and in response to the preliminary statement of decision. The final statement is just that, final. You can move for a new trial, though your likelihood of success will be about zero on this issue, or you can file an appeal once the final judgment is entered. That too would most likely be a waste of time and money, however, since the judge's decision appears to be legally sound an within the court's discretion which will not be disturbed on appeal. A judge must be wrong to be overturned on appeal, not just have decided things differently than you, or the court of appeals, would have preferred.
You can't have the judge order you to have an interest in something you don't own anymore, when the person who owns it now is not a party to the action.
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