Your attorneys fees in divorce may be lowered under a recent California case! The Law Offices of Duane Henry (925-825-5010) is pleased to inform you of a client-friendly outcome at the California Court of Appeals in the case of Alan S. Jr. v. Super.Ct., (2009) 173 Cal.App.4th 238.
In the Alan S. case, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court. The trial court had ordered Spouse A to pay Spouse B’s attorney fees in a child custody dispute, but had ignored the fact that an attorney’s fee award of that magnitude might prevent Spouse A from having reasonable financial resources left over to hire his/her own divorce lawyer.
The Court of Appeals emphasized that the purpose of attorneys fee awards from one spouse to another is not to redistribute money from the greater income spouse to the lesser income spouse (which is more commonly the purpose of child and spousal support orders), but rather is to assure that each spouse has “parity” in his/her ability to retain a divorce lawyer.
Quoting the Court of Appeals: “The idea is that both sides should have the opportunity to retain counsel, not just (as is usually the case) only the party with greater financial strength.”
The court of appeals emphasized that “parity” of litigating power between the two divorcing spouses is the goal of Family Code Section 2030.
This case is an important victory for clients that the Law Offices of Duane Henry can now use to benefit you with respect to your ability to afford a divorce lawyer. You can benefit whether you are the low or the high income spouse and whether you are seeking an order that the other spouse pay your attorneys fees or are defending against a demand for an attorney fee order against you.
The Alan S. case cites the factors that a trial court must consider in determining whether or not to order one spouse to pay the fees of the other spouse’s divorce lawyer. In doing so, it brings clarity to an area of the law–attorneys fee orders in cases involving divorce law–that had long been dealt with by some trial court judges in an arbitrary manner and without consideration of evidence or testimony.
Please contact the Law Offices of Duane Henry to discuss any questions that you may have regarding your Contra Costa County divorce. Based upon the Alan S. case, reasonable questions may include whether or not you can obtain an order that the other spouse pay some or all of the fees of your divorce lawyer or whether you may be able to successfully defend against such an order.
