Brewer v. Federici

113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 849, 93 Cal. App. 4th 1334, 2001 Daily Journal DAR 12452, 2001 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9946, 2001 Cal. App. LEXIS 2575
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 28, 2001
DocketB135155
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 849 (Brewer v. Federici) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brewer v. Federici, 113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 849, 93 Cal. App. 4th 1334, 2001 Daily Journal DAR 12452, 2001 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9946, 2001 Cal. App. LEXIS 2575 (Cal. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Opinion

ALDRICH, J.

Introduction

After 17 years of marriage, appellant Jenness Brewer (Brewer) and respondent Ovidio Federici (Federici) entered into a marital settlement agreement and stipulated to a judgment of dissolution based thereon. Subsequently, based upon mistake, Federici filed a motion to set aside the judgment and a motion to set aside the marital settlement agreement. Brewer appeals from the order granting the motions. We affirm.

*1337 Factual and Procedural Background

1. Preliminary facts.

Brewer and Federici were married in 1980. Brewer was a vice-president at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). 1 In 1997, Brewer earned approximately $175,000. Federici wás an artist. He was not actively involved in his career. The family lived primarily on Brewer’s salary. Federici managed the family household, including the family finances, the community checking account, and the bills. He had access to the parties’ tax information. The parties had one daughter, bom in 1981.

Brewer and Federici separated in 1997 after 17 years of marriage.

2. The dissolution and settlement.

On January 2, 1998, Brewer served Federici with a petition for dissolution of marriage and related documents.

The parties negotiated a marital settlement agreement. They agreed to a division of property as follows: Federici would receive his car, his personal property, specified furnishings, his investment accounts, his art collection, $5,000 in lieu of stock options, 20 shares of GE stock, and an equalizing payment of $149,000. He also was to receive $6,000 for relocation expenses. Brewer agreed to pay Federici $35,000 per year, for five years in tax-free, nonmodifiable spousal support, and to pay Federici’s health and auto insurance for that period of time. Brewer was to receive a family trust and a medical malpractice claim. Additionally, she was to receive the family home, her car, her personal property, furnishings not otherwise designated, her investment accounts, her IRA (individual retirement account), and GE stock options. She was also to receive “\d\ny and all right, title and interest in \her\ retirement and pension plan, \her\ Savings and Security program with an approximately total balance of $168,561.00, though her employer, NBC\.]” (Italics added.) Brewer assumed all marital debts. There was to be joint legal custody of the child, and Brewer was to be the custodial parent. Brewer agreed to be solely responsible for the child’s support.

There is no evidence that either spouse refused to provide documentation requested by the other spouse.

During the negotiations of the marital settlement agreement, Brewer was represented by counsel and Federici consulted an attorney on two occasions.

*1338 On February 27, 1998, the parties met in Brewer’s attorney’s office. They signed the marital settlement agreement. At the time, the parties exchanged final declarations of disclosure, both dated January 17, 1998. All documents had been prepared by Brewer’s attorney.

The two final declarations of disclosure were identical in content. They each included a schedule of assets and debts. The schedules had five columns, two of which were labeled “assets—description” and “current gross fair market value.” 2 They provided a current gross value for the family residence at $475,000 and showed that $305,000 was owed. The following items were valued as “unknown”: (1) miscellaneous household furniture, furnishings, and appliances; (2) miscellaneous jewelry, antiques, art, coin, collections; (3) a Brewer family trust; and (4) a medical malpractice action.

The two schedules of assets and debts further reflected the following:

ASSETS - DESCRIPTION CURRENT GROSS 12. RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS FAIR MARKET VALUE (Attach copy of latest summary plan documents and latest benefits statement.) NBC PENSION UNKNOWN 13. PROFIT-SHARING, ANNUITIES, IRAS, DEFERRED COMPENSATION (Attach copy of latest statement.) NBC SAVINGS & SECURITY PROGRAM [BREWER’S] IRA GE STOCK OPTIONS 168,561.00 8,000.00 UNKNOWN

A number of Federici’s paintings were valued in another document at approximately $50,000.

Attached to Brewer’s final declaration of disclosure were two pages of an annual statement supplied by her employer, NBC. It showed that as of December 31, 1996, the NBC Savings and Security Program had a value of $168,561.

*1339 At the time the final declarations of disclosure were signed, Federici believed Brewer had one pension plan and it had an approximate value of $170,000. 3

Also on February 27, 1998, the parties signed a stipulated judgment. It contained a division of property, duplicating verbatim that which had been detailed in the marital settlement agreement. The stipulated judgment also had been prepared by Brewer’s attorney.

On April 23, 1998, the stipulated judgment was entered.

3. The motions to set aside.

In December 1998, Federici moved to set aside the property division and spousal support portions of the judgment. In part, Federici contended the motion should be granted because substantial community assets were not valued, including Brewer’s “NBC pension, [and] GE stock options.” Federici declared he had been under a mistaken belief regarding the amount he could earn during the next few years while he was in school. He found that while in school he could only earn $6 per hour working parttime. He further declared that he would not have agreed to the spousal support provisions in the judgment or waived his community interest in Brewer’s retirement benefits had he understood his limited earning potential. Federici also contended that Brewer’s final declaration of disclosure was inadequate because the schedule of assets and debts had not valued substantial community assets, including Brewer’s NBC pension.

An expert declaration was submitted on behalf of Federici. The expert declared that Brewer’s interest in the NBC Pension was worth $278,784, assuming a date of separation of August 1, 1997, and was worth $286,144, assuming a December 17, 1997, date of separation.

The parties conducted discovery.

On February 18, 1999, Federici filed supplemental points and authorities. He pointed out that the judgment awarded Brewer her “retirement and pension plan, and [her] Savings and Security program with an approximate *1340 total balance of $168,561.00 . . . .” (Italics added.) Federici noted it had been learned through discovery that the value of the Savings and Security Program was not $168,561. That sum that had been ascertained from Brewer’s December 1996 annual statement, which was more than a year before the January 1998 disclosure statements.

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113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 849, 93 Cal. App. 4th 1334, 2001 Daily Journal DAR 12452, 2001 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9946, 2001 Cal. App. LEXIS 2575, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brewer-v-federici-calctapp-2001.