Furie v. Furie (In re Furie)

224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 637, 16 Cal. App. 5th 816
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedOctober 30, 2017
DocketB269972
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 637 (Furie v. Furie (In re Furie)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Furie v. Furie (In re Furie), 224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 637, 16 Cal. App. 5th 816 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

CHANEY, J.

*819This appeal centers on Russell Furie's (father) request for the trial court to enter an order reducing his child support obligations and Kelly Furie's (mother) request for an order regarding the couple's children's orthodontic care and expenses.1 The trial court denied father's request to reduce child support, found that father controls the Douglas Mae Trust (the *820Trust), ordered father to pay the requested orthodontic expenses, and granted mother sole authority to make decisions regarding the children's orthodontic care.2 We affirm the trial court's orders.

BACKGROUND

Mother and father married on November 2, 1996. Their first child, K.F., was born in January 1998, and M.F. followed three years later. Mother petitioned the trial court in August 2009 to dissolve the marriage. Six months later, the trial court entered a stipulated judgment for legal separation incorporating a settlement agreement.3

A. The Stipulated Judgment

The judgment awarded father and mother joint legal custody of the children, and ordered father to maintain health insurance for the children and to pay $1,454 per month in child support, half of school or child care costs, and half of uninsured medical expenses. The judgment awarded the family home to father, who was to continue to maintain and pay all debts concerning the home, but also provided that mother and the children could continue to live there with father until M.F.'s 18th birthday. Mother and father both waived spousal support, and the trial court retained no jurisdiction to later award spousal support.

Mother and father were also each awarded various community assets. Among other property, the stipulated judgment awarded father all of KMF Investments Inc. (KMF) and RKF Investments Inc. (RKF).

Unfortunately, the parties have a tortuous postjudgment legal history as set forth in part below.

B. Default on the Family Home Mortgage

Within months of the stipulated judgment, father purchased a condominium free and clear and moved out of the family *643home, defaulting on the mortgage. To protect the family home, mother requested an order in February 2011 increasing father's support obligations. *821Both in his papers and at the hearing on mother's motion, father argued the parties had orally agreed to modify the terms of the stipulated judgment by giving KMF and its assets to mother and releasing father from his obligation to provide for the family home. At the hearing on March 29, the trial court ordered father to bring the mortgage current by April 29 and to begin paying mother an additional $4,709 per month to cover the mortgage.

Father filed a motion for reconsideration under Code of Civil Procedure section 1008. On his motion for reconsideration, father's arguments about KMF evolved; contrary to his earlier arguments, father now contended that mother had converted KMF's assets for herself.4 Mother opposed the motion and sought sanctions for having to defend against the motion. The trial court denied both the motion for reconsideration and-citing father's in propria persona status-the motion for sanctions in a statement of decision and order dated June 24, 2011.5

C. Father's Request to Reduce Child Support and Mother's Request to Convert Spousal Support to Child Support

In July 2011, father settled the Trust and transferred his condominium and RKF, among other assets, into it.6 Around the same time, father requested an order modifying the parties' stipulated judgment, again contending mother took KMF's assets and in return released him from his obligation to pay the mortgage on the family home. ( In re Marriage of Furie (Mar. 28, 2014, B241754) [nonpub. opn.] at p. 5, 2014 WL 1271035 ( Furie I ).) Separately, he sought an order modifying the custody (father later withdrew this request) and child support orders. At a hearing on August 26, 2011, the trial court denied father's motion to modify the stipulated judgment without prejudice and continued the hearing on custody and support orders. ( Ibid. )

While father's request to reduce his support obligations was still pending, mother filed a request for an order correcting the May 27, 2011 spousal support order to reflect that the $4,709 was child support to maintain the family home. At the January 27, 2012 hearing on the two motions, father again raised-and the parties exhaustively discussed-mother's alleged conversion of KMF's assets.

*822In its statement of decision and order filed March 6, 2012, the trial court denied mother's request to redesignate the spousal support award in the trial court's May 27, 2011 order and denied father's request to reduce his support obligations. The trial court vacated its order granting $4,709 in monthly spousal support, recalculated father's child support obligations, increased the monthly child support award to a total of $2,136 per month, and awarded mother attorney fees as sanctions.

*644Father moved the court to reconsider its March 6 order, and again attempted to relitigate his KMF allegations. After the trial court denied the motion for reconsideration and again awarded sanctions to mother's counsel, father appealed both the March 6, 2012 order increasing his support obligations and the order denying his motion for reconsideration.

D. March 18, 2013 Turnover Order

While the first appeal was pending, father, as the sole shareholder of RKF, sold the assets of an RKF-owned business, Check by Check, to his father, Leonard Leeds. Mother filed a request for an order requiring father to turn over the promissory note Leeds gave RKF to partially satisfy father's child support arrearages. The trial court heard mother's motion on February 7 and filed a statement of decision on March 18, 2013 ordering father to immediately turn over the RKF promissory note to mother and to contribute an additional $1,000 to mother's attorney fees as a sanction for father's litigation conduct.

E. Father's Bankruptcy

On March 28, 2013, father filed a bankruptcy petition (Bankr. C.D.Cal. case No. 2:13-bk-18101-BR). Mother filed an adversary complaint against father alleging, among other things, father had fraudulently induced her to waive spousal support. The bankruptcy court entered a non-dischargeable judgment against father on December 18, 2014, finding he had defrauded mother and awarding her $452,064 in damages. The court also determined father's support obligations and attorney fees the family court had previously awarded were non-dischargeable.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 637, 16 Cal. App. 5th 816, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/furie-v-furie-in-re-furie-calctapp5d-2017.