In re Marriage of Boyd CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 13, 2014
DocketD064281
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re Marriage of Boyd CA4/1 (In re Marriage of Boyd CA4/1) 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
In re Marriage of Boyd CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 6/13/14 In re Marriage of Boyd CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re the Marriage of ELIZABETH A. BOYD and BRADLEY A. BOYD. D064281 ELIZABETH A. BOYD,

Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. D473583)

v.

BRADLEY A. BOYD,

Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Susan D.

Huguenor, Judge. Affirmed.

Stephen M. Bishop for the Appellant.

Hargreaves & Taylor and Elizabeth Anne Kreitzer; Stanwood C. Johnson for the

Respondent. Appellant Elizabeth Boyd appeals from a judgment awarding her former husband,

respondent Bradley Boyd, $28,502.50 in principal and interest plus $2,500 in attorney

fees, on Bradley's1 claim for indemnification arising from their respective obligations on

a loan and mutual releases in their marital settlement agreement (settlement agreement).

Elizabeth contends the judgment should be reversed because (1) Bradley did not meet a

condition precedent to invoke the hold harmless provision in the settlement agreement;

(2) the family court erred by awarding Bradley more than the amount of actual loss or

damage he incurred; (3) the court erred by awarding Bradley attorney fees because he did

not incur them in good faith; and (4) Bradley breached his fiduciary duty to Elizabeth

under the settlement agreement. We conclude Elizabeth forfeited the latter two

arguments by failing to raise them in the family court, and her other contentions, which

we independently address as questions of law, lack merit. Accordingly, we affirm the

judgment.

1 As is customary in family law cases, we refer to the parties and other family members by their first names for clarity, and not out of disrespect. (See Kuehn v. Kuehn (2000) 85 Cal.App.4th 824, 828, fn. 2.)

2 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND2

Bradley and Elizabeth were married in 1989. In March 2003, Bradley and

Elizabeth obtained a judgment of dissolution of their marriage, which incorporated the

settlement agreement. Under the settlement agreement, Bradley and Elizabeth each

assumed one half of a $47,500 loan owed to Bradley's mother, Joyce Boyd, and agreed to

"pay, assume, and hold [the other] free and harmless from" that obligation, as well as

defend and indemnify the other against "any claim, action or proceeding . . . brought

seeking to hold [the other] liable for any of [his or her] debts, liabilities, acts or

omissions . . . ."

Several sections of the settlement agreement contain indemnity language. The

"Community Property" section of the settlement agreement states in part: "Wife shall

pay, assume, and hold Husband free and harmless from all obligations listed in Exhibit

'B[,]' " which included Elizabeth's loan obligation to Joyce. A "Mutual Releases" section

contains defense and indemnity provisions, which states with regard to Elizabeth: "Wife

2 We set out the facts from the original and augmented clerk's transcript, viewing the evidence favorably to Bradley as the prevailing party. "[T]he applicable standards of appellate review of a judgment based on affidavits or declarations are the same as for a judgment following oral testimony: We must accept the trial court's resolution of disputed facts when supported by substantial evidence; we must presume the court found every fact and drew every permissible inference necessary to support its judgment, and defer to its determination of credibility of the witnesses and the weight of the evidence." (Betz v. Pankow (1993) 16 Cal.App.4th 919, 923.) This court gave Elizabeth's counsel an opportunity to cure defects in Elizabeth's opening brief by filing an augmented brief. However, with the exception of one cite to the clerk's transcript regarding the amount of Bradley's actual payments on the debt at issue, Elizabeth's augmented brief contains no record citations for its factual summary, and appears substantively identical to her original brief. We are entitled to disregard contentions not supported by citations to the record on appeal. (In re S.C. (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 396, 406-407.) 3 covenants, except as may be expressly provided otherwise in this Agreement, that if any

claim, action or proceeding shall hereafter be brought seeking to hold Husband liable for

any of her debts, liabilities, acts or omissions, she shall, at her sole expense, defend him

against any such claim or demand (whether or not well founded) and that she shall

indemnify him and hold him free and harmless from all costs, expenses and liabilities in

connection therewith." Another clause entitled "Hold Harmless Provisions" reads in part:

"In the event a party to this Agreement is required to pay and hold the other party

harmless from some debt, and the party fails to hold the other party harmless from the

debt, then the other party may pay some or all of the debt and deduct the payment from

any monies owed by the other party to the party who breached this covenant to hold the

other party harmless." The hold harmless clause prohibits a party from paying a debt

without giving written notice to the other party, and requires that the party giving such

notice wait seven days from the date of notice before paying any debt. The settlement

agreement also contains a clause entitling the prevailing party to recover reasonable

attorney fees in an action to enforce any of the settlement agreement's provisions.

In 2006, Elizabeth filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, listing Joyce as a

creditor. A few months later, an attorney representing Bradley informed Elizabeth's

bankruptcy counsel that Joyce had made a demand on Bradley for repayment of the entire

obligation as a result of the bankruptcy filing, and that Bradley's indemnification claim

4 was not dischargeable under section 523(a)(15) of title 11 of the United States Code.3 In

January 2007, Elizabeth's obligation to Joyce in the amount of $32,118 was discharged.

However, Elizabeth through counsel advised Joyce that she intended to fulfill her

obligation notwithstanding the fact she listed the unsecured debt on her bankruptcy

schedules. Elizabeth sent Joyce four payments amounting to $650, but stopped making

payments in March 2008.

Joyce sued Bradley to collect on the debt, and in September 2011, the superior

court entered a $24,785.50 judgment by default against Bradley in that action.

Thereafter, Bradley unsuccessfully communicated with Elizabeth to resolve the matter of

her agreement in their judgment of dissolution to indemnify him on their debts.

In April 2013, Bradley sought an order in the family court to enforce the

settlement agreement's indemnity provision, modify spousal support, and recover his

attorney fees and costs. He asked the court to order Elizabeth to pay him $24,785.50 in

principal and $3,511.28 in interest that had accrued through February 28, 2013, monthly

interest of $206.55 from March 1, 2013, and his attorney fees and costs.

3 The December 2006 letter from attorney Radmilla Fulton pointed to the settlement agreement's defense and indemnity language and the hold harmless provision.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Avila v. Leonardo
128 P.2d 43 (California Court of Appeal, 1942)
Tenzer v. Superscope, Inc.
702 P.2d 212 (California Supreme Court, 1985)
Denham v. Superior Court
468 P.2d 193 (California Supreme Court, 1970)
In Re Marriage of Sullivan
691 P.2d 1020 (California Supreme Court, 1984)
In Re Marriage of Ayo
190 Cal. App. 3d 442 (California Court of Appeal, 1987)
Kirschner Brothers Oil, Inc. v. Natomas Co.
185 Cal. App. 3d 784 (California Court of Appeal, 1986)
United States Elevator Corp. v. Pacific Investment Co.
30 Cal. App. 4th 122 (California Court of Appeal, 1994)
County of Orange v. Smith
117 Cal. Rptr. 2d 336 (California Court of Appeal, 2002)
Delfino v. Agilent Technologies, Inc.
52 Cal. Rptr. 3d 376 (California Court of Appeal, 2006)
Betz v. Pankow
16 Cal. App. 4th 919 (California Court of Appeal, 1993)
In Re SC
41 Cal. Rptr. 3d 453 (California Court of Appeal, 2006)
Maryland Casualty Co. v. Bailey & Sons, Inc.
35 Cal. App. 4th 856 (California Court of Appeal, 1995)
CC-California Plaza Associates v. Paller & Goldstein
51 Cal. App. 4th 1042 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
Kuehn v. Kuehn
102 Cal. Rptr. 2d 743 (California Court of Appeal, 2000)
City of San Diego v. Rider
47 Cal. App. 4th 1473 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
ASP Properties Group, L.P. v. Fard, Inc.
35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 343 (California Court of Appeal, 2005)
In Re Marriage of Crosby & Grooms
10 Cal. Rptr. 3d 146 (California Court of Appeal, 2004)
Phillips v. TLC Plumbing, Inc.
172 Cal. App. 4th 1133 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)
Peak-Las Positas Partners v. Bollag
172 Cal. App. 4th 101 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
In re Marriage of Boyd CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-boyd-ca41-calctapp-2014.