Teague v. Easton CA4/1 ( 2024 )


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  • Filed 5/23/24 Teague v. Easton 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    NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication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
    JOANNA TEAGUE,                                                       D081242
    Plaintiff and Respondent,
    v.                                                          (Super. Ct. No.
    37-2021-00022217-PR-TR-CTL)
    SHAWN EASTON,
    Defendant and Appellant.
    APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County,
    Matthew C. Braner, Judge. Appeal dismissed.
    Niddrie Addams Fuller Singh and John S. Addams; The Stone Law
    Group and Kenneth H. Stone for Defendant and Appellant.
    Law Office of John A. Adler and John A. Adler; Law Office of A. Daniel
    Bacalski, Jr. and A. Daniel Bacalski, Jr.; Dubé Law Office and Douglas Dubé
    for Plaintiff and Respondent.
    Plaintiff and respondent Joanna Teague filed a Probate Code1 section
    17200 petition seeking in part to reform a trust that her stepfather James
    1        Undesignated statutory references are to the Probate Code.
    Crostini had amended after his wife Mary Crostini’s death. Following a
    bench trial, the probate court granted the petition and reformed the trust,
    invalidating provisions authorizing James as the surviving spouse to revoke
    or amend it and deeming it irrevocable. Appellant Shawn Easton2 contends
    the court erred in that there was no valid trust to reform given James and
    Mary’s lack of mutual agreement on its terms and the court’s factual findings
    are not supported by substantial clear and convincing evidence. Easton
    further contends procedural errors warrant reversal. Alternatively, he
    contends that if this court upholds the judgment to reform the trust, it should
    apply only as to Mary’s share of the trust estate. Teague has moved to
    dismiss the appeal under the disentitlement doctrine. Because we find merit
    in and grant her motion, this opinion sets forth our reasons for dismissing the
    appeal and does not reach its merits. (Gwartz v. Weilert (2014) 
    231 Cal.App.4th 750
    , 757, citing Cal. Const., art. VI, § 14.)
    FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
    Following well-established rules of appellate review, we recite the facts
    favorable to the judgment in Teague’s favor. (Hoffman v. Superior Ready Mix
    Concrete, L.P. (2018) 
    30 Cal.App.5th 474
    , 478; see Jackson v. LegalMatch.com
    (2019) 
    42 Cal.App.5th 760
    , 767 [applying principle to findings of fact after a
    bench trial].) Though we adopt unchallenged facts from the probate court’s
    2     We refer to James and Mary by their first names for clarity, not out of
    disrespect. James died shortly after the court issued its final statement of
    decision and this court granted Easton’s motion to substitute in as the
    appellant. Easton has asked that we take judicial notice of a January 2023
    order appointing him special administrator of James’s estate (Estate of James
    V. Crostini (Prob. Ct. San Diego County, 2023, No. 37-2022-00044420-PR-
    PW-CTL)). He maintains the order is relevant to his contention that the
    appealed-from judgment is voidable as entered before he was appointed
    special administrator, which prejudiced him because he could not file a
    motion for new trial. The request goes to the merits, which we do not reach.
    2
    statement of decision, we are not limited to those cited facts and evidence but
    may consider the entire record. (In re Shaputis (2011) 
    53 Cal.4th 192
    , 214,
    fn. 11.)
    James and Mary were married in 1969. They both had children from
    prior marriages; at the time of Mary’s death James had three surviving
    children including Easton, and Mary had four surviving children including
    Teague. They also had a biological daughter together, and James adopted
    two of Mary’s children. James had an angry, volatile and controlling
    personality. He would lose his temper daily; often screaming, yelling, making
    threats, and sometimes hitting when he became agitated, which would occur
    at the slightest provocations. A couple of times, Teague saw bruising on
    Mary’s face and asked whether James was responsible; Mary did not answer,
    but looked down and teared up. Mary did whatever James told her to do, but
    at the same time, she was a top real estate professional. She was also an
    avid reader.
    In April 2004, James and Mary established the James and Mary
    Crostini Trust dated April 12, 2004 (the Trust). The declaration of trust’s
    preamble characterized the Trust as “an inter vivos revocable trust to hold in
    trust the property now and hereafter made subject to this trust, with [James
    and Mary] as co-trustees, for the benefit of the trustors during their lives and
    thereafter for the benefit of their children and other beneficiaries, as set forth
    in this declaration of trust.” (Some capitalization omitted.) The Trust corpus
    consisted of the couple’s entire marital estate, all community property. The
    Trust made James and Mary the initial co-trustees, then provided that in the
    event of both of their deaths, resignation or incapacity, Mary’s surviving
    children and their biological daughter would in a specified order act as co-
    trustees.
    3
    The Trust required the principal be paid to James and Mary for their
    benefit during their lifetime, and upon the death of one spouse, to pay the
    principal for the surviving spouse’s benefit in accord with his or her
    accustomed manner of living. Upon the surviving spouse’s death, the Trust
    distributed the estate in equal shares to Mary’s surviving children and their
    biological daughter, and distributed $5,000 each to James’s three children.
    The Trust contained revocation and amendment provisions, which read
    in part:
    “1.06 Revocation: The trustors may revoke in whole or part any trust
    created by this declaration at any time. While both trustors are living,
    revocation as to community property shall be made by written notice
    executed by at least one trustor and delivered to the trustee and to the other
    trustor. Community property so withdrawn shall be delivered to both
    trustors. . . . After one trustor is deceased, the surviving trustor may revoke
    in whole or in part any trust created herein by written notice delivered to the
    trustee, and any property so withdrawn shall be delivered to the trustor or as
    he or she otherwise directs.” (Some capitalization, bold and underline
    omitted.)
    “1.07 Amendments: At any time during their joint lives, the trustors
    jointly as to community property . . . may amend in any manner any trust
    created in this declaration by written notice delivered to the trustee. After
    the death of one trustor, the surviving trustor my amend in any manner any
    of the trusts created herein in like fashion.” (Some capitalization, bold and
    underline omitted.)
    The Trust provided it became irrevocable upon both trustors’ deaths:
    “After both trustors are deceased, the trusts created herein shall become
    irrevocable and not subject to amendment.” (Some capitalization omitted.)
    4
    Mary called a family meeting to tell Teague and others that everything
    would be divided equally between her children, but James told her to shut up.
    Mary also told Teague that James had written the trust and passed it by an
    attorney, so Mary thought it was legal. Mary expressed her hope that her
    children would keep the Trust property and pass it to their own children.
    Teague at one point asked her mother what was to keep James from
    changing her wishes, and she responded, “Oh, he can’t do that, it’s all written
    out plainly in the will or in the [T]rust.” Mary also said that if James tried to
    do that, she would never forgive him. On the other hand, Mary did not tell
    either Teague or Teague’s sister that the Trust was irrevocable. Teague’s
    sister never observed James lie or mislead their mother, and Mary never told
    her that James held her hostage or forced her to do anything.
    In 2010, James and Mary notified their biological daughter that she
    was removed as a trustee of the Trust. In May 2020, they included her again
    as a trustee. That daughter was never removed as a beneficiary.
    Mary died in October 2020. At the hospital, James would not permit
    Teague and her siblings to be alone with Mary’s body, but glared angrily at
    them while they said their goodbyes. At Mary’s funeral, James described
    Mary’s suffering in such detail as to upset Teague and other family members;
    he also screamed at another of Mary’s daughters when she tried to put a
    rosary in Mary’s casket, which contained nothing about her children.
    Several weeks after Mary’s death, James amended the Trust to
    eliminate Mary’s children as beneficiaries and add Easton as a beneficiary.
    James kept their biological daughter as a beneficiary.
    Teague filed a section 17200 petition “for construction or invalidity of
    trust provisions” as well as for an order removing James as the trustee,
    appointing a new trustee and for an accounting. In part, she alleged that
    5
    Mary never actually read the Trust but relied on James’s representations to
    her as to its content and effect, that she was the victim of domestic violence
    at James’s hands, and that Mary “dared not insist to James that she be
    allowed to read [the Trust], or to question him regarding its content and
    effect.” She alleged that if James revoked or amended the Trust, “it will
    thwart Mary’s intentions related to her estate plan” and that “Mary would
    not have executed the Trust except for James’[s] misrepresentation to her
    that it accomplished her intended estate plan.” She alleged also that any
    amendment or revocation by James was done “through his fraud on Mary.”
    Teague prayed for an order “[t]hat Part 1.06 of the Trust allowing for
    revocation of the Trust after the death of the first settlor to die, is invalid,”
    “[t]hat Part 1.07 of the Trust allowing for amendment of the Trust after the
    death of the first settlor to die, is invalid” as well as for all other necessary
    and appropriate orders.
    The matter proceeded to a bench trial on August 15, 2022. Teague’s
    position was that the court should eliminate the Trust’s revocation and
    amendment provisions, or alternatively construe James’s amendment to
    apply only to his one-half of the community property so that Mary’s half
    would be distributed according to her will. Teague, James and others
    testified at trial. James testified that it was his and Mary’s intent to
    disinherit his biological children but give them a token distribution, and that
    Mary’s children would be their heirs. According to him, they together told
    their wishes to an attorney who created a trust carrying out that intent.
    James testified the attorney recommended a trust and included the
    revocation clause. However, he and Mary prepared the documents removing
    then reinstating their biological daughter as trustee. James admitted in his
    6
    deposition that his agreement with Mary before her death was that he would
    carry out her intent to leave her property to her four children.3
    Just before James rested his case, his counsel, acknowledging the trial
    took less than one day, requested a statement of decision. On September 9,
    2022, the probate court issued a proposed statement of decision invalidating
    the Trust’s revocation and amendment provisions and entering judgment for
    Teague. The parties submitted objections, with Teague asking the court
    additionally to appoint an independent fiduciary to administer the Trust.
    On October 3, 2022, the court issued its final statement of decision
    reaching the same result in Teague’s favor. Finding James not credible as to
    matters concerning the Trust’s creation and Mary’s knowledge, it ruled a
    “plethora of evidence” supported reforming the Trust; that “Mary believed
    from the time of the Trust’s creation until the time of her death that the
    Trust’s beneficiaries could not be changed, and that [James] represented to
    Mary her belief was true.” It relied on James and Mary’s relationship, as
    well as evidence that Mary had told her children James could not change the
    Trust because everything was “spelled out” or memorialized in it, and died
    believing the estate would be evenly divided among her children. The court
    ruled “[t]he evidence clearly supports that Mary’s intent was to leave the
    Trust assets to the four children.” The court found James knew of the
    revocation and amendment clauses, and the only reasonable inference from
    the evidence was that James “misrepresented, fostered, or encouraged Mary’s
    mistake [concerning the Trust’s revocability] by promising and agreeing with
    3     James also testified that he and Mary knew the difference between an
    irrevocable and revocable trust, and that the attorney had told them the
    Trust did not need to be irrevocable, “because the main article in there is it is
    revocable, and that’s—that was the bottom line, that he told us that it’s
    revocable, anything in it is revocable.”
    7
    her to carry out her intent.” It found James knew Mary trusted him and used
    it to his advantage. The court ruled the “facts help explain and are consistent
    with James’[s] determination to obviate Mary’s intentions with regard to her
    assets and hid[e] the revocation clause from Mary in order to deviate the
    estate plans after her death.”
    James died on October 26, 2022. On November 9, 2022, in a filing
    submitted after the court’s closure, his counsel, Kenneth Stone, notified the
    court about the death and petitioned to appoint Easton as James’s estate’s
    special administrator, asking that the court not take action to enter judgment
    or grant any of Teague’s sought-after relief before Easton’s appointment. The
    following day, the court entered judgment in Teague’s favor, invalidating the
    revocation and amendment provisions of the Trust “[b]ased upon [James’s]
    misrepresentations and promises,” deeming the Trust irrevocable “[t]o avoid
    the inequity of rendering th[e] judgment ineffective by . . . [statutory]
    revocation,” and appointing Kaitlyn Welling as successor trustee to the Trust.
    James’s counsel filed a notice of appeal on November 16, 2022.
    DISCUSSION
    I. Teague’s Motion to Dismiss Based on the Disentitlement Doctrine
    Teague has moved to dismiss the appeal based on the disentitlement
    doctrine. She maintains dismissal is appropriate given that Easton has
    willfully refused to comply with a postjudgment December 21, 2022 order
    that he turn over Trust assets, concealed his possession of those assets in
    part by moving to quash Welling’s subpoenas for his personal and Trust bank
    records, and thwarted Welling’s efforts to marshal the assets. Easton
    opposes the motion, claiming the probate court’s December 21, 2022 order
    was never served on him, and he was unaware the funds he received from his
    father were from Trust accounts.
    8
    The moving and opposing papers reflect the following: Easton was
    involved in the case; he attended all but one deposition, as well as a
    mediation and the trial in this matter. On August 23, 2022, eight days after
    trial, James signed a second amendment to the Trust making Easton the
    Trust’s sole beneficiary.4
    On September 14, 2022, five days after the court issued its proposed
    statement of decision invalidating the Trust’s revocation and amendment
    provisions, James closed savings and checking bank accounts held by the
    Trust, transferring $761,872.34 from them to personal “pay on death”
    accounts in his own name.5
    On October 13, 2022, nine days after the court issued its final
    statement of decision, James took $715,290.84 from the two accounts, either
    withdrawing the money or writing a check, and transferred it to Easton, who
    deposited the funds—one deposit of $254,118 and one deposit of
    $461,172.84—into Easton’s own account. In November 2022, after James’s
    death, Easton closed James’s account, withdrawing $14,107.07. Easton
    admits receiving these funds via check or transfer and depositing them in his
    personal account, claiming he was then unaware the funds were from Trust
    accounts but rather he understood they came from his father’s personal bank
    accounts.
    4      During oral argument before this court, attorney Stone stated that
    after the trial, James “saw the writing on the wall” as to the lower court’s
    decision.
    5     Specifically, James withdrew $461,168.54 from a Trust savings
    account, wrote a check to “cash” in the amount of $278,801.97 from a Trust
    checking account, and wrote another check payable to “cash” in the amount of
    $21,901.83 from a different Trust checking account.
    9
    Welling later applied ex parte to confirm her authority to act as
    successor trustee pending appeal. On December 14, 2022, about a month
    after entering judgment in Teague’s favor, the court conducted a hearing on
    the application. The minute order indicates attorney Stone attended the
    hearing, as did Teague. The court, pursuant to the parties’ oral stipulation,
    appointed Welling the Trust’s temporary trustee.
    Two days later, Easton wired $670,741.49 of the funds he had received
    from his father to an account held by his company, Easton Construction, of
    which Easton is the sole principal. By his own accounting, Easton
    immediately began spending the money on the day of the transfer, making
    over $70,000 in car payments and paying other personal expenses in the
    ensuing week.
    About a week later, Easton, represented by attorney Stone and
    purporting to act as the second amended Trust’s trustee, filed a section 17200
    petition for instructions. He asked the court to determine (1) whether he was
    the Trust’s trustee pending appeal; (2) whether the court’s entry of judgment
    was void; and (3) who was entitled to distribution from the Trust. At this
    time, Teague first learned about James’s second amendment to the Trust.
    On December 21, 2022, the court issued its order on Welling’s ex parte
    application. It ordered that the portion of its judgment appointing Welling as
    successor trustee of the Trust “is not stayed by the pending appeal . . . .” It
    further ordered Welling “may exercise all the ordinary powers of a trustee
    including, but not limited to, marshaling assets of the Trust” and “[t]hat all
    beneficiaries and parties to this action in possession or control of assets
    belonging to the Trust immediately turn them over to . . . Welling as
    successor trustee.” The court ordered Easton to give Welling access to and
    10
    custody and control over specified real property. Easton spent approximately
    $91,000 of the funds in December 2022.
    On January 18, 2023, Welling’s counsel e-mailed attorney Stone,
    Teague’s counsel and others to advise them that in photographing a house
    Welling saw that a safe had been broken into and several items removed from
    the house. She advised counsel that Welling had not received information on
    the Trust bank accounts or other Trust assets, and asked that their clients
    send any information they had in that respect to Welling. In January 2022,
    Easton spent approximately $122,000 of the monies he had received, and
    another approximately $91,000 in February 2022.
    On March 14, 2023, Welling’s counsel again e-mailed attorney Stone
    and Teague’s counsel regarding the whereabouts of the funds withdrawn by
    James on September 14, 2022. She attached the bank checks and stated the
    funds should have remained in the Trust pending appeal. Counsel wrote: “If
    any of your clients has information on where these funds were subsequently
    deposited, or if they are in possession of the funds, please turn them over to
    [Welling] immediately. The Court has made it clear that all Trust assets need
    to be turned over to [Welling], and if she does not receive them, we will likely
    need to file a petition to have them returned.” (Italics added.) Easton did not
    respond; during March and April 2023, he spent approximately $144,000 of
    the Trust funds on personal items.
    In May 2023, Welling petitioned under sections 850, 859 and 17200 for
    an order to recover the Trust assets. In the verified petition, Welling stated
    that she had attempted to marshal the Trust bank accounts, but was
    informed that James had closed all the accounts on September 14, 2022.
    Welling delineated the specific sums James had withdrawn (including the
    $461,168.54 and $278,801.97) and stated she “believed that the funds were
    11
    placed in an account either in Mr. Easton’s name, in a joint account with Mr.
    Easton, or in an account in [James’s] name with Mr. Easton as a transfer on
    death beneficiary.” She prayed for an order, among others, that Easton turn
    over all the funds he received from the Trust. That month and the following
    month, Easton spent another approximately $158,000 of the funds on
    personal items, leaving approximately $61,000 remaining. By the end of
    June 2023, Easton had depleted the funds. What remained were two
    uncashed cashier’s checks for approximately $14,000 and $27,000 that
    Easton eventually delivered to his attorney.
    In October 2023, Easton objected and responded to Welling’s section
    850 petition. In his verified response to Welling’s statement concerning her
    belief about the funds being placed in Easton’s accounts, Easton stated he
    “lack[ed] sufficient information and belief to enable him to answer” and
    denied the allegations.
    In January 2024, Easton sought to stay Welling’s section 850 petition.
    In a sworn declaration, Easton stated: “I currently have less than $1,000 in
    liquid assets. My wife and I own our personal residence, but own no other
    real property. I have no beneficial interest in any other real property, besides
    my beneficial interest in the real property that comprises the assets of the
    James and Mary Crostini Trust.” Easton related that he had possessed the
    two cashier’s checks from his father that the bank refused to honor, and he
    was “not in possession of any other checks that have not been negotiated.”
    Easton stated: “Since this litigation began in 2021, I have not transferred
    any cash, liquid assets, real property or personal property to any person or
    entity and I have not made any transfer of property of any kind to a third
    party in fraud of creditors.” He also moved to quash subpoenas issued by
    Teague’s counsel for both the Trust and Easton’s own bank records, which
    12
    motions were denied (with one limited in time) in late February and early
    March 2024.
    On March 8, 2024, Teague sought ex parte to have the assets returned
    to the Trust, but the probate court denied the petition without prejudice,
    ordering only that Easton return the two cashier’s checks to the bank.
    Attorney Stone delivered those checks to the bank’s counsel the same day the
    court made its order.
    In opposition to Teague’s motion to dismiss, Easton states: “After my
    father’s death on October 26, 2022, I was substituted in his place in order to
    prosecute the appeal that has been fully briefed and is awaiting oral
    argument. If the appeal results in a complete reversal, holding that the
    Trust was fully revocable and amendable following Mary Crostini’s death, I
    will be entitled to the entire [T]rust estate. If the judgment is affirmed, I
    understand that I may be liable for the funds I received, which I now
    understand were originally held in the name of the . . . Trust.” (Some
    capitalization omitted.)
    II. The Trustee’s Actions to Recover Trust Monies, Sanctioned by Section
    1310, Are Not Impacted by the Appeal
    As stated, the probate court in December 2022 ruled that its order
    appointing Welling as temporary trustee was not stayed pending the appeal.
    That order permitted Welling to exercise all trustee powers including to
    marshal the Trust assets. It required all beneficiaries and parties in
    possession or control of Trust assets to immediately turn them over to
    Welling.
    13
    The court’s order was authorized by section 1310, subdivision (b), which
    governs a stay on appeal.6 It provides in part: “Notwithstanding that an
    appeal is taken from the judgment or order, for the purpose of preventing
    injury or loss to . . . property, the trial court may . . . appoint a . . . special
    administrator or temporary trustee, to exercise the powers [of a fiduciary],
    from time to time, as if no appeal were pending. All acts of the fiduciary
    pursuant to the directions of the court made under this subdivision are valid,
    irrespective of the result of the appeal. An appeal of the directions made by
    the court under this subdivision shall not stay these directions.” (§ 1310,
    subd. (b).)
    “Acts taken pursuant to section 1310[, subdivision] (b) are valid
    regardless of the outcome on appeal.” (Sterling v. Sterling (2015) 
    242 Cal.App.4th 185
    , 195.) Even if an appellant is successful, acts sanctioned by
    or taken pursuant to such an order “cannot be ‘undone’ . . . .” (Ibid.) The
    statute may be used to prevent a substantial monetary loss; “[t]here is no
    limitation on its application to a unique asset.” (Id. at p. 199.)
    III. Disentitlement Legal Principles
    “A party to an action cannot, with right or reason, ask the aid and
    assistance of a court in hearing his demands while he stands in an attitude of
    contempt to legal orders and processes of the courts of this state.”
    (MacPherson v. MacPherson (1939) 
    13 Cal.2d 271
    , 277; see also Stoltenberg v.
    Ampton Investments Inc. (2013) 
    215 Cal.App.4th 1225
    , 1230 (Stoltenberg).)
    This principle, what courts term the “disentitlement doctrine,” gives an
    6     Section 1310, subdivision (a) provides that subject to enumerated
    exceptions, an appeal stays operation of an order. (Conservatorship of
    McElroy (2002) 
    104 Cal.App.4th 536
    , 555.)
    14
    appellate court inherent power to dismiss an appeal where an appealing
    party has refused to comply with lower court orders (Stoltenberg, at p. 1229;
    Ironridge Global IV, Ltd. v. ScripsAmerica, Inc. (2015) 
    238 Cal.App.4th 259
    ,
    265) or has “engaged in obstructive tactics.” (Gwartz v. Weilert, 
    supra,
     231
    Cal.App.4th at p. 757; Blumberg v. Minthorne (2015) 
    233 Cal.App.4th 1384
    ,
    1391; Stoltenberg, at p. 1230.) To apply the doctrine, there need not be a
    formal adjudication of contempt. (Ironridge Global, at p. 265; TMS, Inc. v.
    Aihara (1999) 
    71 Cal.App.4th 377
    , 379 [judgment of contempt is not required
    as a prerequisite to appellate court exercising power to dismiss under
    disentitlement doctrine].)
    Disentitlement “is not a jurisdictional doctrine, but a discretionary tool
    that may be applied when the balance of the equitable concerns make it a
    proper sanction.” (Stoltenberg, supra, 215 Cal.App.4th at p. 1230; Ironridge
    Global IV, Ltd. v. ScripsAmerica, Inc., supra, 238 Cal.App.4th at p. 265.) The
    doctrine is applied in the civil context “when a party’s violation of a court
    order frustrates the other party’s ability to protect their legal rights.” (In re
    E.E. (2020) 
    49 Cal.App.5th 195
    , 206-207.) It is “ ‘ “based upon fundamental
    equity and is not to be frustrated by technicalities.” ’ ” (Blumberg v.
    Minthorne, 
    supra,
     233 Cal.App.4th at p. 1391.)
    Appellate dismissal has been held appropriate where judgment debtors
    frustrate efforts to enforce a judgment, including by transferring assets
    despite postjudgment orders forbidding them from doing so pending appeal.
    (Gwartz v. Weilert, 
    supra,
     
    231 Cal.App.4th 750
    , 752.) In Gwartz, equitable
    principles favored dismissing the appeal because the record showed that,
    while admitting they transferred assets, defendants sought “the benefits of
    an appeal while willfully disobeying the trial court’s valid orders and thereby
    frustrating defendants’ legitimate efforts to enforce the judgment.” (Id. at p.
    15
    761.) In TMS Inc. v. Aihara, 
    supra,
     
    71 Cal.App.4th 377
    , the court in a
    similar context applied the doctrine to parties violating an order requiring
    postjudgment actions. (Id. at p. 378.) There, judgment debtors—a defendant
    and two companies—refused to comply with an order to answer postjudgment
    interrogatories; the defendant left the jurisdiction to Japan, and refused to
    assist his attorneys in providing requested financial information. (TMS, at p.
    379.) The court dismissed their appeal from the judgment, holding it had the
    inherent power to do so without a judgment of contempt. (Id. at pp. 379-380.)
    In Kottemann v. Kottemann (1957) 
    150 Cal.App.2d 483
    , the appellant
    undertook repeated acts to thwart his former wife’s attempts to enforce an
    interlocutory judgment for spousal support, closing bank accounts, putting
    cash assets into cashier’s checks, deeding a joint tenancy house to a third
    party in violation of a restraining order, and disappearing to avoid being
    served with an order to show cause re contempt or completing his deposition.
    (Id. at p. 485.) His appellate attorneys denied knowledge of his whereabouts.
    (Id. at p. 486.) In dismissing the appeal from the interlocutory judgment of
    divorce, the court stated: “That [the appellant] intends to frustrate plaintiff’s
    efforts to obtain the fruits of her judgment . . . is equally clear. That he
    entertains an intention to defraud her cannot be gainsaid.” (Id. at p. 488.)
    In Stone v. Bach (1978) 
    80 Cal.App.3d 442
    , the litigant was deemed to
    have made a “deliberate effort to achieve a stay of execution of the money
    judgment against him without complying with legal procedures.” (Id. at p.
    448.) His excuse for refusing to comply with lower court orders to deposit
    partnership funds into trust and to be sworn for examination was that the
    orders and judgment were invalid, as he would demonstrate on appeal.
    (Ibid.) The court dismissed his appeal, stating, “This is the worst kind of
    bootstrapping. A trial court’s judgment and orders, all of them, are
    16
    presumptively valid and must be obeyed and enforced. . . . They are not to
    be frustrated by litigants except by legally provided methods.” (Ibid.; see also
    MacPherson v. MacPherson, supra, 13 Cal.2d at p. 277 [dismissing appeal
    where appellant “wilfully and purposely evaded legal processes and
    contumaciously defied and nullified every attempt to enforce the judgments
    and orders of the California courts, including the very order from which he
    seeks relief by this appeal”].)
    In In re A.K. (2016) 
    246 Cal.App.4th 281
    , the Court of Appeal explained
    that the disentitlement doctrine is “ ‘not only applicable to disobedience of the
    order being appealed; it also applies to “egregious” conduct that frustrates the
    juvenile court from carrying out its orders . . . .’ ” (Id. at p. 286, quoting In re
    E.M. (2012) 
    204 Cal.App.4th 467
    , 476-477.) There, the court dismissed an
    appeal by a father who had engaged in an “extraordinary and unmitigated
    pattern of obstruction” by refusing to drug test or participate in his child’s
    dependency case, and exhibited hostile behavior toward social workers,
    showing a “pervasive indifference to the child’s safety and to the amelioration
    of the conditions giving rise to the dependency.” (In re A.K., at p. 286.) The
    court held the father “possessed ‘an attitude of contempt to legal orders’ and
    the dependency process”; “[f]ather’s conduct frustrated, if not paralyzed, the
    ability of [the county’s children and family services], the court, and his own
    attorney to obtain the information necessary to determine whether he is an
    offending parent, and what services, if any, are necessary to enable him to
    reunify with his daughter.” (Ibid.) Dismissal was appropriate due to the
    “ ‘ “egregious” conduct that frustrate[d] the . . . court from carrying out its
    orders . . . .’ ” (Ibid.)
    17
    IV. The Relevant Equitable Considerations Favor Dismissal
    It is evident that having learned of the court’s proposed statement of
    decision against him, James took it upon himself to remove large sums of
    money from the Trust. After the court issued its final statement of decision
    rendering the Trust irrevocable, he then transferred most of those funds to
    Easton, an obvious effort to hamper and frustrate Teague’s ability to
    eventually enforce a presumptively valid judgment (Stone v. Bach, supra, 80
    Cal.App.3d at p. 448) through appropriate legal means. This is precisely the
    sort of egregious self-help taken in disregard of the appellate process and
    obstructive conduct for which courts have invoked the disentitlement
    doctrine. “ ‘[I]t would be a flagrant abuse of the principles of equity and of
    the due administration of justice to consider the demands of a party who
    becomes a voluntary actor before a court and seeks its aid while he stands in
    contempt of its legal orders and processes.’ ” (Stone v. Bach, at p. 444.) While
    James was not held in contempt of any court order, as stated, a finding of
    contempt is not necessary to invoke the doctrine. (Ironridge Global IV, Ltd.
    v. ScripsAmerica, Inc., supra, 238 Cal.App.4th at p. 265.) It is of no moment
    that the court had not yet entered its formal judgment; James’s intent was
    clear, and technicalities must not frustrate disentitlement in an appropriate
    case. (Blumberg v. Minthorn, 
    supra,
     233 Cal.App.4th at p. 1391; Stoltenberg,
    
    supra,
     215 Cal.App.4th at p. 1230; Stone v. Bach, supra, 80 Cal.App.3d at p.
    444.)
    The record shows Easton—who James had by then made a
    beneficiary—conducted himself in the same vein: concealing his receipt of
    Trust assets from Welling so as to frustrate her efforts to preserve them in
    protection of the judgment. In opposing dismissal, he asserts he did not
    attend the December 14, 2022 ex parte hearing and did not receive a copy of
    18
    the court’s December 21, 2022 order until March 2024. Easton claims he and
    his counsel were not served with the court’s December 21, 2022 order. The
    California Supreme court in MacPherson v. MacPherson addressed a similar
    contention by a appellant facing dismissal who claimed there was “no
    evidence that he received notice or had actual knowledge of the terms of any
    order or judgment which he is charged with violating . . . .” (MacPherson v.
    MacPherson, supra, 13 Cal.2d at p. 278.) The court observed that the record
    evidence—particularly the wife’s affidavit—“clearly indicates that appellant
    had full knowledge of the custody provisions of the divorce decrees.” (Id. at p.
    279.) It continued: “Moreover, in view of the conduct of the parties with
    respect to custody of the minors over the period from 1930 to 1936, it would
    test credulity to believe that appellant was without actual knowledge of the
    terms of the custody provision. Actual notice or knowledge is all that is
    required.” (Ibid., italics added.)
    Here, attorney Stone was present at the December 14, 2022 ex parte
    hearing, giving him actual knowledge of Welling’s appointment as successor
    trustee to marshal Trust assets. Stone represented Easton five days later
    on Easton’s petition for instructions. “ ‘[A]n attorney is his client’s agent, and
    . . . the agent’s knowledge is imputed to the principal even where . . . the
    agent does not actually communicate with the principal, who thus lacks
    actual knowledge of the imputed fact.’ ” (Roche v. Hyde (2020) 
    51 Cal.App.5th 757
    , 797.) This presumption of imputed knowledge—which is
    “irrebuttable” (Roche, at p. 797)—“applies to what the agent subjectively does
    know as well as what the agent reasonably should know.” (Bergstrom v.
    Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (2022) 
    78 Cal.App.5th 387
    , 399; Roche, at pp.
    797-798.) Attorney Stone had actual knowledge of the court’s ruling
    confirming Welling’s appointment; he was dutybound to know the court
    19
    would issue an order after the ex parte hearing as well as the trustee’s
    obligations to marshal and preserve trust property, and Easton is charged
    with this knowledge.7
    But in our view, Easton’s claim of ignorance is belied by the record; his
    knowledge of Welling’s appointment is evidenced by the fact he wire-
    transferred $670,741.49 of the Trust funds to his corporate account two days
    later. It would “test credulity” (MacPherson v. MacPherson, supra, 13 Cal.2d
    at p. 279) to see that act as anything other than an effort to conceal those
    assets from Welling.
    Even if Easton was truly unaware in December, January and February
    2022 of Welling’s appointment and his obligation as a beneficiary to deliver
    all Trust assets to her, as of March 2023 when Welling notified Stone about
    James’s specific monetary transfers out of Trust bank accounts, Easton
    learned the funds he had received from his father—in amounts that
    substantially corresponded to the two large September 14, 2022 withdrawals
    James had made—belonged to the Trust. Easton made no effort to disclose to
    Welling his receipt of the large transfers. To the contrary he continued
    spending it with increasing alacrity until he exhausted the funds in June
    2023. He then disingenuously claimed in verified pleadings to lack anything
    more than $1,000 in liquid assets, denied transferring any money, and
    pleaded ignorance about the Trust funds placed in his accounts. It was not
    enough that Easton endeavored to put the Trust funds taken by his father
    7      To the extent Easton’s knowledge is constructive, it is still actual.
    “ ‘ “Constructive notice is ‘the equivalent of actual knowledge . . . .’ ” ’ ”
    (Alfaro v. Community Housing Improvement System & Planning Assn., Inc.
    (2009) 
    171 Cal.App.4th 1356
    , 1385.)
    20
    beyond Welling’s reach, but he immediately, intentionally, and systematically
    spent them until they were gone.
    In opposing Teague’s motion to dismiss, Easton appears to rest on the
    pending appeal and its potential success, which would obviate his
    misconduct. But the appeal does not impact Welling’s efforts, and courts
    have rejected that kind of argument as the “worst kind of bootstrapping . . . .”
    (Stone v. Bach, supra, 80 Cal.App.3d at p. 448.) While Easton states he
    returned two certified checks, he has not assured this court that he has taken
    efforts to return what he now unquestionably knows was money belonging to
    the Trust. He has not shown he will endeavor to comply with the court’s
    order that beneficiaries and parties return all of the Trust assets to Welling.
    Under these circumstances, it is inequitable to allow Easton to seek the
    benefits of an appeal while willfully disobeying the probate court’s valid
    orders and frustrating efforts to protect assets in furtherance of the
    judgment.
    Our disposition remains. The Stone v. Bach court considered
    conditionally dismissing the appeal, but did not deem it appropriate, instead
    stating, “Prior to expiration of our jurisdiction, Bach may seek partial or total
    relief from this dismissal, based upon compliance with the spirit of our
    opinion; any such request will be given due consideration.” (Stone v. Bach,
    supra, 80 Cal.App.3d at pp. 448-449.) In Stoltenberg, 
    supra,
     
    215 Cal.App.4th 1225
    , the Court of Appeal delayed finality of its dismissal order for 30 days to
    give the defendants an opportunity to seek reinstatement. (Id. at p. 1234.)8
    8     In Stoltenberg, 
    supra,
     
    215 Cal.App.4th 1225
    , the defendants
    subsequently did not provide a “competent and unequivocal showing that
    they had complied fully” with an underlying subpoena, or that the involved
    out-of-state court “made an express finding of full compliance.” (Id. at p.
    1236.) The Court of Appeal thus denied reinstatement. (Ibid.)
    21
    The purpose of the disentitlement doctrine is to induce compliance with
    court orders. (Findleton v. Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians (2021) 
    69 Cal.App.5th 736
    , 758.) By Easton’s account, he has depleted the funds, and
    has no assets but his residence. Under these circumstances, it would serve
    no purpose to give Easton an opportunity to repay the money and seek
    reinstatement of this appeal.
    DISPOSITION
    The motion to dismiss the appeal is granted. Teague shall recover her
    costs on appeal. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.278(a)(1) & (2).)
    O’ROURKE, J.
    WE CONCUR:
    McCONNELL, P. J.
    IRION, J.
    22
    

Document Info

Docket Number: D081242

Filed Date: 5/23/2024

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 5/23/2024