Marriage of Hawatmeh CA2/2

BACKGROUND

Sami Hawatmeh (Sami) was married to Ghada Hawatmeh (Ghada) in 1990.1 In February 2010, Sami filed for divorce. Ghada failed to respond to the petition for dissolution of marriage, and in April 2010 default was entered. Sami filed a community and quasi-community property declaration listing a number of assets and debts. A default judgment was entered in September 2010, and Sami was allotted an assortment of assets and debts. In December 2010, Ghada filed a motion to set aside the judgment. She filed another motion to set aside the judgment in July 2011. The trial court heard these motions in November 2011. It denied both motions. The court found, however, that two pieces of real property were not identified in disclosures made by Sami and were not awarded in the judgment. Therefore, the court found that it had continuing jurisdiction over the properties pursuant to Family Code section 2556, and it set “the matter for trial with respect to these two properties.” The court stated that if Ghada identified any additional assets that had not been adjudicated, she could provide notice to Sami of the assets in advance of the trial. The court declared: “The issues to be tried…