In Re Marriage of Schnabel

Terry L. Schnabel appeals pretrial attorney fees and support orders payable to Marilyn J. Schnabel.

I

If the names of the parties sound familiar, there is good reason. We have written several opinions and the Supreme Court has authored one—Schnabel v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 704 [ 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 200 , 854 P.2d 1117 ], Suffice it to say, this dissolution has gone on for a long time. 1

In this chapter we consider whether the trial court abused its discretion in ordering Terry to pay Marilyn $10,000 in pretrial attorney fees and $1,650 in monthly spousal support. We conclude it did not.

II

In June 1991, shortly after the dissolution petition was filed, the parties stipulated to certain pendente lite support orders. Two years later, *750 discovery was completed pursuant to Supreme Court mandate. (Schnabel v. Superior Court, supra, 5 Cal.4th 704.) Marilyn filed the underlying order to show cause requesting an increase in spousal support and $23,000 in attorney fees.

The court found Marilyn’s “CPA’s report to be persuasive and [found Terry’s] controllable cash flow to be at least $6850 per month.” 2 Terry has several complaints about the report and contends the…

I agree that sanctions are appropriate in this case. If Marilyn Schnabel had sought sanctions from Terry Schnabel I would have awarded them. However, I disagree with the idea that the sanctions should be payable to this court. Due process entails adjudication by a neutral decisionmaker who, by definition, does not benefit from the decision. Obviously the court benefits at least incrementally from the determination that sanctions are warranted. That does not seem very neutral to me. Since we are the appellate court, there is also no right of appeal. How is this for due process: we announce to the parties that we are thinking that *757 sanctions are appropriate, and then, after we decide they are, award them to ourselves! While I realize that plenty of opinions impliedly countenance the payment of sanctions to a court, I do not believe our Supreme Court has ever squarely confronted the issue. It may wish to do so sometime in the future.

Appellant’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied February 23, 1995.

Terry L. Schnabel appeals pretrial attorney fees and support orders payable to Marilyn J. Schnabel.

If the names of the parties sound familiar, there is good reason. We have written several opinions and the Supreme Court has authored one — Schnabel v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 704 [ 21 Cal. Rptr.2d 200 , 854 P.2d 1117 ]. Suffice it to say, this dissolution has gone on for a long time. [1]

In this chapter we consider whether the trial court abused its discretion in ordering Terry to pay Marilyn $10,000 in pretrial attorney fees and $1,650 in monthly spousal support. We conclude it did not.

(1) In June 1991, shortly after the dissolution petition was filed, the parties stipulated to certain pendente lite support orders. Two years later, discovery was completed pursuant to Supreme Court mandate. ( Schnabel v. Superior Court, supra, 5 Cal.4th 704 .) Marilyn filed the underlying order to show cause requesting an increase in spousal support and $23,000 in attorney fees.

The court found Marilyn's "CPA's report to be persuasive and [found Terry's] controllable cash flow to be at least $6850 per month." [2] Terry has several complaints about the report…