Dale

In this action, Joanne Sandra Dale (Joanne) alleged that during the course of a marital dissolution proceeding her former husband, defendant Thomas Redding Dale (Thomas), and the bookkeeper for his medical practice, defendant Chun Wei Dale (Chun Wei), concealed from Joanne certain community assets related to the practice. Joanne claimed that as a result of the concealment, she was induced to forego spousal support and to stipulate that Thomas be awarded the practice without full knowledge of the assets contained therein. Joanne sought compensatory and punitive damages under a variety of tort theories. The trial court dismissed the action for lack of jurisdiction, concluding Joanne’s exclusive remedy lay in seeking to set aside the judgment of dissolution in the family court. We hold that in the absence of a pending dissolution proceeding, a plaintiff who contends she suffered injury because her former spouse tortiously concealed community assets from her, thereby preventing her from fully presenting her case in the dissolution proceeding, is entitled to bring a subsequent tort action based on the alleged concealment. Accordingly, we reverse the order of…