Hyatt

After entry of a judgment dissolving the marriage of Kathy Hyatt (plaintiff) and Jerry Hyatt (Hyatt) and disposing of the community property, plaintiff sought damages against defendants, beneficiaries of a trust deed executed during the marriage by Hyatt without plaintiffs knowledge or consent. The trust deed encumbered Hyatt’s interest in real property held in joint tenancy with plaintiff. The judgment of dissolution had found the real property, a residence in Citrus Heights, was community property, awarded it to plaintiff and Hyatt as “co-equal tenants in common” and directed that it be “listed for sale and sold forthwith.” Plaintiff first learned, approximately four months after the judgment of dissolution was entered, that Hyatt had unilaterally encumbered the Citrus Heights property. Nevertheless, after acquiring this knowledge, plaintiff signed instructions directing the escrowee to pay defendants from the proceeds of sale of the Citrus Heights property the amount of the indebtedness secured by the Hyatt trust deed. The trial court gave judgment for defendants. We shall affirm.

Plaintiff and Hyatt were married in June 1969. Thereafter, they purchased a residence in…