D'Elia

I. Introduction

Once again this court confronts a family law case which has been allowed to metastasize into something else. In Askew v. Askew (1994) 22 Cal.App.4th 942 [ 28 Cal.Rptr.2d 284 ], a distressed ex-husband sought tort damages in an independent fraud action for false promises of love and affection. In Smith v. Pust (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 263 [ 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 364 ], a cuckolded husband sought tort damages against his ex-wife’s lover. In In re John W. (1996) 41 Cal.App.4th 961 [ 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 899 ], a fairly well-to-do couple managed to avail themselves of taxpayer-financed counseling and therapy by having their custody dispute litigated in the juvenile dependency courts.

The present case arises out of facts even more directly related to the typical family law case than Askew, Smith, or John W. Here, we have the fairly garden-variety situation of one spouse refraining from conducting an independent appraisal of a family business and consequently making a bad deal in a marital settlement agreement—despite the fact that she was represented by at least two lawyers during the negotiations. This sort of thing happens all the time in family law, and the remedy, if…