In Re Marriage of MacFarlane & Lang

These consolidated appeals [1] arise from appellant Joy Macdonald Macfarlane's attempts to dissolve her marriage with respondent Arthur J. Lang. In action No. A055218, Macfarlane appeals after the denial of her motion to vacate an order dismissing her initial dissolution petition for failure to bring it to trial within five years. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 583.310, 583.360.) [2] In action No. A055215, she appeals the granting of Lang's motion to quash in a second dissolution proceeding she filed after the dismissal of her first petition. We find that, because there was a partial trial of the initial petition, it was error to dismiss that petition under the five-year statute. Therefore, we reverse in action No. A055218. Our reversal of the dismissal of the initial petition moots the second petition and the appeal in action No. A055215. However, rather than simply dismiss that appeal, we reverse the order and remand with instructions to dismiss the second petition.

On October 11, 1985, Macfarlane filed a petition for dissolution of her 14-year marriage to Lang. Lang moved for bifurcation of the proceedings and for judgment on the issue of dissolution of marital…