In Re Marriage of Guo & Sun

INTRODUCTION

The superior court entered a judgment nullifying the marriage of appellant Xiao Hua Sun and respondent Xia Guo on the ground that Sun was married to another woman when he purportedly married Guo. The court also denied Sun’s claim that he was Guo’s putative spouse pursuant to Family Code section 2251. Sun appeals the order denying his putative spouse claim.

A party claiming to be a putative spouse must show, among other things, that he or she believed in good faith that the marriage was valid. A determination of good faith is tested by an objective standard. In this case, the superior court found that Sun did not have an objectively reasonable belief that he was married to Guo, and thus was not Guo’s putative spouse.

There are two main issues on appeal. The first is whether there was substantial evidence supporting the superior court’s finding that Sun did not have a good faith belief that the marriage was valid. We shall conclude that there was substantial evidence to support that finding.

The second issue is whether Sun can claim putative spouse status based on Guo’s alleged good faith belief in the validity of the marriage, even though Sun did not have…