Rogers v. Rogers CA2/8

FACTS

Mack Ray Rogers2 established a trust on October 14, 1999. He died on February 10, 2012, and his wife, Kathee, became successor trustee upon his death. This appeal involves an acrimonious lawsuit3 between Rex, Mack’s son from a previous marriage, and Kathee regarding certain amendments made to Mack’s trust prior to his death. During the course of discovery, the trial court imposed a $6,583 monetary sanction against Rex for his failure to appear for a noticed deposition in his home state of Florida. The events leading up to the sanction are lengthy, involving many letters between the attorneys for the parties about the deposition as well as other discovery disputes. As a result, we only provide a summary of the relevant events below. Beginning in September 2013, Kathee’s attorney, D. Scott Doonan, attempted to meet and confer with Rex’s attorney, Noah Green, to set a date for Rex’s deposition.

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1, subdivision (a)(12), an appeal may be taken from an order directing payment of monetary sanctions by a party or an attorney for a party if the amount exceeds $5,000. All further section references are to the Code of Civil Procedure…