Marriage of Elizabeth and Gregory G. CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

Family Code section 20301 allows a party to a marital dissolution action and related proceedings to request attorneys’ fees from the other party to ensure both parties have adequate funds to properly litigate the controversy. A party may make a request for attorneys’ fees under section 2030 at any time in the proceeding. In a prior appeal, In re Marriage of Elizabeth and Gregory G. (Mar. 17, 2014, B236719) [nonpub. opn.], Elizabeth G. challenged a restraining order issued by the family court that enjoined her from having any contact with her former husband, Gregory G., and her son for five years.2 We reversed that order and remanded for further proceedings. Elizabeth subsequently filed in the family court a request under Family Code section 2030 for attorneys’ fees incurred in the appeal and for attorneys’ fees incurred in the family court after the appeal. The court denied the request for appellate fees as untimely because the court concluded “the appeal is finished, i.e., it is no longer pending.” The court denied Elizabeth’s request for attorneys’ fees for post-appeal proceedings in the family court because the court found Elizabeth was not entitled to an award of…