Marriage of Valkova CA2/3

INTRODUCTION

Vlado Valkov1 appeals from the final judgment in this heavily litigated marital dissolution action. Vlado challenges the trial court’s denials of his repeated requests for a trial continuance, the court’s refusal to enforce a stipulated settlement between him and his former wife, Ana Valkova, and the court’s imposition of approximately $85,000 in monetary sanctions against him under Family Code 2 section 271 due to his conduct during the litigation. We conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Vlado’s requests for a trial continuance because Vlado failed to demonstrate good cause for a continuance. Specifically, when Vlado asked to continue the trial in order to reopen discovery, he did not explain why the materials he sought to discover were unavailable prior to the discovery cut-off date. And when Vlado repeatedly requested to continue the trial due to mental health concerns, he failed to provide any medical evidence supporting his contention that he was unable to attend the trial. Regarding the stipulated settlement, the court reasonably exercised its equitable authority to set that agreement aside, particularly in light of the extremely…