Marriage of Donohoe & Zaorski CA6

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Parties’ Divorce and the MSA The parties married in 1987. In 2008, they separated, and Donohoe petitioned for dissolution of their marriage. At that time, Zaorski was CEO of Sequoia Retail Systems, Inc. (Sequoia), a company he started in the mid-1980’s. Donohoe worked for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. The parties entered into an MSA. In November 2009, the superior court entered a judgment of dissolution incorporating that MSA. The MSA awarded Donohoe her CalPERS pension as her sole and separate property and awarded Zaorski all Sequoia stock and stock options as his sole and separate property. The MSA also provided that, under certain circumstances, Zaorski would pay Donohoe an equalizing payment. Specifically, paragraph 13 of the MSA stated, in relevant part: “To equalize the allocation of community assets and debts, and in settlement of all claims between them, the Court will reserve jurisdiction over the issue of an equalizing payment by Respondent to Petitioner in the event of Respondent’s disposition or exchange of [Sequoia] stock shares and options. If between the date of Judgment and November 30, 2019, Respondent or his…