In a happy Christmas gift for their client, CALG’s Robert Roth and Charles Kagay have just won a reversal in the First District of the California Court of Appeal. Arising out of a financially complicated divorce proceeding in a family law case, the appeal sought to recharacterize certain property that the trial court deemed belonging to the community as separate. The appellate court agreed with CALG’s arguments, holding the trial court erred in finding the client did not have any separate property interest in a valuable warehouse property near San Francisco. The decision will award CALG’s client a pro rata share of more than 10 years of appreciation on the property.

The decision in Schloss v. Schloss is available here.

This is the second recent reversal for Robert and Charles in a California family law appeal. Earlier this year, the California Court of Appeal’s Second District handed them a reversal on substantial evidence grounds of a trial court ruling that had denied CALG’s client a separate property interest in three real properties and a retirement account. The trial court had concluded the complicated tracing proffered was inadequate; CALG persuaded the Court of Appeal that it was not. The ruling will lead to a significant windfall for CALG’s client.

The decision in Elliott v. Elliott is available here.