Deluca v. Deluca (In re Deluca)
| Decision Date | 13 February 2020 |
| Docket Number | D071379 |
| Citation | 45 Cal.App.5th 184,258 Cal.Rptr.3d 517 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | IN RE the MARRIAGE OF Rosalinda and George DELUCA. Rosalinda Deluca, Appellant, v. George Deluca, Appellant. |
Certified for Partial Publication.*
Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, John Morris and Rachel E. Moffitt, San Diego, for Appellant Rosalinda Deluca.
Stephen W. Hogan for Appellant George Deluca.
In this marital dissolution action between Rosalinda Deluca and George Deluca, both parties appeal from a judgment determining the division of property and other matters, including spousal support.1 During the marriage, George's sister transferred to him title to an apartment complex referred to in this case as the "Florida Street property" or simply "Florida Street." Rosalinda contends the trial court erred in ruling the Florida Street property was George's separate property rather than community property. George has custody of the parties' two children and contends the court erred by awarding Rosalinda spousal support in an amount greater than his total net income available to support the children. Specifically, he asserts the court erred by including the amount of monthly loan principal payments he is required to make on his income-producing properties as income available for spousal support.
In the unpublished portion of this opinion we reverse that part of the judgment awarding the Florida Street property to George as his separate property and remand with directions to determine the amount of reimbursement credit to which George is entitled for Florida Street, as well as to consider George's new contention that he should be awarded a fractional separate property interest in the property. In the published portion of this opinion we also reverse the spousal support award and direct the trial court to reconsider the amount of support after determining the extent to which George's loan principal payments reasonably and legitimately reduce his income for purposes of support. We otherwise affirm the judgment.
George and Rosalinda were married on September 7, 1996, and separated 15 years and two months later, on November 21, 2011. They had two children during the marriage—one born in 1998, and the other in 2003. At the time judgment was entered, George had sole physical custody of the children.2
Before and during the marriage, George owned and operated an insurance agency. He also owned and managed several income-producing rental properties that the court found to be his separate property. Rosalinda has a bachelor's degree in political science and a paralegal certificate. She worked as a legal secretary for over 26 years, including throughout the marriage.
Before George's father died in 1990, he acquired multiple parcels of real property that he held in various trusts, including the Deluca Properties Trust that contained the Florida Street property. George, his brother Sylvester, and his sister Rosalie were the beneficiaries of the Deluca Properties Trust. After their father's death, disputes over his trusts led to four and one-half years of litigation between George and his siblings.
On October 25, 1996, just after George married Rosalinda, the three siblings entered into a written agreement (the settlement agreement) to resolve their litigation over the family properties. The settlement agreement noted the existence of "claims, demands and differences" between the parties relating to the ownership and management of the subject properties and the administration of the Deluca Properties Trust, and stated the parties had "settled all of these claims, demands, differences and disputes ...."
Under the settlement agreement, George received title to three properties: (1) a commercial property in Santee (referred to as the Santee property); (2) a commercial property in Encinitas (referred to as the Encinitas property); and (3) a commercial property on Orange Avenue in San Diego (referred to as the Orange property). Rosalie received title to the Florida Street property and a promissory note from George in the amount of $75,000. The note was to be secured by a first priority deed of trust encumbering the Orange property. Sylvester agreed to forgive an outstanding debt Rosalie owed him in the amount of $32,000. Sylvester received title to a property on West Palm Street in San Diego and a promissory note from George in the amount of $250,000. The note was to be secured by a third priority deed of trust encumbering both the Santee property and the Encinitas property.
The settlement agreement provided that "[i]n exchange for receiving the Santee, Encinitas and Orange Properties, GEORGE relinquishes his right to receive or claim an interest in any of the assets of the [Deluca Properties] Trust, and expressly agrees that he is no longer a beneficiary of the Trust," and that "all assets of the Trust belong solely to ROSALIE and SYLVESTER ...." The settlement agreement also provided: "This agreement may be amended only by a written agreement executed by all the Parties."
At trial, George testified that Rosalie never wanted the Florida Street property. So in September 1997, roughly one year after the original settlement agreement, George and Rosalie signed another agreement under which Rosalie transferred title to the Florida Street property to George. This second agreement, labeled "AMENDMENT TO SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND MUTUAL RELEASE," states that it amends
The "amendment" to the settlement agreement provided that Rosalie would transfer Florida Street to George by grant deed, and George would execute a promissory note to Rosalie in the amount of $164,700, secured by the property. George would "have the option to assume the first deed of trust on [the] property, in the approximate amount of $235,300 or continue making the monthly payments on [the] first deed of trust." George would also pay $20,000 in cash to Rosalie at the close of escrow. Thus, what George referred to at trial as the "transfer price" of Florida Street was $420,000 ($164,700 + $235,300 + $20,000), which was the value of the property when it was appraised in 1995, in connection with the original settlement agreement.
The amendment to the settlement agreement stated: "It is expressly agreed between the Parties that this exchange and transfer of ownership to the Florida Street property is an extension of and modification of the Parties' original settlement agreement ..., and the Parties' express intent herein is to redistribute trust assets." It also stated: "Except as expressly stated herein, all other terms and provisions of the original settlement agreement remain in full force and effect, without modification or change." George and Rosalie signed the amendment; Sylvester did not sign it.
At trial, George testified that he had many conversations with Rosalinda about the Deluca properties and that as He also testified that he provided Rosalinda a copy of the trust that was the subject of the litigation.
George testified that he told Rosalinda his sister was transferring Florida Street to him and the property was his inheritance. He explained that Florida Street had been part of his family trust, his parents had built the apartment building on the property, and it was to remain his separate property. He gave Rosalinda a copy of the amendment to the settlement agreement before the close of escrow on Rosalie's transfer of Florida Street to him, and he discussed the terms of the amendment with her. When asked if Rosalinda "[made] any reply" to him about the terms of the amendment, George testified, "She thought it was good."
At George's request in January 1998, Rosalinda signed a quitclaim deed transferring any interest she had in the Florida Street property to George as his sole and separate property. When George refinanced the property in 2002, Rosalinda signed a "SPOUSAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT" document stating that she claimed no ownership rights in Florida Street.
Rosalinda testified at trial that when she and George were dating, he told her that he was involved in litigation with his brother regarding the "trust for his inheritance," but he did not tell her any details about his claims. He never provided her with a copy of any of the family trusts, and he never discussed the details of the terms of the settlement agreement between him and his siblings or the amendment to the settlement agreement before or during the marriage. The first time she saw the settlement agreement and the amendment to the settlement agreement was during the divorce proceedings, and George did not tell her anything about terms of the amendment to the settlement agreement when he asked her to sign the quitclaim deed to the Florida Street property. He told her that Florida Street was part of his inheritance and his sister was going to transfer it to him because she was unable to manage the apartments. He explained that his lender needed the quitclaim deed "to get everything through." Rosalinda did not seek legal advice before signing the quitclaim deed because she trusted her husband and "just signed it."
Rosalinda's counsel argued at trial that the Florida Street property should be...
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