Family Court Judges Order Sale of Family Homes to Pay Divorce Attorney Fees
Santa Clara County Divorce attorney Nicole Myers Seeks $40,000 in Sanctions against self- represented mother, Julia Minkowski (photo), for Interview on private judging at Family Courthouse in 2021 -Photo by Susan Bassi4304
By Susan Bassi and Fred Johnson
Over the past two decades, as California’s real estate values have soared, family court records indicate an escalation of court ordered home sales related to the state’s divorce cases. Properties with substantial equity subject to division during a divorce have seemingly become a new source of income for attorneys who collect that income in the form of discovery sanctions, fines and fee awards following protected litigation.
Recently, California passed a new law, SB 235, which increases the amount that a party in a small claims or unlawful detainer case must pay if they, or their attorney, fail to comply with discovery laws and procedures. Under the new law, courts will be able to charge up to $1,000 to a litigant who fails to provide required information, or discovery, during a small claims or unlawful detainer case. An amount up dramatically from the previous limit of $250.
Small claims court cases prohibit litigants from being represented by attorneys. Litigants must represent themselves and may not seek more than $10,000 in the action. Therefore, discovery sanctions could cost as little as 10% of a prevailing lawsuit award. Conversely, in cases seeking smaller awards, the new law could cost litigants a significant percentage of a prevailing award. For example, if a homeowner suing a contractor in small claims court for a breached agreement valued at $2,000 fails to comply with a discovery request, they could lose 50% of the court-awarded amount under the new law.
In divorce cases, spouses may hire attorneys if they have access to their own funds or qualify for loans to pay for legal representation. For those who can’t afford an attorney in a divorce, judges require self-represented parties to have sufficient legal knowledge to address various issues at the center of a divorce, including the handling of discovery, division of community property, spousal support, child support, custody, taxes and issues related to real estate assets and liabilities.
California is a “no fault state”, meaning irrespective of the underlying reasons for a divorce, it is against public policy, and law, for a family court to allow for the unequitable division of community property estates. Furthermore, divorce proceedings are not intended to be adversarial, which they quickly become when one spouse has a lawyer, and the other can’t afford one. Family Code sections 2030 and 2032 provide judges with the tools to assure fairness when it comes to legal representation during a divorce proceeding.
Despite the increase in home equity, and value of community property estates subject to division during divorce cases, the number of self-represented litigants in family law cases has continued to rise, accounting for an estimated 50% to 80% of all family law litigants. An imbalance in legal representation can result in significant sanctions, fines, and fees, further disadvantaging the spouse who could not afford an attorney from the outset of a case.
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon Yaron Hazani was subjected to a Domestic Violence Restraining Order, DVRO, after he refused to provide his former wife their “Ghet”, a Jewish Divorce Document. The order became permanent in 2023 after he refused to pay child support and the attorney fees he was ordered to pay her attorney. He was continually represented until 2023.
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon Who Threatened to Impoverish Wife In Divorce Lands Permanent Restraining Order
In a high-profile Los Angeles divorce case involving Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Yaron Hazani, equity in the family home was squandered during the divorce proceedings. The Hazani divorce case, filed in 2019, initially involved an agreement to sell the house with set payments Hazani agreed to make to his former wife.
Hazani, who was continually represented and had access to income amounting to over $97,000 a month, obtained his wife’s consent to sell the family home, in connection with an agreement to pay her $2,380 per month for spousal support and $4,897 for child support for the couple’s three young children. She was on Medi-Cal for most of the divorce proceedings as Hazani earned over a million dollars a year as a plastic surgeon. According to court documents, he had threatened to impoverish his wife. Consistent with coercive control, he seemingly used his attorneys and the divorce proceeding carry out his threat.
Early in the proceedings, Hazani’s wife, who had no access to funds nor income to pay requested attorneys fees and retainers, alleged her former husband had been physically abusive and had refused to provide her with a Jewish divorce document, or Ghet. The family court did not address these issues for nearly three years later, leading to the sale of the family home and ongoing support payment arrearages.
It wasn’t until 2022 that Judge Bruce Iwasaki found Hazani should be subjected to a Domestic Violence Restraining Order (DVRO) due to his actions. Hazani was issued a one-year restraining order, which did not prevent Hazani from continuing his work as a doctor which allowed him to continue to pay his attorneys, but not support to his children he had agreed to pay when obtaining his former wife’s consent to sell the family home.
However, in 2023, the DVRO was made permanent by Judge Steve Cochran after Hazani reportedly continued to stalk his former spouse and failed to comply with court orders related to support and payment of fees for attorneys. For the first time since 2019, Hazani was representing himself when the permanent restraining order was issued. A permanent restraining order will preclude Hazani from practicing medicine in the state of California.
Court documents indicate Hazani continues to owe his former wife over $178,000 in support arrearages which arises from agreements made when she agreed to sell the family home. It is doubtful she will collect those monies as Hazani will no longer be able to maintain his California medical license as he is the subject of a permanent restraining order.
Attorneys Fees Taken from Equity in Family Home Closely Tied to Private Judges
In Santa Clara, a similar pattern can be seen in the Minkowski divorce. Yuval Olivier Minkowski and his wife, Julia, had initially agreed to a “nesting” arrangement to minimize disruptions for their children during the divorce. When Yuval filed for divorce in late 2019, Julia immediately requested a waiver of court costs and fees due to her inability to pay or access community cash as Yuval controlled the community property. Despite being deemed too poor to pay her court fees, Julia was able to hire divorce attorney James Hahn in early 2020 after obtaining personal loans from family and friends to pay Hahn’s fees.
The Minkowski divorce case was assigned to Judge Cindy Hendrickson, who had previously worked in the Santa Clara County District attorney’s Office. A prosecutor working for the district attorney reportedly referred Yuval to Nicole Myers for legal representation in the Minkowski divorce. Yuval, who had access to substantial separate property and real estate assets during the divorce proceedings, hired Nicole Myers of the Myers Kennedy law offices to represent him during the divorce. Myers’ law partner, Stephen Kennedy, was known to have a close relationship with Judge Hendrickson based on the secret judge club the Vanguard exposed earlier this year in the ongoing Tainted Trials, Tarnished Headlines, Stolen Justice series.
After Myers became Yuval’s attorney, she assisted her client in filing a request for DVRO against Julia, which resulted in Julia being abruptly removed from the home the spouses had agreed to share through a nesting arrangement.
As court closures made access to the court difficult in 2020, Hahn and Myers suggested use of private judge, Michael Smith, to expedite the divorce, reduce litigation expenses and address dueling allegations of domestic violence. However, the costs charged to Juilia for Smith private judge fees prohibited her from continuing to pay Hahn’s fees. Shortly after private judge Smith was appointed in the case, Hahn withdrew from the case, leaving Juila to represent herself. Juila is now suing Hahn for malpractice.
After Vanguard reporters noted irregularities in the domestic violence orders and the use of private judge Michael Smith, a media request was made to assure proper reporting on the case. Smith immediately withdrew from the Minkowski divorce case upon the request being submitted. Since that time Myers has repeatedly sought court orders seeking to sanction Julia for speaking to the media about the case. Myers has supported her request by falsely alleging Juilia was responsible for Smith’s recusal such that she should be ordered to pay Myer’s attorneys fees in the amount of $40,000 as Julia is unable to pay an attorney herself.
Julia’s self-representation in her divorce has resulted in challenging legal outcomes and significant fees, including sanctions totaling over $38,000, largely due to alleged failures to comply with discovery requests or improper submissions to the court.
Without an attorney Juila was being compelled to represent herself during a trial on final property division. When that trial was set in conflict with her religious activities, Juila requested to have the trial continued pursuant to the First Amendment. Judge Hendrickson denied Juila’s requests as she has every other request Juila has made since the case was returned to public court following Michael Smith quitting the case.
When totaling the costs and expenses outlined in Myers’ legal pleadings, Julia is likely to receive less than 3% of her community property, primarily due to her forced self-representation, inability to pay court fees and costs, and the involvement of a private judge which she agreed to at the urging of her own attorney, James Hahn, and as pressured by Nicole Myers who sends a significant amount of high asset divorce cases to Smith as indicated in Smith’s disclosure information.
In addition to the legal costs and harm Julia faced representing herself in court, she also has been subjected to a domestic violence restraining order, which precludes her from discussing settlement with her former husband as she had routinely done prior to an employee in the District attorney’s Office referring her former husband to Nicole Myers for representation in a divorce proceeding now entering its fifth year. A proceeding that appears will leave Juila without her rightful share of community property built over the course of a twenty-two-year marriage.
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