Pinder v. Pinder CA1/1

Filed 9/9/15 Pinder v. Pinder CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

ROBERT F. PINDER III, Petitioner and Respondent, V. A143028 BARBARA A. PINDER, (Marin County Respondent and Appellant. Super. Ct. No. FL001885)

Appellant Barbara A. Pinder, appearing in propria persona, appeals from a trial court order dividing a marital asset and imposing upon her an attorney-fee sanction in the amount of $15,000 under Family Code section 271.1 We affirm. BACKGROUND Barbara’s former husband, respondent Robert F. Pinder III, filed a petition for dissolution of marriage in April 2000. Two years later, the trial court entered judgment dissolving the marriage but reserved issues of property distribution. The trial court later set December 31, 1999, as the date of the parties’ separation for purposes of dividing assets, and it divided all marital assets, except one. The one exception was a membership interest in the San Francisco Bar Pilots Benevolent and Protective Association (the Bar Pilots’ Association). The court reserved jurisdiction over this asset, ruling that “the

1 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Family Code. For clarity and ease of reference, we shall refer to the parties by first name with no disrespect intended.

1

community interest in which shall be divided equally upon liquidation. If, by the time of liquidation, Wife can successfully trace a separate property contribution, she shall be reimbursed such sum prior to the distribution of the community interest.” In October 2013, Barbara requested a division of the membership interest, claiming it had a value of $405,266. She stated she was entitled to $25,000 as a separate- property contribution to the asset and one-half the remainder, or $190,133. The matter was set for a hearing on May 21, 2014. In a pretrial brief, Robert claimed he paid $150,000 in March 1997 to join the Bar Pilots’ Association (the buy-in) and was issued a membership certificate the following month. He stated that the buy-in was financed with funds borrowed from Barbara’s mother, and those funds were repaid from the parties’ joint bank account. By December 31, 1999—the date the trial court established as the date of the parties’ separation—the value of the membership had increased to either $157,000 or $196,250. In October 2013, Robert separated from the Bar Pilots’ Association on a disability/retirement basis, which triggered a buy-out of the membership. Two months later, he received $416,603 for the membership and placed the funds in a trust account for division by the court. At the May 21 hearing, the court received evidence on whether the funds from the buy-out were community or separate property, or a combination of both. Several facts were undisputed: The membership was purchased on April 1, 1997, for $150,000; the membership was paid for with a check or cashier’s check drawn from the parties’ joint bank account; the parties borrowed $150,000 on April 1, 1997, from Barbara’s mother and deposited the money in their joint bank account; the parties later repaid Barbara’s mother from their joint account; the value of the membership at the date of separation was $157,000; the amount of the buy-out was $416,603; and Barbara lacked documentary evidence to support her separate-property claim. Barbara appeared without representation at the May 21 hearing and did not testify under oath. During exchanges with the court, however, she asserted that she used $25,000 from an inheritance from her father, which was her separate property, to help