See v. See

TRAYNOR, C. J. -Plaintiff Laurance A. See and cross-complainant Elizabeth Lee See appeal from an interlocutory judgment that grants each a divorce. Laurance attacks the finding that he was guilty of extreme cruelty, the granting of a divorce to Elizabeth, and the award to her of permanent alimony of $5,400 per month. Elizabeth attacks the finding that there was no community property at the time of the divorce. Neither party contests the provisions regarding custody and support of the three minor children.

The parties were married on October 17, 1941, and they separated about May 10, 1962. Throughout the marriage they were residents of California, and Laurance was employed by a family-controlled corporation, See’s Candies, Inc. For most of that period he also served as president of its wholly-owned subsidiary, See’s Candy Shops, Inc. In the twenty-one years of the marriage he received more than $1,000,000 in salaries from the two corporations.

The trial court did not err in finding that plaintiff’s actions constituted extreme cruelty. That finding was made upon consideration of all the circumstances of the case in light of the “intelligence, refinement, and delicacy of sentiment of the complaining party” (Nunes v. Nunes, 62 Cal.2d 33, 36 [41 Cal.Rptr. 5, 396 P.2d 37]) and is supported by substantial [782]evidence. When repeated instances of offensive conduct are offered to establish cruelty, it is not necessary that each be corroborated. The determination of the sufficiency of corroborating evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court. (Id. at p. 37.)

Nor did the trial court abuse its discretion in awarding alimony to Elizabeth. Alimony may be awarded to either party even though a divorce is granted to both. (Mueller v. Mueller, 44 Cal.2d 527, 530 [282 P.2d 869]; DeBurgh v. DeBurgh, 39 Cal.2d 858, 874 [250 P.2d 598].) We do not reach plaintiff’s contention that the alimony award was excessive. Since that part of the judgment must be reversed for reasons that appear hereafter, the considerations that prompted the amount of the award may no longer be relevant.

Laurance had a personal account on the books of See’s Candies, Inc., denominated Account 13. Throughout the marriage his annual salary from See’s Candies, Inc., which was $60,000 at the time of the divorce, was credited to this account and many family expenses were paid by checks drawn on it. To maintain a credit balance in Account 13, Laurance from time to time transferred funds to it from an account at the Security First National Bank, hereafter called the Security Account.