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Keywords

appealtrialdivorceobjectioncivil procedure
appealtrialwillobjectioncivil procedure

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In re Marriage of Arceneaux, 51 Cal.3d 1130, 800 P.2d 1227, 275 Cal.Rptr. 797

Facts

In a dissolution action, the trial court orally announced its intended decision on January 28, 1986. The husband filed a request for a statement of decision shortly thereafter, and the court ordered the wife to prepare it. The wife served a proposed statement, which the court signed after modifications. The husband did not object to either the proposed or final statement, nor did he move for a new trial or to vacate the judgment. On appeal, he claimed the statement was deficient in addressing certain issues.

Husband failed to object to either the proposed statement or the final statement, nor did he move for a new trial (Code Civ.Proc., § 657) or move to vacate the judgment (§ 663).

Issue

Does a litigant who fails to bring to the attention of the trial court alleged deficiencies in the court's statement of decision waive the right to complain of such errors on appeal, thereby allowing the appellate court to make implied findings in favor of the prevailing party?

Does a litigant who fails to bring to the attention of the trial court alleged deficiencies in the court's statement of decision waive the right to complain of such errors on appeal, thereby allowing the appellate court to make implied findings in favor of the prevailing party?

Rule

A waiver occurs when a party does not bring deficiencies in a statement of decision to the trial court's attention, allowing the appellate court to imply findings in favor of the prevailing party, as per section 634 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

A waiver occurs in these circumstances pursuant to section 634 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and therefore affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

Analysis

The court applied the rule by emphasizing that the husband did not fulfill the requirement of section 634, which mandates that any claimed deficiencies in the statement of decision must be brought to the trial court's attention. The husband only requested a statement of decision but failed to object to the final statement, leading the appellate court to infer that the trial court had decided in favor of the wife on any unaddressed issues.

The clear implication of this provision, of course, is that if a party does not bring such deficiencies to the trial court's attention, he waives his right to claim on appeal that the statement was deficient in these regards, and hence the appellate court will imply findings to support the judgment.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, concluding that the husband waived his right to challenge the statement of decision by not raising his objections at the trial level.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal is affirmed.

Who won?

Wife

Thus, the Court of Appeal refused to entertain these objections on the ground that husband had waived his reliance on the alleged deficiencies on appeal because he had not brought them to the attention of the trial court.

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