Kalinawan v. Kalinawan (In re Kalinawan)
Kalinawan v. Kalinawan (In re Kalinawan)
Opinion of the Court
*1267Appellant Cesar Kalinawan challenges the trial court's order dismissing Cesar's request for a finding of nullity of marriage in respondent Minerva Kalinawan's action for a dissolution of marriage. He contends that the court erred in granting Minerva's in limine motion and dismissing his request based on its conclusion that he was estopped from challenging the validity of Minerva's divorce from her previous husband. We agree that the court erred and reverse its order.
I. Background
Gerry R. Brillantes married Minerva, who was a United States citizen, in January 1986 so that he could come to the United States from the Philippines. Minerva's sister, Victoria, who was Brillantes's ex-wife, was one of the witnesses to the 1986 marriage, which took place in the Philippines.
In April 1991, Brillantes filed a verified complaint in Nevada seeking the dissolution of his marriage to Minerva. He declared that he had been a "bona fide resident" of Nevada since January 1990 and had "the intent to make the State of Nevada his home, residence and domicile for an indefinite period of time." Victoria filed an affidavit in support of Brillantes's action in which she *1268declared that she was a Nevada resident and had personal knowledge that Brillantes had been a Nevada resident for "seven months...." Minerva, who was living in Seattle at the time, submitted to the Nevada court's jurisdiction. Brillantes was granted a Nevada "Decree of Divorce" in June 1991.
Minerva and Cesar married in August 1991. They had three children together, and they separated in November 2005. In February 2006, Minerva filed a petition for dissolution. Cesar filed a response in March 2006. In November 2006, Cesar filed a request to amend his response to seek a nullity of marriage. The parties agreed to a judge pro tem, and the judge pro tem ordered child support and spousal support in 2008. The judge pro tem terminated his services in 2012 without ever addressing Cesar's request to amend his response.
In May 2013, Cesar again filed a request to amend his response "to request a nullity of marriage." The trial court allowed him to amend his response, and the amended response was filed in July 2013. Cesar alleged that his marriage to Minerva was "void" because it was "bigamous." Minerva opposed his request and alternatively asked the court to treat her as a "putative spouse" if it found their marriage to be void. The nullity request was set for trial on December 17, 2013.
Cesar's position was that Brillantes had been residing in California when he obtained the Nevada divorce by falsely claiming to be a Nevada resident. Cesar's trial brief asserted that the issues to be resolved at the December 2013 trial on his nullity request were (1) whether California "must give full faith and credit" to the Nevada divorce decree; (2) whether "Minerva and Mr. Brillantes were ever bona fide residents of the State of Nevada"; and (3) whether Cesar "has standing to challenge *141the Decree of Divorce." He told the court that his witnesses would be himself, Minerva, Brillantes, and Victoria.
Minerva's trial brief included a motion in limine asking the court to "dismiss Respondent's request for nullity" on the ground that "a spouse is estopped and has no standing to make a third party challenge to their spouse's prior divorce when they relied on the same in entering into marriage with that spouse." She claimed that the court could resolve this issue on a motion in limine because Cesar "has no standing and no valid cause of action" for nullity of marriage.
At the commencement of the December 2013 hearing, Minerva renewed her request that the court dismiss Cesar's action for nullity "because there is *1269no valid cause of action." She claimed that "Dietrich
The only witness who testified at the December hearing was Brillantes. He testified that he could not remember any details about the Nevada divorce "because it was 22 years ago." What he could remember was that he "went to Reno by her father's convincing that I have to divorce Minerva so they can marry." He also testified: "Cesar Kalinawan's dad told me to get a divorce because he wanted his son to marry Minerva." "He was the one who-I didn't know about the divorces in Nevada. He was the one who told me." Brillantes testified that Minerva, who was living in Seattle at that time, had no involvement in procuring the divorce. Brillantes insisted that he had resided in Nevada from early April 1991 through late July 1991. He left Nevada in late July 1991 and returned to California because he "could not find a job." At the end of the December 2013 hearing, Brillantes was excused, the court continued the matter to March 4, 2014, and Victoria was ordered to appear at the continued hearing.
In February 2014, the court granted Minerva's motion in limine and denied Cesar's request for nullity on the ground that Cesar was estopped from challenging the validity of the Nevada divorce decree. The court rejected Minerva's claim that Cesar lacked "standing," but it agreed with her contention that he should be estopped from challenging the decree. The court premised its order exclusively on the following undisputed facts: "Respondent chose to marry Petitioner knowing that she had been previously married to Brillantes, and in reliance on her assertion that her divorce from Brillantes was final. For the next 14 years, Respondent chose not to investigate the circumstances of Petitioner's divorce from Brillantes. Instead, he chose to live with Petitioner as her husband and raise three children with her. Respondent's conduct in this regard establishes that he accepted the benefits of his purported marriage to Petitioner. As a result of his own conduct, Respondent is estopped from attacking the validity of *142Petitioner's divorce from Brillantes."
Cesar claims that the trial court erred in finding that he was estopped from challenging the validity of the 1991 Nevada divorce decree.
Rediker was an appeal from a judgment annulling a marriage as bigamous. ( Rediker , supra , 35 Cal.2d at p. 798,
On appeal, the California Supreme Court found that the Cuban divorce decree was entitled to full faith and credit because the Cuban court had had jurisdiction over the defendant, who was indisputably domiciled in Cuba. ( Rediker , supra , 35 Cal.2d at p. 804,
Cesar maintains that Rediker has no application here because, unlike the defendant in Rediker , he did not procure or aid in procuring the Nevada *1271divorce decree. The facts of Rediker are indeed distinguishable. Nevertheless, we must consider whether the "doctrine of estoppel" upon which the court in Rediker relied may also apply to a defendant, like Cesar, who has not been shown to have had any role in procuring *143the allegedly invalid divorce decree.
The estoppel doctrine upon which the Rediker court relied, which is known as "quasi estoppel," " 'is based upon the principle that one cannot blow both hot and cold, or that one "with full knowledge of the facts shall not be permitted to act in a manner inconsistent with his former position or conduct to the injury of another." ' " ( Harlan v. Harlan (1945)
Quasi-estoppel applies where an individual previously took a position that the divorce was valid and subsequently takes the position that the divorce is invalid. We can find no support for extending quasi-estoppel to a person who was not a party to the divorce proceeding, did not procure or aid in procuring the divorce decree, and did not have full knowledge of the circumstances under which the divorce decree was obtained. Although there are numerous cases applying the doctrine of quasi-estoppel to a challenge to a divorce decree, none of them has applied this doctrine to a person in Cesar's position.
In Bruguiere v. Bruguiere (1916)
In Dietrich , the second husband was aware of all of the circumstances under which the wife had obtained a Nevada divorce decree from her first husband. The California Supreme Court, relying on Rediker , held that the second husband was estopped from challenging the validity of the Nevada divorce because "[w]ith full knowledge of the circumstances under which that divorce was obtained, and in reliance on such divorce, [the second husband] went through a marriage ceremony and lived with [the wife] as her husband *144for many years." ( Dietrich , supra , 41 Cal.2d at p. 505,
No California case that we are aware of has extended the quasi-estoppel doctrine to a person who was unaware of the circumstances under which a divorce decree was obtained, was not a party to the divorce proceedings, and did not procure or assist in procuring the divorce decree. (See e.g. Watson v. Watson (1952)
Since the undisputed facts upon which the trial court relied did not show that Cesar was a party to the Nevada divorce decree, that he had procured it, had assisted in procuring it, or had full knowledge of the circumstances under which it had been procured, the trial court erred in finding that the doctrine of quasi-estoppel applied to Cesar.
*1273Equitable Estoppel
We also agree with Cesar that the doctrine of equitable estoppel did not apply here under the undisputed facts relied upon by the trial court.
III. Disposition
The trial court's order granting Minerva's motion in limine and denying Cesar's *145request for nullity of marriage is reversed, and the matter is remanded with directions to vacate that order and to enter a new order denying Minerva's motion in limine. Cesar shall recover his costs on appeal.
WE CONCUR:
Elia, Acting P.J.
Bamattre-Manoukian, J.
Minerva expected to have the same witnesses with the exclusion of Victoria. The parties stipulated that the parties "can testify via offer of proof at the December 17, 2013 trial, subject to cross examination."
Dietrich v. Dietrich (1953)
Cesar does not dispute the facts upon which the trial court based its decision.
Although Cesar designated three deposition transcripts (those of Minerva, Victoria, and Brillantes) to be included in the clerk's transcript, none of those items were included because the clerk could not locate them. These deposition transcripts had been lodged with the trial court at the December hearing after the court refused to admit them into evidence. They were lodged so that they would be available to impeach witnesses.
Minerva has not filed a respondent's brief in this appeal.
The trial court also cited Harlan as support for its estoppel finding.
We express no opinion on the validity of the Nevada divorce decree, and we do not preclude Minerva from seeking to establish, after a full evidentiary hearing, that Cesar should be estopped or barred for some other reason from challenging the Nevada divorce decree. Our holding is limited to the undisputed factual basis underlying the court's in limine ruling.
" 'Equitable estoppel "focuses on the relationship between the parties," and is designed to protect litigants from injury caused by "less than scrupulous opponents." By contrast, judicial estoppel focuses on "the relationship between the litigant and the judicial system," and is designed "to protect the integrity of the judicial process." ' " (Jackson v. County of Los Angeles (1997)
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.