Fernandes v. Fernandes is an unpublished September 2007 opinion from the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Mr. Fernandes retained me after obtaining a disappointing result from his divorce trial.
We appealed twelve issues and only prevailed on two. We convinced the Court of Appeals that the family court had misvalued a vehicle it awarded Mr. Fernandes, which his wife had kept during the litigation, when it valued it at the $9,000.00 value it had at the time of separation rather than the $4,000.00 value it had at the time of trial. We were unsuccessful in convincing the Court of Appeals that the family court erred in not awarding his wife this vehicle or not crediting her with the $5,000.00 depreciation in the vehicle during the litigation period.
We also convinced the Court of Appeals that the family court erred in treating a Navy Federal Credit Union Account as marital property rather than Mr. Fernandes’ separate property.
By prevailing on these two issues, we increased Mr. Fernandes’ equitable distribution award by $34,408.73.
Don’t forget the “why” questions
I’ve recently been preparing for a number of custody trials while also working on a number of appeals I’ve inherited from trial counsel.
Do you prefer pop quizzes or open book exams?
A sizable minority of my clients still prefer the telephone over email to get their questions answered. I certainly understand the desire of
In contested custody litigation, there’s no downside to kindness
One of the quickest, easiest, and most effective “fixes” I can counsel my clients to do in contested custody litigation is to be
