FAM § 1101

3 years to sue for breach of fiduciary duty – FAM § 1101

FAM § 1101 allows a spouse to sue for breach of fiduciary duty within 3 years of actual knowledge. Remedies include 50% or 100% of undisclosed assets plus fees.

Official text FAM § 1101 — California
  • (a) A spouse has a claim against the other spouse for any breach of the fiduciary duty that results in impairment to the claimant spouse’s present undivided one-half interest in the community estate, including, but not limited to, a single transaction or a pattern or series of transactions, which transaction or transactions have caused or will cause a detrimental impact to the claimant spouse’s undivided one-half interest in the community estate.
  • (b) A court may order an accounting of the property and obligations of the parties to a marriage and may determine the rights of ownership in, the beneficial enjoyment of, or access to, community property, and the classification of all property of the parties to a marriage.
  • (c) A court may order that the name of a spouse shall be added to community property held in the name of the other spouse alone or that the title of community property held in some other title form shall be reformed to reflect its community character, except with respect to any of the following:
  • (1) A partnership interest held by the other spouse as a general partner.
  • (2) An interest in a professional corporation or professional association.
  • (3) An asset of an unincorporated business if the other spouse is the only spouse involved in operating and managing the business.
  • (4) Any other property, if the revision would adversely affect the rights of a third person.
  • (d) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any action under subdivision (a) shall be commenced within three years of the date a petitioning spouse had actual knowledge that the transaction or event for which the remedy is being sought occurred.
  • (2) An action may be commenced under this section upon the death of a spouse or in conjunction with an action for legal separation, dissolution of marriage, or nullity without regard to the time limitations set forth in paragraph (1).
  • (3) The defense of laches may be raised in any action brought under this section.
  • (4) Except as to actions authorized by paragraph (2), remedies under subdivision (a) apply only to transactions or events occurring on or after July 1, 1987.
  • (e) In any transaction affecting community property in which the consent of both spouses is required, the court may, upon the motion of a spouse, dispense with the requirement of the other spouse’s consent if both of the following requirements are met:
  • (1) The proposed transaction is in the best interest of the community.
  • (2) Consent has been arbitrarily refused or cannot be obtained due to the physical incapacity, mental incapacity, or prolonged absence of the nonconsenting spouse.
  • (f) Any action may be brought under this section without filing an action for dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or nullity, or may be brought in conjunction with the action or upon the death of a spouse.
  • (g) Remedies for breach of the fiduciary duty by one spouse, including those set out in Sections 721 and 1100, shall include, but not be limited to, an award to the other spouse of 50 percent, or an amount equal to 50 percent, of any asset undisclosed or transferred in breach of the fiduciary duty plus attorney’s fees and court costs. The value of the asset shall be determined to be its highest value at the date of the breach of the fiduciary duty, the date of the sale or disposition of the asset, or the date of the award by the court.
  • (h) Remedies for the breach of the fiduciary duty by one spouse, as set forth in Sections 721 and 1100, when the breach falls within the ambit of Section 3294 of the Civil Code shall include, but not be limited to, an award to the other spouse of 100 percent, or an amount equal to 100 percent, of any asset undisclosed or transferred in breach of the fiduciary duty.

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

Section 1101 turns the fiduciary duty spouses owe each other over community property into something enforceable. Subdivision (a) gives a spouse a claim against the other for any breach of the fiduciary duty that results in impairment to the claimant's present undivided one-half interest in the community estate, whether the breach was a single transaction or a pattern or series of them.

The court's tools are broad. Subdivision (b) allows an accounting of the property and obligations, and a determination of ownership, beneficial enjoyment, access and classification of all property. Subdivision (c) allows the court to add a spouse's name to community property held in the other's name alone, or to reform the title to reflect its community character, with exceptions for a general partnership interest, an interest in a professional corporation or association, an asset of an unincorporated business the other spouse alone operates, and any property where the change would adversely affect a third party.

The remedies are where the section bites. Subdivision (g) provides that remedies for breach include an award to the other spouse of 50 percent, or an amount equal to 50 percent, of any asset undisclosed or transferred in breach of the fiduciary duty, plus attorney's fees and court costs — valued at the asset's highest value at the date of the breach, the date of disposition, or the date of the award. Subdivision (h) raises that to 100 percent where the breach falls within Civil Code § 3294, the punitive damages provision, which covers oppression, fraud or malice. Timing is set by subdivision (d): three years from actual knowledge of the transaction or event, except that an action may be brought on a spouse's death or with a dissolution, legal separation or nullity proceeding without regard to that limit, with laches available as a defence. Subdivision (f) allows the action without filing for dissolution at all. These are technical claims with severe consequences, and they belong with a family lawyer.

When it applies

  • A spouse who moved community money without telling the other
  • An asset discovered after the divorce that was never disclosed
  • A community business transferred or sold quietly
  • Gambling, gifts or spending on a third party from community funds
  • A spouse refusing to account for what happened to a joint account
  • Community property held in one name that should reflect both

What this section does not say

  • It is not a claim about bad decisions. The section addresses breach of the fiduciary duty impairing the other spouse's half interest, not investments that turned out badly.
  • It does not require a divorce. Subdivision (f) allows the action to be brought without filing for dissolution, legal separation or nullity, or on the death of a spouse.
  • The 100 percent remedy is not the default. Subdivision (h) applies where the breach falls within Civil Code § 3294 — oppression, fraud or malice — and subdivision (g) otherwise gives 50 percent.
  • It is not open indefinitely. Subdivision (d) sets three years from actual knowledge for the ordinary case, and laches may be raised in any action under the section.
  • It does not reach separate property. The claim is about impairment of the claimant's one-half interest in the community estate.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

During a separation one spouse discovers that a substantial sum has been moved out of a joint account into an account they had never heard of.

How the wording applies

Section 1101 gives a claim for breach of the fiduciary duty where it impairs the claimant's undivided one-half interest in the community estate. The fact this turns on is what happened to the money rather than the transfer itself: funds moved but still accounted for are a different case from funds spent, and subdivision (h) gives 100 per cent of the asset where the breach involves oppression, fraud or malice, against 50 per cent under subdivision (g).

How the parties settled it

The funds are returned to a joint account requiring both signatures pending the division, a full account of the movements is provided, and both agree the division proceeds on the restored figure.

Illustrative example

Years after a divorce, one former spouse learns of an interest in a business that was never disclosed during the proceedings.

How the wording applies

Subdivision (f) allows the action without a pending dissolution, and subdivision (d) sets three years from actual knowledge of the breach for the ordinary case, with laches available in any action under the section. It hinges on the date of actual knowledge rather than the date of the concealment, and on whether the interest was community property at all.

How the parties settled it

The undisclosed interest is valued by a jointly instructed expert and an equalising payment is made over an agreed period, with both signing a full and final release covering the marriage.

How courts have read it

Decisions construing this provision. The question and the summary are ours; the quoted sentence is the court's own words, taken from the published opinion. These are the decisions in our corpus, not every decision there is, and nothing here predicts any other case. Reported 1991 to 2017.

Patrick v. Alacer Corp., 201 Cal. App. 4th 1326 (2011)

Court of Appeal

What the court had to decide

What limitations period applies to a declaratory relief cause of action brought under Family Code section 1101, subdivision (b) after the death of a spouse?

What it held

No limitations period applies to claims brought under section 1101, subdivision (b) after the death of a spouse; only laches may bar such claims.

In the court's words
Thus, no limitations period applies to claims brought pursuant to section 1101, subdivision (b), except for laches, when the marriage ends through litigation or death.

Fossum v. Fossum, 192 Cal. App. 4th 336 (2011)

Court of Appeal

What the court had to decide

Whether section 1101, subdivision (g) mandates an award of attorney fees or gives the trial court discretion to deny them.

What it held

Section 1101, subdivision (g) mandates an award of attorney fees when a fiduciary duty is breached; the trial court has no discretion to deny them.

In the court's words
The language of section 1101, subdivision (g) is unambiguous and mandatory.

Walker v. Walker, 138 Cal. App. 4th 1408 (2006)

Court of Appeal

What the court had to decide

Whether a spouse can be held liable under Family Code section 1101 for breaching a fiduciary duty by withdrawing funds from an IRA that the trial court found to be community property.

What it held

The court held that the trial court properly applied Family Code section 1101(g) to award Husband $71,066 for Wife's breach of fiduciary duty, rejecting Wife's argument that the funds were separate property and thus not subject to such a remedy.

In the court's words
Pursuant to Family Code section 1101, subdivision (g) it awarded Husband $71,066, the sum of Wife’s withdrawals from the Morgan Stanley IRA and the tax penalties.

Rossi v. Rossi, 90 Cal. App. 4th 34 (2001)

Court of Appeal

What the court had to decide

Does Family Code § 1101(h) mandate an award of 100% of a concealed community asset when the breaching spouse acted with fraud, oppression, or malice, and are there any exceptions for unclean hands or domestic abuse?

What it held

The court held that § 1101(h) mandates an award of 100% of the concealed asset when the breach involves fraud, oppression, or malice under Civil Code § 3294, and no exception exists for unclean hands or claims of domestic abuse.

In the court's words
The statute provides that, where a spouse conceals assets under circumstances satisfying the criteria for punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294, a penalty representing 100 percent of the concealed asset is warranted.

Palmer v. Hokanson, 68 Cal. App. 4th 987 (1998)

Court of Appeal

What the court had to decide

Whether attorney fees are mandatory under Family Code section 1101, subdivision (g) when a spouse breaches a fiduciary duty without fraud, malice, or oppression.

What it held

The court held that the language of Family Code section 1101, subdivision (g) is unambiguous and mandatory, requiring an award of attorney fees and court costs when a spouse breaches a fiduciary duty, regardless of the absence of fraud, malice, or oppression.

In the court's words
the language of Family Code section 1101, subdivision (g) is unambiguous and mandatory.

Source: Caselaw Access Project, CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication).

Related sections

FAM § 1102 Both spouses must sign to sell or mortgage: FAM § 1102 FAM § 760 Property acquired during marriage is community (FAM § 760) FAM § 2550 Equal division of community estate – FAM § 2550 FAM § 770 Inheritance is separate property under FAM § 770

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of FAM § 1101 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in California.

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