In Direct Capital Corporation v. Brooks, 2017 WL 3725649, at *1 (Cal.App. 3 Dist., 2017), the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s decision that “a debt incurred by an attorney-spouse for office computer equipment was for the necessaries of life for that particular marriage, in part because that spouse’s law practice generated community property income”. The facts were as follows:
In 2013, plaintiff Direct Capital Corporation (DCC) leased computer equipment to a since-disbarred Kansas attorney (Mary Brooks, with many aliases, hereafter Mary) who practiced immigration law in Stockton. After Mary did not pay, DCC sued her and obtained a judgment for nearly $40,000. DCC later moved to garnish the wages of her husband, attorney Grant Brooks (Grant). DCC alleged that when the debt was incurred, the marriage was intact, and the judgment thereon (grown to over $43,000 with interest) was a community obligation. At the hearing on DCC’s motion held on November 13, 2015, Grant’s attorney specially appeared and represented to the court that Grant had filed for divorce the day before, and claimed this deprived the trial court of “jurisdiction” to garnish Grant’s wages. The court continued the matter and directed Grant to file an opposition to DCC’s motion. Instead, Grant’s attorney purported to make a special appearance to dismiss the matter “for lack of jurisdiction,” again alleging Grant had filed for divorce on November 12, 2015. Grant also argued that because computers were not necessaries of life as used in section 914, his separate property wages were not subject to garnishment therefor. The court treated the dismissal request as an opposition to DCC’s motion, and DCC filed a reply, in part claiming the divorce was a sham to defraud creditors. After a hearing, the trial court found the debt was a community property obligation, and “there is evidence that the Computers were for necessities of life as it went to the wage earnings for the community.” The court denied the motion to dismiss, and issued a garnishment order.
The Court of Appeal held that:
Thus, while common necessaries are those that all families need (e.g., food, clothing, & shelter), what constitutes necessaries depends on the circumstances of the particular marriage. The “station in life” test applies if the debt was incurred pre–separation. … The station in life test looks to the marital standard and mode of living. Thus, in Wisnom, the court explained: “The plaintiff pleaded and proved that the services were necessaries of life for persons in the economic and social position of the defendants; that they were partly rendered while the husband and wife were living together, and partly after he had deserted her without cause and was not furnishing such necessaries for her. Under such facts the husband would be liable for the expenses of his household.” (Wisnom v. McCarthy (1920) 48 Cal.App. 697, 700, . . .One court that surveyed a number of cases concluded as follows: “Under the rule prevailing [in California], what is a necessary of life must depend largely on the circumstances of each case and the position of the family involved. What is or what is not a necessary, must, to a considerable extent, be committed to the sound discretion of the trier of fact. Under the facts of this case and the law as it exists in California we can see no abuse of discretion in the decision rendered by the trial judge in holding that the various items of expense involved here were for necessaries of life.” (Sanker v. Humborg (1941) 48 Cal.App.2d 205, 208 [in part upholding “music lessons for the children” as one of that particular family’s necessaries].) The trial court found Mary’s former law practice generated community income, and that computers were necessary to operate her law practice. To the extent that was a finding about the marital station in life, such finding is reviewed with at least some level of deference. (See Sanker v. Humborg, supra, 48 Cal.App.2d at p. 208 [abuse of discretion standard applied]; cf. Schwartzman v. Wilshinsky (1996) 50 Cal.App.4th 619, 626 [denial of claim of exemption reviewed for substantial evidence]; see Series AGI West Linn of Appian Group Investors DE, LLC v. Eves (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 156, 163 [same].) A modern law practice entails a lot of paperwork, which commonly includes computerized forms. Frankly, it is difficult to imagine a reasonable attorney beginning or maintaining a California law practice without a computer. But it is not our call to make in the first instance: The trial court judge, who was in the best position to determine the needs of a law office in her own county, found in this case that Mary’s specific law office needed computers. We will not disturb that finding. . .Grant argues: “Long before computers were invented, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals were able to run their practice and support their families without using a computer. Even at the present date, computers in a law practice are convenient but not required to stay in business. They are not a necessary of life.” That view both ignores the thrust of cases emphasizing the distinction between necessaries and common necessaries as used in the statute, as we have explained, and also gives no deference to the trial court’s ability to determine what is necessary for a particular marriage. Later, Grant faults the trial court for reasoning that because the computers aided Mary’s law firm, they contributed to the marriage’s finances. However, we think that was an appropriate factor to consider. The marital station in life included the operation of Mary’s law practice, and as explained, whether that required computers was a matter within the trial court’s bailiwick to decide in the first instance. . . In short, Grant’s argument conflates common necessaries with necessaries, as does DCC’s briefing at times. Because Grant does not claim he was separated from Mary at the time the debt was incurred, DCC only had the burden to show that necessaries were provided, a much broader–and more fact specific–category than common necessaries, as we have explained. Accordingly, because the trial court’s finding that computers were necessary for the operation of Mary’s law practice (which contributed to the marital fisc) is supported by the record, the trial court properly granted DCC’s motion to garnish Grant’s wages.