Charney v. Charney
Annotate this CaseJudy and Dennis Charney were divorced in March 2012. In May, Dennis commenced proceedings against Judy alleging multiple counts of contempt for allegedly violating provisions of the property settlement agreement, which was incorporated into the divorce judgment. Judy denied the allegations and the matter was set for an evidentiary hearing to commence on April 11, 2013. On March 28, 2013, Dennis filed a motion to dismiss the contempt proceedings, which was heard April 9, 2013. The magistrate court asked Judy's attorney whether there was any objection to the motion, and he stated that there was not, but it should be dismissed with prejudice. The court stated that the dismissal would be without prejudice unless the parties agreed that it was with prejudice. Dennis's attorney stated that he did not anticipate the contempt proceedings being refiled, but did not have the authority to agree to a dismissal with prejudice. The court then stated that the dismissal would be without prejudice. The court entered an order dismissing the contempt proceedings the following day. Several days later, Judy moved for attorney fees and costs. Dennis objected, and the matter was argued in July. The magistrate court entered a judgment finding that Judy was the prevailing party in the contempt proceedings and awarded her attorney fees. Dennis challenged the award of attorney fees. The district court ultimately affirmed the award of attorney fees. Approximately two years after Dennis first brought proceedings against Judy, he appealed the affirmance of fees to the Supreme Court. Finding no abuse of discretion in the award of fees, the Supreme Court affirmed.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.