Breen v. Black
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the district court's order finding Mother in contempt, holding that the district court abused its discretion in holding Mother in contempt for violations that had been remedied before the case was filed and in finding Mother in contempt when Father failed to meet his burden of proof.
The district court held Mother in contempt for mishandling accounts held for the parties' children and for failing to pay her share of the children's medical expenses. The court then awarded attorney's fees to Father and denied Mother's motion for sanctions. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding (1) the district court abused its discretion by finding Mother in contempt for mishandling one child's brokerage account and for failing to prove quarterly statements for four college accounts held for the children because the violations were remedied before the case was filed; (2) the record did not contain clear and convincing evidence that Mother violated the order requiring her to pay her share of uncovered medical bills; (3) there was no basis for an award of attorney's fees; and (4) the district court correctly denied Mother's motion for sanctions.
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.