Rosendale v. Rosendale: Divorce case stretches to 12 years

ORANGE – Twelve years would be a long stint in prison or a coma.

Welcome to Rosendale v. Rosendale, a court battle local lawyers describe as one of the longest-ever divorce cases in Orange County.

No fewer than six lawyers have been employed over the years by the two litigants, Warren Rosendale, now 79, and his perpetually ex-wife, Carol Rosendale, now 74. A half-dozen judges have heard the case.

The fight has frayed emotions to the edge of numbness and changed the rules for prenuptial agreements. The battle, of course, has sucked away money. Legal fees easily have exceeded $100,000, and that doesn’t include court costs.

But this divorce has eaten up time, too, and, with it, the lives of the people involved.

At a hearing in Orange in late August, a look of disgust crossed Warren Rosendale’s face as he walked out of the courtroom of a family-law judge, a venue he has visited countless times over the past 12 1/2 years.

Carol Rosendale, who lives in Newport Beach, had just fired her attorney – again. And Judge Clay Smith agreed to carry over the next hearing (until Oct. 17) – again. To date, the case has nearly 450 register of actions on file.

As Warren Rosendale, who now lives in Austin, Texas, stood in the hot sun and conferred with his longtime attorney, Michael Michel, he grimaced at the sight of an approaching reporter.

After several minutes of off-the-record chatter, Warren Rosendale took a simple question: Though he and his ex-wife continue to battle in court, their marriage was dissolved, formally, on June 1, 2001, meaning he’s been eligible to remarry ever since. Has he?

The question left him dumbfounded.

“Hell no!”

‘FOR RICHER …’

Hate wasn’t always in the air.

In 1988, Warren Rosendale, then 54, was a successful businessman looking for love. In Carol Walton, then 50 – a blond, blue-eyed beauty – he found it.

The two wed at sea, a year after they met, and lived at his homes on Balboa Island and La Quinta, supported by his income from properties and other investments.

The Rosendales, each with adult children from former marriages, lived lives of sporty leisure. They played competitive tennis at a country club. They skipped off to weekend ski trips. They logged more than 2,500 miles on their boats, Bandit and Samurai.

It’s impossible for an outsider to know how they truly felt about each other during this phase of their marriage, but it’s clear that their lives – and their relationship – changed after the events of Aug. 23, 1997. That’s when Carol, then 59, was seriously injured in a car crash.

It was a bright, clear morning in the desert when she hopped into her red Jeep Cherokee to pick up dry cleaning for Warren, who was playing tennis.

After a Volkswagen Cabriolet driven by a 19-year-old woman veered into her lane, Carol crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed into a charter bus carrying 16 teenage girls heading to a Christian conference.

Carol’s life-threatening injuries included a crushed face, brain damage and too many shattered bones to count. Her attorney, in a court declaration, said the accident rendered her a “virtual Frankenstein.”

No one else was hurt.

About 2 1/2 years later, Warren decided to move on. In January 2001, he filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

Per a prenuptial agreement the two signed, Warren paid Carol $100,000 in exchange for her waiving her right to spousal support.

In what could be seen, in hindsight, as a bad omen, the prenup was drafted by Carol’s attorney, Ronald Lais, a man who would eventually serve more than five years in state prison after being convicted of charges related to practicing law without a license.

‘FOR POORER …’

In the civil court system, even when it comes to complex litigation, judges are under an obligation to keep cases moving along with the aim of concluding them within 18 months.

There’s no such obligation when it comes to family law, an arena rife with emotion and often complicated issues involving money, spouses and children.

In the case of Rosendale v. Rosendale, there are no child or custody issues.

Not surprisingly, the key issue is money.

At the latest hearing on Aug. 28 at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange, Victor Luke, Carol’s recently fired attorney, brought up the issue of lawyer fees.

Judge Smith said that will be one of the items addressed at the Oct. 17 hearing – the bigger one being whether Carol is entitled to spousal support.

Luke, a $300-per-hour lawyer, says Carol owes him about $26,000. To date, she’s paid him only $5,000, according to court documents.

Outside of court, Luke told a reporter the actual amount Carol owes him is closer to $60,000. But he’s going to try to get what he can.

That goal pretty much sums up the theme of the Rosendale divorce case.

“In many divorce cases, people often just lose sight of good judgment and common sense,” said Nicole Whyte, a family law specialist at Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara in Newport Beach who is not involved in the Rosendale matter.

“At the end of the day, it’s kind of sad.”

‘IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH …’

In addition to the $100,000 she received as part of her prenup, Carol received $376,000 for her share of community property, as well as $645,000 in an accident settlement paid out in the form of a $3,133-a-month annuity slated to end when she turns 75, according to court documents.

All told, Carol Rosendale Walton has received around $1.2 million as a result of the accident and divorce, according to Michel, Warren Rosendale’s attorney. She has claimed in court that much of the money she has received has been spent on medical bills, even though Michel insists insurance covered all the medical costs associated with the accident and that she has been covered by Medicare since the divorce.

Carol says she needs more and is asking the court to award spousal support of $10,000 a month, according to Michel. She’s been able to make that demand only after a 2002 change in family law that says a judge may award spousal support – even after a person has signed a prenup that would otherwise give up such support – if the judge believes it would be “unconscionable” not to do so.

In a 2004 ruling, the 4th District Court of Appeal sided with Carol, declaring that the prenup she signed was unenforceable.

She’s been seeking additional spousal support ever since – and Warren has been fighting her every step of the way. His attorney argues that his client already has provided adequate support for Carol.

However, a family law judge ruled in 2009 that the prenup was unenforceable when it comes to spousal support, thus allowing Carol to continue her litigation.

As Carol sees things, Warren cast her aside after the accident.

Physical and mental injuries made it impossible for her to work, she says, and to this day she says she suffers from acute pain, depression and memory loss. She easily loses control of her emotions in and out of the courtroom.

Carol lives off the $3,133 monthly annuity, but that expires in June when she turns 75. In addition to that income, she receives $803 per month in Social Security payments from her ex-husband’s Social Security account – money made possible, Michel pointed out, because his client waited until the marriage had reached the 10-year mark before filing for divorce.

If Warren had ended the marriage four months earlier, he could have saved himself $50,000 because that’s what the prenup dictated, according to court documents.

‘UNTIL DEATH DO US PART’

Whyte said she often sees parties become so involved in court matters that the proceedings become all consuming.

“Twelve years is around the maximum I’ve heard of,” Whyte said.

Vindictiveness and bitterness are common in divorce spats, especially when it comes to people of means, Whyte added.

“For some people, it becomes their life,” she said. “It gives meaning to their life, unfortunately.”

A couple of years ago, Warren offered Carol $250,000 to drop her pursuit of spousal support, according to Michel. She rejected it.

Her reported response, according to Michel: “I want $1 million.”

Warren Rosendale has lost a lot of money on real estate investments in recent years. The former president of Tri-Star Plastics Inc., he sold the Anaheim-based business before retiring in the early ’90s. Court records show he had net income last year of $76,932.

The bickering in Rosendale v. Rosendale has included griping among attorneys, court documents show.

Merritt McKeon, one of Carol’s former attorneys, accused Michel of trying to “wear me down,” and, in another instance, of treating her with “an inordinate amount of contempt.”

Carol’s current attorney, Peter Hands, who was her lawyer on the case for a couple of years in its earlier stages, said the court battle is about achieving justice for his client.

Whether the issues are resolved Oct. 17 is anyone’s guess.

After all, Carol and Warren Rosendale’s divorce case – at 12 years and eight months, and counting – has outlasted their marriage.

Source: www.ocregister.com

By GREG HARDESTY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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