Case Study: Did Win Breach His Fiduciary Duty To Hailey

Did Win breach his fiduciary duty to Hailey?

Fiduciary Duty
Cal Family Code § 721
A husband and wife owe to each other a duty of highest good faith and fair dealing, and neither shall take any unfair advantage of the other. The duty is including but not limited to, providing each spouse access to records regarding transactions and accounting information, concerning the community property.

Cal Family Code § 1100 (e)
Each spouse has an obligation with respect to the management and control of the community property. Each spouse must make full disclosure to the other spouse of all material facts and information regarding the existence, characterization, and valuation of all assets in which the community may have an interest and debts for which the community may be liable, upon request.

Cal Family Code § 1101
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 by causing a detrimental impact on it.
Hailey would argue that Win breached his fiduciary duty owed to her by making such a highly speculative investment decision in spite of her warning as she thought “it was a terrible idea”, and as the result, losing all the money as it was “wiped out.” Hailey would also argue that the investment was speculative because it was a software “startup” company, and that Win took unfair advantage of Hailey because he went ahead and blew all the money on the speculative investment although she “begged” him not