California Court of Appeal

The family court's order awarding the community business to the husband and issuing an order restraining the wife from working in the same business, anywhere, for five years is reversed and remanded, where: 1) Business and Professions Code section 16600 does not prohibit the issuance of a non-competition order; but 2) the state's policy favoring an individual's right freely to practice his or her chosen trade or profession requires that any such restrictions be based upon evidence showing they are reasonably necessary to preserve the value of the asset awarded in the division of marital property; and 3) in this case, there appears to be no basis for the order's broad geographic restriction.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/14/2014
• Published 02/14/2014

Judges

• RIVERA

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel