California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Marriage of Jovel, In re, 49 Cal.App.4th 575, 56 Cal.Rptr.2d 740 (Cal. App. 1996):
Consequently, we read Hogeboom and King to say that it would not be unusual for issues involving the third party to be heard in the same proceeding as issues involving the spouses only. In such a circumstance, the third party could not be ordered to pay for fees and costs attributable to the issues involving the spouses only. However, we do not think the statute limits the discretion of the court hearing the fee application to determine whether the third party should pay all of the attorney fees and costs when the issue or issues heard affect both the nonspouse and spouse parties. (Accord, Paduano v. Paduano (1989) 215 Cal.App.3d 346, 352, 263 Cal.Rptr. 589.)
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