California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Chau v. Chau (In re Chau), B265261 (Cal. App. 2016):
Here, the trial court expressly stated that it was denying husband's request for relief under Code of Civil Procedure section 473. However, husband did not seek relief under this section. Instead, husband sought relief on the basis of fraud, and Family Code sections 2121 and 2122 permit a court to set aside a judgment based on fraud. Because the trial court failed to exercise its discretion under either Family Code section 2122 or its inherent equitable powers, both of which provide relief on the basis of fraud, we conclude that the court's order must be reversed, and that the request for an order should be reconsidered under the bases stated in the supporting memorandum. (See, e.g., Sanford v. Rasnick (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1121, 1133 [the failure to exercise discretion is an abuse of discretion].)
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