Legal Question in Family Law in California

If there are proper legal grounds for an award of sanctions relating to conduct during the time the party was represented by counsel, which caused the party to incur fees, then an award of sanctions can be made. An award of attorneys fees as sanctions for conduct that occurred when the other party was pro-per, would not be proper because it would be an award of something that was never charged in the first place. In that case, if warranted under the facts and law, just a straight monetary sanction of an appropriate amount would be the proper award. There is no general time limit on requesting sanctions, but they generally will not be considered unless requested at the same time as the motion or other hearing that gives rise to the sanctions request.