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CHRISTIAN DE GUIGNE
HILLSBOROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
8TH GRADE CLASS ( 1950-51)
THE DOCUMENT SHOWN (IN PART) BELOW WAS FOUND ON THE INTERNET ON 23 MAY 2006
AT URL: caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/A091882.DOC
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Filed 4/30/02
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION THREE
In re the Marriage of CHRISTIAN DE GUIGNE and VAUGHN DE GUIGNE
CHRISTIAN DE GUIGNE, Appellant, v. VAUGHN DE GUIGNE, Respondent.
A091882 (San Mateo County Super. Ct. No. F046396)
FACTUAL and PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Facts
Christian and Vaughn de Guigne were married in 1984, when Christian was 47 years old and Vaughn was 30. They have two children: Allison, born in 1985 and Eleanor, born in 1989. The couple separated in November, 1996.
Christian was born into wealth and social prominence. His family home is a 16,000 square foot Hillsborough mansion built by his grandfather in 1918. The residence is surrounded by 47½ acres of land containing hiking trails, streams, wildlife, and gardens, in a setting of extraordinary quiet and privacy. The house has multiple bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a ballroom, pavilion, formal dining room, library, and swimming pool. It contains valuable artwork, jewelry, furnishings and other items of personal property collected by Christian’s parents and grandparents.
When Christian and Vaughn met in the early 1980’s, Christian was not employed and had not worked since 1972. He relied on income from securities and family trusts. From 1964 to 1984, he lived in a Telegraph Hill house purchased with money from his father. Vaughn was also born in Hillsborough in very comfortable circumstances. However, due to her parents’ divorce, Vaughn’s standard of living was reduced when she was a teenager. Although she had a Masters Degree in Art Therapy when she met Christian, Vaughn was doing part-time volunteer work and was supported by a stock portfolio established by her father.
Christian inherited the Hillsborough property and its contents. He and Vaughn moved into the mansion shortly before their marriage and lived there together until Christian moved out in 1996. The family maintained an opulent lifestyle. The house was staffed by two housekeepers, three gardeners, a laundress, chef, childcare provider and a part-time chauffeur. The de Guignes frequently took costly vacations, and maintained multiple club memberships. The children attended private school and engaged in extracurricular activities including horseback riding, tennis and piano lessons, various other sports activities, and overnight camps. Vaughn purchased expensive clothing for herself and the girls, and incurred significant monthly expenses for personal services such as hair care, makeup and massage.
According to Vaughn, Christian insisted on a lifestyle similar to that enjoyed by his parents and expected Vaughn to emulate the very high standards of dress and fashion set by his mother. Christian strenuously disputed this assertion and recounted unsuccessful attempts to curtail his wife’s spending. It is clear, however, that neither parent worked and the court found that annual household expenses averaged $450,000, consistently exceeding Christian’s annual income of $240,000 from securities holdings and family trusts. Christian had sole control over the family finances and consistently liquidated his separate property assets during the marriage. Between 1986 and 1997, Christian withdrew over $4 million from his securities account. He also sold an antique knife collection for $425,000 and his Telegraph Hill house for $725,000. Some of the proceeds were used to meet household expenses.
The marriage generated no community property. Christian testified that his separate property Hillsborough estate was worth $8.5 million. Vaughn’s appraisal experts placed the value at $25-30 million if the house and land were sold as a unit. According to expert testimony, the value of the home on 7½ acres would be $7.5 to $10 million, and the remaining 40 acres would be worth $15 million or more. The real estate is by far Christian’s most significant asset. The corpus of Christian’s primary family trust was valued at an estimated $3.8 million at the time of trial, but these assets are not under Christian’s control. Vaughn’s securities account was worth $260,000 at the time of trial.
1. Because the parties share a common surname we use their given names to avoid confusion.
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