Sass v. Cohen

Deborah Sass (plaintiff) moved to Los Angeles after Theodore Cohen (defendant), her then-romantic partner, promised that he would pay her living expenses for life and that everything acquired during their relationship would be joint property. When Cohen stopped paying, Sass sued him. In her operative complaint, Sass asserted a claim in which she asked for an accounting of all property purchased and income earned during the relationship. In some instances, the operative complaint sought merely one-half of a particular asset, without assigning any specific dollar value. The prayer for relief did not specify dollar amounts. The trial court entered a default after Cohen failed to answer. Sass adduced damages evidence at a prove-up hearing. The trial court entered a default judgment against Cohen and awarded Sass money damages. Cohen later moved to vacate, arguing that the default judgment was void because it awarded monetary damages in excess of what Sass had sought in the operative complaint. The trial court denied Cohen’s motion. The California Court of Appeal vacated the default judgment and recalculated the amount of damages that Sass was entitled to recover. The appellate court then remanded to the trial court with the option to either reinstate the default judgment after reducing Sass’s compensatory award or vacate the judgment and allow Sass to serve an amended complaint demanding a damages amount. The California Supreme Court granted review.