These consolidated appeals grow out of a divorce proceeding. The wife appeals from an order setting aside a prior order of the court denying a motion of the husband for the entry of a final decree, and from the entry of the final decree (No. 17928). The husband appeals from an order awarding the wife costs on her appeals (No. 17889).
The parties were married on November 27, 1954. They separated five or six months later. The husband brought an action for divorce. The wife cross-complained. With the consent of the husband, the matter was submitted on the cross-complaint of the wife. On November 30, 1955, an interlocutory decree was entered in favor of the wife, which decree also incorporated a property settlement agreement. On November 29, 1956, the husband filed a notice of motion for entry of the final decree. The supporting affidavit of the husband averred that there had been no reconciliation between the parties and that since the interlocutory the “parties have not lived or cohabited together.” This contested motion came before the trial court for hearing on December 5, 1956. The husband testified that he was an architect, with offices in *258 Sacramento and San Francisco; that he lived in Sacramento; that his wife lived in Palo Alto; that since the entry of the interlocutory there had been no “reconciliation,” nor had the parties “cohabited.” On cross-examination he admitted that during the period of the interlocutory he had spent many week ends with his wife, .and that on these occasions he had either stayed at a motel alone, gone back to his home in Sacramento to sleep, or sometimes spent the night or nights at his wife’s house in Palo Alto. He denied sharing her bedroom, but conceded that on these occasions he had had sexual intercourse with her, finally admitting that this had occurred at least 20 times. The wife testified that after the interlocutory her husband visited her in Palo Alto every week end; that on these occasions he shared her bedroom; that they had intercourse on every visit; that during these visits they discussed going back to live together; that it was her understanding that they had become reconciled, and that she was to join him in Sacramento as soon as he could arrange things there. She further testified that she had unconditionally forgiven him for the cruelty which was the basis of the interlocutory.
The trial judge made several relevant comments about this testimony. While the wife was being cross-examined, the judge stated: “The Court: I have heard enough about it. I can’t reconcile the testimony of the plaintiff here. His affidavit says that he never cohabited during the period, which, of course, is deliberate perjury. He admitted he’s had intercourse with her about once a week ever since the granting of the interlocutory decree of divorce. And certainly that conduct, this Court views as being a tacit understanding of a reconciliation. At this time I will grant thе motion to set aside the interlocutory decree of divorce.”
When it was called to his attention that no motion to set aside the interlocutory had been made, the judge then told the attorney for the wife: “The Court: You are to prepare an order and see that it is filed, denying this man the right to secure a final decree of divorce. Then I would suggest you prepare a motion to set aside the interlocutory decree of divorce. ’ ’
When the attorney for the husband asked if he could complete the cross-examination of the wife, the judge stated: “The Court.- No, I havе heard enough. . . . His testimony, and hers, is that they have cohabited on an average of once a week since the interlocutory decree of divorce, and nothing else—no conversations about reconciliation, or anything else; *259 this court is of the opinion and so finds that in itself—his actions, he being the plaintiff in the original action—his actions and hers certainly indicate to this Court the proper finding [is] that there has been-a reconciliation, by their conduct, and I therefore say that he is not entitled to a final decree of divorce. And when, as and if this motion is made to set aside the interlocutory, I will grant that motion, too. ’ ’
On December 10, 1956, the wife, pursuant to the directions of the trial judge, noticed a motion for December 18, 1956, for an order to set aside the interlocutory and the property settlement. In the meantime, the wife’s counsel, pursuant to the directions of the trial judge and in precise accordance with the finding ordered by the trial judge at the hearing on December 5, 1956, prepared findings, conclusions and an order denying the husband’s motion for entry of the final decree. These documents were signed and filed on December 17, 1956.
On the next day, December 18, 1956, thе motion to set aside the interlocutory and the property settlement came on for hearing before the same judge. When informed of the nature of the motion the judge expressed the thought that he had no power to set aside the interlocutory and property settlement because they were over a year old. Counsel for the wife called the judge’s attention to the fact that he had directed her to file the motion, but the judge repeated that he had no power to grant such a motion. Then the following occurred: “The Court : I denied the fact that he was entitled to a final decree of divorce at that time, but I can’t see any reason now why he shouldn’t have it. Mrs. Axelrod: If he was not entitled to it a week ago, your Honor, why is he entitled to it now? The Court: Because he is entitled to it, period. You may take your final decree. Mrs. Axelrod : Your Honor, there is no motion; we are not prepared to argue it. The Court : There is no argument necessary. I have said he may have his final decree. Mrs. Axelrod: We have had no notice of it. The Court: You are not entitled to notice. Mr. Lange: We have an affidavit on file, your Honor. The Court : That is sufficient for mе.”
On that same day, December 18, 1956, an “order” was entered in the minutes stating that the motion for a final decree had been granted. On the following day the wife petitioned the other division of this court for a writ of supersedeas and for a temporary stay to restrain the trial court from enforcing or entering that minute order. A temporary stay was granted restraining the court below from any action on the order. The *260 wife also .appealed from the order of December 18, 1956. The husband moved to dismiss that appeal on the ground that it was nonappealable. On February 13, 1957, the other division of this court vacated the stay order, denied the petition for supersedeas, and dismissed the appeal from the order.
While these matters were pending in the appellate court, and on January 31, 1957, the wife noticed a motion for costs and attorney’s fees on the appeal then pending. Affidavits by both parties were filed and the motion was heard on February 6, 1957, by a different trial judge than had heard the proceedings of December 5th and 18th, 1956. At this hearing the trial judge was informed about the prior proceedings in the ease, but no testimony was formally taken. The wife’s counsel informed the court that her client was making $266 a month in take-home pay, while the husband was making over $1,000 a month. A memorandum of argument was filed by each party, and, on March 18, 1957, a minute book entry was made granting the wife’s motion and allowing her $100 costs and $500 attorney’s fees. Appeal Number 17889, by the husband, is from this order.
In the meantime, after the entry of the orders of the other division of this court on February 13, 1957, on February 25, 1957, the judge who had directed the final decree to be granted entered his order “setting aside order denying motion for entry of final decree of divorce, and for entry of final judgment of divorce nunc prо tunc [December 19, 1956].” A final decree of divorce, nunc pro tunc as of December 19, 1956, was entered on this same day. The wife’s appeals (No. 17928) are from those orders.
Turning first to the wife’s appeals, there are certain general principles that should be mentioned.
Under the provisions of section 132 of the Civil Code the trial court, 12 months after the entry of an interlocutory decree of divorce, may enter a final decree, either on the motion of one of the parties or on its own motion. Rule 20 of the Rules for Superior Courts requires that the moving party must file an affidavit averring, amоng other things, that since the interlocutory, the parties “have not become reconciled,” and “have not lived or cohabited together.” (See also
Angell
v.
Angell,
A reconciliation occurs when the circumstances show that the parties intеnded to reunite as husband and wife
(Estate of Abila,
At the December 5, 1956, hearing there was a discussion between the parties and the court as to whether “sexual intercourse” wаs synonymous with “cohabitation.” That is one of the judicially recognized definitions of the term, but the term can also mean living together in the same abode.
(Garibaldi
v.
Garibaldi,
*262 In the instant case the evidence was, at least in part, conflicting. The wife testified that the parties had become reconciled and that she had unconditionally forgiven her husband. The husband, while admitting numerous acts of intercourse, denied that there had been a reconciliation. Thus, there certainly is evidence to support the order of December 17, 1956, denying the request to enter the final decree, and probably evidence to support thе order of December 18, 1956, granting that request. The basic question presented on the appeals of the wife is whether or not the trial judge had the legal right to change his formal order of December 17, 1956, by simply declaring in his later order that the prior order had been signed “inadvertently.”
The rule applicable to this problem is easy to state but most difficult to apply. The rule is that the trial court has the power to correct misprisions in its decrees, or other clerical errors. This power exists not only under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure, but also independent of that statutе.
(Meyer
v.
Porath,
One of the leading eases on this subject is
Bastajian
v.
Brown,
In the present case, the trial judge declared in its later order that the December 17, 1956, order had been entered inadvertently. There is nothing in the record to support the finding of inadvertence except the declaration itself. The balance of the record demonstrates that at the December 5, 1956, hearing the trial judge was unequivocally of the opinion that the final decree should not be entered. At that time, the trial judge directed counsel for the wife to file a motion to set the interlocutory aside, and expressly made and directed the entry of a finding to the effect that the parties had become reconciled. That finding is supported by the evidence. The order of December 17, 1956, was in precise accord with the directions of the trial court made on December 5, 1956. Of course, the trial judge had the legal right and power to change
*264
Ms mind before the entry of the order, and to reweigh the evidenсe. But the only “evidence” that the trial judge did so is his declaration in his order that the December 17, 1956, order had been entered “inadvertently.” When this change of mind occurred does not appear. The record shows that on December 5, 1956, the trial judge believed and declared and found that the final decree should not be entered because the parties had become reconciled. The December 17, 1956, order so provided. There is nothing in the record to show the state of mind of the trial judge on December 17, 1956, except the order itself. There is certainly nothing in the record to show that a change of mind had occurred on or prior to December 17, 1956. We do know that by December 18, 1956, the trial judge had changed his mind. Now he believed the motion to enter the final decree should be granted. On that date he no longer believed that the husband had committed perjury in his affidavit by declaring that the parties had not become reconciled. He no longer believed that the numerous acts of intercourse constituted evidence of reconciliation. He now believed, and so declared, that the parties had not become reconciled. When did this сhange of mind occur? We do not know. We do know the state of the court’s mind on December 5, 1956. We know that the order of December 17, 1956, correctly reflected that state of mind. Prior to December 18, 1956, the trial judge gave no indication that he had changed his mind. On December 18, 1956, he had changed his mind and declared that the order of December 17, 1956, had been entered 1 ‘ inadvertently. ’ ’ There can be no doubt at all that, if the December 17, 1956, order correctly reflected the trial judge’s views, and that later the trial judge changed his mind on how the evidence should be evaluated, this would be an attempt to correct a judicial error and was not the correction of a mere clerical one.
(Egan
v.
Egan,
We turn now to a consideration of the husband’s appeal. To understand his contentions several dates must be emphasized :
December 18, 1956—the trial judge enters an order to the effect that the motion for the entry of the final decree should be granted.
December 19, 1956—the wife applies to the appellate court • for a writ of supersedeas and secures a temporary stay re *266 straining the enforcement of the order. The wife also appealed from the order of December 18, 1956.
January 31, 1957—the wife noticed a motion for costs and attorney’s fees on that appeal.
February 6, 1957—motion heard by court.
February 13, 1957—the appellate court denied supersedeas, dissolved the stay order, and dismissed the appeal.
February 25,1957—orders entered from which the wife has successfully appealed.
February 27, 1957—wife files notice of appeal from those orders.
March 18, 1957■—court enters order allowing costs on appeal.
The husband contends that the court had no authority to entertain the motion for costs and fees, even though the appeal was then pending, because of the stay order issued on December 19, 1956, in connection with the petition for a writ of supersedeas. That stay order provided: “It Is Hereby Ordered that the Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco, State of California, and the Clerk of said Court desist and refrain from taking any further proceedings therein and from enforcing or attempting to enforce or enter said order, and that all proceedings of said Superior Court on said order be and the same are hereby stayed until further order of this Court ...”
This stay remаined in effect until February 13, 1957, when it was vacated. The wife filed her motion for costs and fees on January 31, 1957, and the motion was heard on February 6, 1957. On those dates the stay order was still in effect. It is the theory of the husband that the stay order restrained the trial court from taking any action in the proceeding relating to the application for the final decree, and therefore it had no power to entertain the motion for costs and fees.
The problem thus presented depends, obviously, upon the proper interpretation of the stay order. Properly interpreted we do not think that the stay order prohibited any and all action by the trial court in connection with the proceeding. It was issued in connection with an application for supersedeas which was aimed at preventing the entry of the final decree. In our opinion that is what the stay order restrains. It is true that the stay order states that it restrains the trial court from “any further proceedings” in the matter, but that language must be read in the light of the balance of the order which relates only to the entry of the final judgment. *267 We cannot assume that the appellate court, by its stay order, was intending to restrain proceedings that were in no way connected with the entry of the final decree. We cannot assume that the appellate court, to protect its jurisdiction while it considered that application, intended to do anything more than restrain action that might affect that jurisdiction. Obviously, there was no necessity in order to protect its jurisdiction, for the appellate court to restrain a purely collateral proceeding such as a motion for costs and fees. We think that it did not do so.
The husband next contends that, by the terms of the property settlement agreemеnt incorporated into the interlocutory decree, the wife waived her rights to costs and fees on appeal.
Of course, the trial court, in a divorce proceeding, normally has the power to grant costs and fees, this power continuing during the pendency of an appeal. (Civ. Code, § 137;
McCahan
v.
McCahan,
The husband contends that in the property settlement here involved the wife waived her right to such costs and fees. In this respect the husband relies on several provisions of the agreement, the strongest in his favor being Paragraph IV, which reads as follows: “Second party shall pay to First Party the sum of $600.00 at the rate of $100.00 per month conmmencing November 22, 1955, in full settlement and satisfaction of her rights in and to any property that is iioav or may hereinafter be claimed to be community property and in full satisfaction of her past, present and future rights to alimony, support or maintenance, it being understood that such payment, is intended to forevеr settle and adjust the property rights and financial obligations of each of the parties hereto with each other in all respects.”
While this provision, in our opinion, does not amount to a clear-cut waiver of costs and fees on appeal, the wife concedes that, for the purposes of this appeal, if the property
*268
settlement is legally effective, the trial court had no power to award costs and fees on appeal. It is her theory that the evidence shows a reconciliation, and that such reconciliation normally effeсts a rescission of the property settlement agreement.
(Lamb
v.
Lamb,
131, Cal.App.2d 489 [280 P.2d
793]; Harrold v. Harrold,
Assuming that the property settlement agreement was a waiver of the right to costs and fees, as the wife concedes (although we are not certain it is), the question then remains whether, under the facts here involved, the wife was entitled to such an award. It must be remembered that, according to the order of December 17, 1956, the husband had been denied the right to a final decree because there had been a reconciliation. If there was a reconciliation the property settlement including, of course, thе waiver, was set aside. The trial court on December 18, 1956, ordered the final decree to be entered. The wife appealed, and, as we have already held in this opinion, the appeal is meritorious. But regardless of the merits of that appeal, it is obvious that whether the property settlement is still effective (and therefore whether the claimed waiver is effective) depends upon which order of the trial court is held to be effective. The wife is challenging one of the orders, contending that because of the reconciliation, the property settlеment, and therefore the waiver, is no longer effective. When the wife in good faith challenges the continued existence of the property settlement, or its validity, regardless of whether she is right or wrong, where she is unable to finance the appeal, she must have suit money to prosecute the appeal or she will lose her right to challenge the continued existence of the agreement.
The problem is essentially similar to the one presented in
Locke Padden
v.
Locke Padden,
*269
It is also urged by the husband that the evidence does not support the challenged award. This contention is without merit. The wife’s affidavit in support of her motion avers her. inability to pay such costs and the ability of the husband to pay them. At the hearing, although evidence was not formally produced, counsel for the wife stated to the court that his client was earning $266 a month and had two children by a prior marriage to support, and that the husband was earning in excess of $1,000 a month. The husband did not see fit to challenge these statements. He contends that he was precluded from doing so, but the record shows that he elected not to produce any evidence on the issue. While the practice is to award such costs and fees only after a hearing (1 Armstrong, Family Law, 301), and such fees can only be awarded after the contesting party has had an opportunity to be heard
(Hite
v.
Hite,
In Number 17928 the orders appealed from are reversed.
In Number 17889 the order appealed from is affirmed.
Bray, J., and Wood (Fred B.), J., concurred.
Petitions for a rehearing were denied February 20, 1959, and the petition of plaintiff and appellant Daniel J. Nacht for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied March 18, 1959.
Notes
For another ease where the record supported the trial court’s declaration of inadvertence see
Krouzian
v.
Sagopian, ante,
p. 251 [
