CACI No. 1573

duty in which the defendant has misled the plaintiff to the plaintiff’s prejudice or

detriment. Constructive fraud differs from actual fraud (see CACI Nos. 1900−1903

on different claims involving actual fraud) in that no fraudulent intent is required.

(Civ. Code, § 1573(1).) Thus, if one who is under a fiduciary duty to provide

complete and accurate information to the plaintiff fails to do so and the plaintiff is

misled to the plaintiff’s prejudice, there is a claim for constructive fraud despite the

lack of any intent to mislead or deceive.

In element 4, choose the first option if it was the defendant’s failure to disclose

information that misled the plaintiff. Choose the second option if the defendant

provided information to the plaintiff, but the plaintiff was misled because the

information was inaccurate or incomplete.

In a fiduciary relationship, there is a rebuttable presumption of reasonable reliance.

The defendant bears the burden of rebutting the presumption by proving by

substantial evidence that the plaintiff could not have reasonably relied on the

misleading information or omission. ( Edmunds v. V alley Circle Estates (1993) 16

Cal.App.4th 1290, 1301–1302 [20 Cal.Rptr.2d 701].)

There are cases that set forth the elements of constructive fraud as “(1) a fiduciary

or confidential relationship; (2) nondisclosure (breach of fiduciary duty); (3) intent

to deceive, and (4) reliance and resulting injury (causation).” (See, e.g., Younan v.

Equifax Inc. (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 498, 516 fn. 14 [169 Cal.Rptr. 478]; see also

Prakashpalan v. Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack (2014) 223 Cal.App.4th 1105, 1131

[167 Cal.Rptr.3d 832].) However, these elements conflict with the statute in at least

two ways. First, the statute clearly states that no fraudulent intent (or intent to

deceive) is required. Second, the statute is not limited to nondisclosure; it extends to

information that is disclosed, but misleading.

For discussion of the statute of limitations for constructive fraud, see CACI No.

4120, Affırmative Defense—Statute of Limitations .