Marriage of Gong CA4/3

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On May 15, 2018, Phoebe filed a petition for a dissolution of marriage. Thomas and Phoebe had been married for 19 years, and they had three adult children. Phoebe requested that Thomas be ordered to pay spousal support. Phoebe was represented by counsel. On June 22, 2018, Thomas filed a response to the petition. Thomas requested that Phoebe be ordered to pay spousal support to him. Thomas was represented by counsel. On December 5, 2018, Phoebe filed a declaration of income and expenses. Over the next few months, Phoebe filed several documents with the trial court including a motion to compel discovery (specifically, a declaration of Thomas’s income and expenses).2 On June 21, 2019, the trial court ordered Thomas to file a preliminary declaration and to appear in court on August 30, 2019. On August 16, 2019, the trial court filed an order granting a request by Thomas’s counsel to be relieved as counsel of record. The order noted Thomas’s last known address and telephone number. On August 30, 2019, the trial court conducted a hearing on Phoebe’s motion to compel discovery. Thomas did not appear. The court ordered Thomas to pay $3,000 in sanctions…