Marriage of Beas CA1/4

DISCUSSION

Section 4336, subdivision (a) provides in relevant part, “Except on written agreement of the parties to the contrary or a court order terminating spousal support, the court retains jurisdiction indefinitely in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the parties where the marriage is of long duration.” (§ 4336, subd. (a).)5 Martha’s theory on appeal is that the court erred in denying her 2024 request for spousal support because the court premised its denial on the vitality of its 2021 termination ruling. She contends the June 2021 termination ruling is in fact void and unenforceable, as section 4336 required the court to maintain jurisdiction indefinitely in the absence of an agreement between the parties or a prior order of the court terminating spousal support, neither of which exist here. We see no merit to this argument. The error Martha asserts is not an error—her reading of the governing statute is incorrect, since many kinds of specific orders may be and often are set forth within a dissolution judgment— but even taking her interpretation of section 4336 on its own terms, at most the argument would render the June 2021 termination…