Kristin T. v. Dean K. CA2/3

BACKGROUND

I. General background.

Kristin and Dean dated for several months in 1997. She became pregnant with their son, Dylan, who was born in April 1998. Kristin and Dean had joint legal custody of Dylan, who initially lived primarily with his mother in Missouri. For about three and a half years, from 2003 to 2006, Dylan lived with his father in Florida. In 2006, Dylan returned to Missouri to live with his mother. Dean visited and paid Kristin $1,400 in child support. In 2008, Kristin moved to California, and Dylan lived with her but spent holidays, about two months each year, with Dean. Dean was now paying about $3,100 per month in child support. In June 2009, Kristin filed a petition to establish a parentage relationship and request for a child support order. Dean did not contest paternity. And, expecting that an $8.4 million investment in a hedge fund would return $1 million per year, Dean stipulated, in September 2009, to pay $5,500 per month in child support.1 But soon after agreeing to pay child support, Dean lost his investment in a Ponzi scheme. He and Kristin therefore agreed, in May 2011, to reduce his support payment to $3,100 per month.2 Dean’s fortunes turned…