Marriage of Esposito CA4/3

I. INTRODUCTION

A stipulated divorce judgment filed in October 2005 provided that Deborah Esposito, who was represented by counsel, was to pay about $198,000 “forthwith” to her ex-husband Jerry as a community property equalization payment. On the other hand, the judgment also required Jerry to pay $2,379 a month in spousal support based on his having imputed monthly income of $10,000. The $2,379 monthly payments would continue until September 2007, when the support figure would step down to $1,400, and then continue at that level until the death of either party. In December 2005, at the behest of the parties’ daughter Leigh, Deborah and Jerry changed their agreement: Jerry would completely buy out his spousal support obligation in exchange for forgiving Deborah her $198,000 debt to him. Deborah took the deal based on her understanding that Jerry was in fact unemployed at the time and would “never work again.” An amended judgment was filed December 13, 2005, terminating all possibility of support. In point of fact, while Jerry had been unemployed during most of the divorce, in September 2005 he landed a job as director of sourcing for a large company. In March 2014, Deborah…