Marriage of Hernandez CA1/5

I. BACKGROUND

The parties married in 1976, and separated in 2005. The court granted a marital status dissolution in 2008, and judgment on reserved issues was entered on December 8, 2009, including orders establishing child and spousal support. At the time of the

1 Consistent with appellant’s briefing and the trial record, we refer to the parties by first name to avoid confusion. No disrespect is intended.

1 proceedings at issue here, one minor child of the marriage (a son) was living with Karen and receiving child support from Edward. Edward was licensed as a registered nurse and worked as a psychiatric nurse until he lost his job in January 2011. He moved for modification of his child and spousal support obligations the following February. Karen opposed, alleging that Edward was willfully unemployed. An interim temporary support order was entered by stipulation in April 2012. The court received evidence over six days between May 25 and August 16, 2012. Both parties testified. The evidence focused on employment available to both parties, and the question of whether income, for support purposes, should be imputed to either or both. After briefing, the matter was submitted…