Marriage of Kassel CA4/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The parties married in June 1991 and separated in May 2009. They entered into a marital settlement agreement (MSA) in May 2012, that was incorporated into a judgment of dissolution filed in June 2012. At issue is the following provision: “[Section 2.5.3] The spousal support payments required by Section 2.5.2 shall cease to be due on the earliest of the death of [Robert], the death of [Caroline], the cohabitation of [Caroline] or the remarriage of [Caroline].”

The Competing Requests for an Order (RFO) In July 2013, Robert filed a RFO to terminate spousal support based on Caroline’s alleged cohabitation with someone. Caroline filed a responsive declaration denying she had “cohabitated with another person at any point in time after the Judgment was filed.” She attested she had not shared her residence with anyone other than her children, that although Williams had previously been her boyfriend, he never lived with her and they were no longer in a relationship. She believed he had an apartment in Aliso Viejo, as well as “a place [to] stay with his mother . . . .” In her supporting points and authorities, Caroline argued the word “cease” meant…