Marriage of Reagan CA4/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The parties separated in June 2014 after 19 years of marriage. Jay obtained his bachelor’s degree during the marriage and had average monthly income of $9,709 at separation. Heather had a high school diploma during the marriage (she obtained a medical assistant certificate after separation). She was primarily a homemaker and cared for the parties’ children while Jay worked. At the time of separation, she had been unemployed since 2002. A stipulated judgment for their divorce was entered in December 2014. The stipulated judgment required Jay to pay $1,063 a month in spousal support “until further order of the court, the death of either party, the remarriage of supported spouse or whichever first occurs.” The parties’ two children were 13 and 16 years old at the time of divorce. The stipulated judgment required Jay to pay Heather $1,690 in monthly child support. In April 2021, Jay filed a request for an order to terminate spousal support or have it set at zero dollars. Jay asserted Heather no longer needed spousal support because she had been given sufficient time to become self-supporting and had been cohabitating with her boyfriend since 2019.

1 We…