Swearengin

I. Factual and Procedural Background In describing events placed in issue on this appeal, it is helpful to focus the bulk of our attention on three discrete filings by David that are pivotal to an understanding of what happened in this case. We refer to these filings as: the 2013 RFO, the 2017 RFO, and the 2022 motion. A. The 2013 RFO, What Preceded It, and What Became of It In 2011, after many years of marriage to David, Georgina filed a petition for divorce. The following year (2012), the trial court (Hon. Teresa S. Bennett) concluded a four-day hearing by granting a domestic violence

Because the parties share the same last name, we refer to them by their first names. We do so for the sake of clarity, intending no disrespect.

2 restraining order (DVRO) in favor of Georgina and against David. That same year, Judge Bennett ordered David to make three types of payments to Georgina: (1) child support in the amount of $1,623 per month; (2) spousal support in the amount of $2,065 per month; and (3) attorney’s fees in the amount of $10,000, paid in installments over time, in connection with the

DVRO.

Two years later, in 2014, Judge Bennett issued a default dissolution…