In Re the Marriage of Gavron

Summary

After a 25-year marriage, the husband sought to end $1,100 monthly spousal support set in 1979. The trial court stepped support down to zero because the unemployed 57-year-old wife had not sought work or training, and it shifted the burden to her to show continued need. The Court of Appeal reversed. It found no material change in either spouse's circumstances since the prior order, held that the burden stayed on the husband, and found nothing showing she had been warned she was expected to become self-sufficient. It directed reinstatement of the 1979 support order.

What it means for the financial analysis

A claim that a payee spouse should be earning more is a modification issue, and the opinion treats unchanged employability and unchanged ability to pay as the key comparison with the prior order. Income work in these motions should document what each side's finances looked like at the time of the prior order and now, but the court did not set any earning capacity figure or method, and it rested on the lack of changed circumstances and of advance warning.

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