In a divorce judgment for a marriage lasting less than 10 years, the court can set a termination date for spousal support at or post-judgment. If the marriage has lasted 10 years or more, the court cannot set a termination date without the agreement of the divorcing couple.
Understand that post-judgment spousal support modification motions are fairly common. However, the court must have evidence that important circumstances must have changed before it orders a support modification.
Even if the marriage lasted longer than 10 years, for which the court does not have the authority to set a termination date during the initial divorce action, the rules change post-judgment. In California divorce orders after finalization, the court does have authority to increase, decrease or terminate spousal support post-judgment.
Since changes in job status, income levels and/or income-producing assets can be quite common, sometimes frequent, it is important that you have a top divorce attorney representing you. As you can see, modifications in spousal support orders can easily become complex issues requiring an experienced family law attorney to handle them properly.
When you have questions about how to convince the court to modify spousal support orders or other post-judment modifications, contact a Certified Family Law Specialist, Richard Ross Associates, in Westlake Village. The professionals at Richard Ross Associates are experts in all phases of California divorce matters. They will help you navigate the often confusing waters of divorce judgment modifications.