Marriage of Pearson
Annotate this CaseIn August 2009, Tonya and Donald Pearson dissolved their marriage and entered into a Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA) in which they agreed to the division of their marital assets and that Donald would provide ongoing spousal support to Tonya. Despite this, the parties engaged in extensive litigation over the course of the next six years. Tonya appealed a superior court postjudgment order deciding various requests for orders to modify spousal support, adjudicate omitted assets, and award sanctions or attorney's fees. Tonya argued: (1) the superior court erred in concluding the term "bonus" in the MSA did not include certain restricted stock and relocation monies; (2) the court erred by placing a cap on the amount of Donald's future bonuses available for support; (3) the court erred in determining that she had the ability to work; (4) erred in awarding Donald attorney's fees in the form of sanctions pursuant to Family Code section 2711; and (5) erred by denying her request for additional needs-based attorney's fees pursuant to section 2030. With respect to most of these rulings, we conclude the court did not err. With respect to the orders modifying spousal support, the Court of Appeal concluded the court correctly determined that Donald's increase in bonus pay constituted a change of circumstances sufficient to warrant a modification of spousal support, but that substantial evidence did not support certain of the court's findings regarding Tonya's ability to work. Therefore, the Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the matter for limited further proceedings.
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