Court Opinion

ID: 9724035
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:42:14.567514+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:54.635600
License: Public Domain

*1205BENKE, J.
I concur in the result reached by the majority. I write separately to emphasize my concurrence is based upon the content of the superior court’s order of September 25, 1989, which fails to delineate factors upon which the trial court could properly terminate support.
As this court pointed out in its unanimous opinion in In re Marriage of Wilson (1988) 201 Cal.App.3d 913, 920 [247 Cal.Rptr. 522], where, as here, a relatively short marriage is involved, a trial court may, after considering the totality of circumstances, and weighing all factors contained in Civil Code section 4801, subdivison (a), terminate support. The lower court’s order here fails to demonstrate the reflection required by Wilson. In effect, the sole grounds articulated by the trial court were that Forrest had acted responsibly and the parties were “at that point in time” where support should end.
On the other hand as in Wilson, here disability alone is not sufficient to require indefinite support payments from Forrest. Indeed at some point it is conceivable the lengthy duration of support, even if examined superficially, will be clearly unjust in light of the short duration of the marriage and will alone qualify as a changed circumstance under Civil Code section 4801, subdivision (a)(10).1 I assume the majority opinion despite its hesitation to read Wilson “too broadly” would find difficulty permitting such inequity simply because the original support order was open ended. I for one do not believe the ability of supporting spouses in short marriages to terminate support should depend entirely upon the use of “magic words” in the original support orders. In my view such a rigid reading of the statute and pertinent precedent would unduly limit the discretion of trial courts and lead to radically different results in substantially similar cases.
A petition for a rehearing was denied October 28, 1991, and respondent’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied January 15, 1992.

Civil Code section 4801, subdivision (a)(10), permits the court to consider as a changed circumstance “Any other factors which it deems just and equitable.”