In re Marriage of Crommett
In re Marriage of Crommett
Opinion of the Court
Husband appeals from an order denying his motion to terminate his spousal support obligation. On de novo review, we reverse. ORS 19.125(3).
Husband and wife were married 23 years. At the time of dissolution of their marriage in 1992, husband earned $2,270 per month as a welder, and wife worked part time as a bank teller earning $800 per month. The parties agreed that it would be desirable for wife to continue to work part time so that she could spend more time with their daughter, who was then seven years old. They therefore stipulated in the judgment of dissolution that, in addition to $290 per month in child support, husband would pay wife $400 per month in spousal support. Approximately one week after the judgment of dissolution was entered, wife left her position at the bank and went to work in a doctor’s office as a full-time receptionist. She testified that her reason for leaving her bank teller position was that she would have had to start working on Saturdays and that she did not want to be away from her daughter on those days. Moreover, she testified that the receptionist’s job paid more money.
Meanwhile, husband never made the full monthly spousal support obligation, and eight months after the dissolution he ceased paying spousal support altogether. Both parties’ income and expenses have increased since the dissolution judgment. Wife now works as a receptionist at another doctor’s office, earning $2,181 per month. Husband’s current income is approximately $2,879 per month.
Husband argues that, in the light of the substantial increase in wife’s income, the need for spousal support no longer exists. Wife counters, and the trial court agreed, that to terminate husband’s spousal support obligation would reward husband for his own wrongdoing. She argues that she was forced to obtain full-time employment as a result of husband’s failure to pay the stipulated spousal support. She further asserts that, in the light of her lack of job security and her lack of job skills, her current income does not indicate a substantial change of circumstances that was not contemplated by the paries at the time of the dissolution.
ORS 107.135 grants the court power to modify or terminate a spousal support obligation on a showing of an unanticipated substantial change in economic circumstances.
Reversed and remanded for entry of order terminating spousal support; costs, not including attorney fees, to husband.
ORS 107.135(2) provides, in part:
“(2) In a proceeding under this section to reconsider the spousal or child support provisions of the decree, the following provisions apply:
“(a) A substantial change in economic circumstances of a party***"
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.