Sarah S. Trach

The applicant mother brought a motion for interim custody, child support, and spousal support following the parties’ separation.

A preliminary issue arose as to whether a prior custody and support order made during an earlier separation remained in force after the parties reconciled for several years.

The court held that the reconciliation terminated the earlier order, requiring the court to determine custody and support afresh.

On an interim basis, the court granted the mother sole custody of the child, established an access schedule for the father, fixed the father’s income for support purposes, and ordered interim child and spousal support.

The moving party sought to vary a prior spousal support order by terminating or reducing his ongoing support obligation.

The court considered the parties’ litigation history, the recipient spouse’s employment efforts, medical evidence relating to fibromyalgia, and the objectives of spousal support under s. 15.2 of the Divorce Act.

The court found that the recipient spouse had made minimal and insufficiently diligent efforts to become self‑sufficient and had unreasonably restricted the scope of her job search.

Income was imputed to the recipient spouse and the payor’s income was fixed based on his employment earnings.

Spousal support was reduced to $1,081 per month effective January 1, 2013, and ordered to terminate on December 31, 2014.