Marriage of Ward, In re, 84CA0802

Decision Date14 November 1985
Docket NumberNo. 84CA0802,84CA0802
Citation717 P.2d 513
PartiesIn re the MARRIAGE OF Franklin Manning WARD, Appellant, and Lola Lee Ward, Appellee. . III
CourtColorado Court of Appeals

Franklin Manning Ward pro se.

Stephen R. Higgins, Englewood, for appellee.

METZGER, Judge.

Franklin Ward (husband) appeals from an order denying his motion to reduce spousal maintenance. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

In December of 1980, a decree of dissolution of marriage was entered and the trial court ordered husband to pay Lola Ward (wife) $400 per month maintenance. In January 1982, husband filed a motion to reduce maintenance to $250 per month. In February 1982, the court ordered a temporary reduction in the payment schedule and directed that the original schedule be reinstated in full when husband became employed. At that time, husband would be required to make temporary payments of $550 per month until the accumulated arrearages were satisfied.

In December 1982, wife filed a motion to increase maintenance since husband had obtained employment. The court ordered maintenance paid on an increasing scale: $300 for six months, then $500 per month until all arrearages were paid, and thereafter at the original rate of $400 per month.

Husband appealed, and in In re Marriage of Ward, 670 P.2d 1260 (Colo.App.1983), we affirmed the trial court's order, concluding that the December 1982 order represented the mere enforcement, not a modification, of the unappealed February 1982 order.

This appeal involves another motion for reduction of maintenance filed by husband in March of 1984. After a hearing in May 1984, the court found that its original award of $400 per month for maintenance "is still an appropriate award of permanent spousal maintenance and that Respondent [wife] should not suffer ultimate financial loss because of the personal opportunity decisions made by the Petitioner [husband]." The court further found that husband should have an opportunity to start and develop his private law practice in Maryland. Thus, the court ordered spousal maintenance of $400 per month to be paid on an increasing scale: $250 for twelve months, $350 for twelve months, $400 for twelve months, and finally $500 per month until all deficiencies were paid. Thereafter, maintenance would continue at $400 per month.

The husband has failed to provide us with the record of the May 1984 hearing, and he does not allege that the court's findings of fact are unsupported by the record. Rather, he contends that the trial court misapplied the law by ordering, pursuant to § 14-10-122, C.R.S., temporary abatement of maintenance payments and setting out a specific repayment schedule. We agree.

In our view, § 14-10-122, C.R.S., does not...

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3 cases
  • Marriage of Ward, In re, 86SC23
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Colorado
    • 20 Julio 1987
    ...Burnie, Md., pro se. Stephen R. Higgins, Englewood, for respondent. ERICKSON, Justice. We granted certiorari to review In re Marriage of Ward, 717 P.2d 513 (Colo.App.1985). The trial court granted a temporary reduction of the petitioner's maintenance payments to his ex-wife, conditioned upo......
  • Marriage of Nevil, In re
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Colorado
    • 28 Marzo 1991
    ...needs and their circumstances at the time of the hearing rather than upon their past or future conditions. See In re Marriage of Ward, 717 P.2d 513 (Colo.App.1985). The parties' present financial situation and ability to earn, rather than considerations of the historical derivation of such ......
  • Marriage of Folwell, In re, 94CA1786
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Colorado
    • 7 Diciembre 1995
    ...improper speculation upon which to base future changes in maintenance. See In re Marriage of Nevil, supra; cf. In re Marriage of Ward, 717 P.2d 513 (Colo.App.1985), rev'd on other grounds, 740 P.2d 18 (Colo.1987). We further note that, while the change in maintenance to $600 coincides with ......

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