In re Marriage of Connolly

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Joseph Connolly appealed various orders entered during his long-running dispute with his ex-wife Diane Connolly over spousal and child support arrearages. Joseph challenged a 2015 order that denied his motion to terminate the jurisdiction of California courts over his support obligations and imposed interest, under California law, on a judgment of consolidated arrearages obtained in Utah. He also challenged a 2016 order that denied his motion to stay enforcement of the 2015 order. At the heart of his appeal, Joseph's claimed: (1) California lacked jurisdiction to enter the orders because the Utah judgment on arrearages was the “controlling order” under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA); and (2) by adding interest to the arrearages, California failed to grant full faith and credit to the Utah judgment, which did not include interest. The California Court of Appeal concluded that the judgment entered in Utah was not a controlling order under UIFSA, but nonetheless the trial court erred in adding California interest to this final money judgment. The Court reversed the portion of the 2015 order that purported to add interest to the Utah judgment and remanded for further proceedings. View "In re Marriage of Connolly" on Justia Law