OR Bar Family Law 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Oregon recognizes three types of spousal support. Which type is designed to help a lower-earning spouse become self-supporting through education or job training?
- Maintenance support
- Compensatory support
- Transitional support (Correct answer)
- Rehabilitative support
Correct answer: Transitional support
Transitional support under ORS 107.105(1)(d)(A) assists a spouse in gaining skills or education needed to achieve financial self-sufficiency.
Question 2: Compensatory spousal support in Oregon is awarded primarily to:
- Provide a dependent spouse with long-term financial security
- Reimburse a spouse for significant contributions to the other's education, training, or career advancement (Correct answer)
- Cover reasonable living expenses during the dissolution proceeding
- Help a spouse maintain the marital standard of living indefinitely
Correct answer: Reimburse a spouse for significant contributions to the other's education, training, or career advancement
Compensatory support under ORS 107.105(1)(d)(B) recognizes the economic sacrifice one spouse made to advance the other's earning capacity.
Question 3: What is the primary standard Oregon courts apply when making initial child custody determinations?
- The demonstrated fitness of each parent
- Maintaining the child's pre-separation status quo
- The best interests and welfare of the child (Correct answer)
- Preference for the historically primary caregiver
Correct answer: The best interests and welfare of the child
ORS 107.137 directs courts to determine custody based on the best interests and welfare of the child.
Question 4: Under Oregon law, joint legal custody of a child:
- Can be ordered over one parent's objection if the court finds it best for the child
- Is presumed to be in the best interests of the child absent evidence to the contrary
- May not be ordered unless both parents agree to it (Correct answer)
- Automatically requires equal division of parenting time
Correct answer: May not be ordered unless both parents agree to it
ORS 107.169(2) explicitly states that a court may not order joint custody unless both parents agree.
Question 5: Which of the following is NOT a statutory factor listed in ORS 107.137 for determining child custody?
- Emotional ties between the child and other family members
- The interest of each parent and their attitude toward the child
- The financial wealth of each parent (Correct answer)
- The desirability of continuing an existing relationship between the child and family members
Correct answer: The financial wealth of each parent
ORS 107.137 lists multiple best-interest factors, but a parent's relative wealth is not among them.
Question 6: Maintenance spousal support in Oregon is most appropriate when:
- The marriage lasted fewer than five years and both spouses are employed
- A spouse needs short-term assistance finding a new job
- The marriage was long-term and the supported spouse cannot reasonably become fully self-supporting (Correct answer)
- A spouse sacrificed a career to put the other through professional school
Correct answer: The marriage was long-term and the supported spouse cannot reasonably become fully self-supporting
Maintenance support under ORS 107.105(1)(d)(C) provides ongoing support where a spouse cannot achieve self-sufficiency, typically after a lengthy marriage.
Question 7: Under what circumstances may an Oregon court modify a spousal support award after entry of the dissolution judgment?
- At any time upon motion of either party
- Only within five years of the original judgment
- Upon a showing of a substantial change in the economic circumstances of either party (Correct answer)
- Only if both parties consent to the proposed modification
Correct answer: Upon a showing of a substantial change in the economic circumstances of either party
ORS 107.135(2)(a) permits modification of spousal support upon a substantial change in the economic circumstances of either party.
OR Bar Family Law 3
Oregon recognizes three types of spousal support.
Which type is designed to help a lower-earning spouse become self-supporting through education or job training?