Marriage of Malcolm and Corless CA1/1

Filed 3/14/25 Marriage of Malcolm and Corless CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

In re the Marriage of JEREMY MARK MALCOLM and DOMINICA ANNE CORLESS.

JEREMY MARK MALCOLM, Appellant, A171560 v. (Alameda County DOMINICA ANNE CORLESS, Super. Ct. No. HF19042384) Respondent.

Jeremy Malcolm, appearing in propria persona, appeals from a trial court order requiring him to pay $1,177 per month in child support to his ex- wife, Dominica Corless, who also appears in propria persona. Malcolm claims the court erred in imputing income to him and denied him the opportunity to respond to one of the court’s bases for doing so. We affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Malcolm and Corless married in 2006 and have two children, a daughter born in 2007 and a son born in 2010. Corless filed for divorce in late 2019, and a judgment of dissolution was entered in August 2020. Under

a stipulated agreement, the parties have joint legal custody of the children and Corless has sole physical custody of them. At the time of the divorce, both parties were unemployed, and the issue of child support was reserved. In October 2021, at Corless’s request, the trial court entered an order directing Malcolm to pay $919 per month in child support. The parties stipulated to increasing the payment to the guideline child support amount of $1,200 per month in May 2023, based on Malcolm’s reported monthly gross income of $4,990. In June 2024, the Alameda County Department of Child Support Services (Department) moved to modify the child support order based on changed circumstances. Corless submitted a declaration stating that Malcolm had been arrested in Australia for “importing prohibited tier 2 goods and making misleading statements to officials” and was currently living in that country with his parents. She requested two additions to the $1,589 in monthly income he now disclosed: the amount she paid him for his interest in their family home ($1,966) and the amount he saved in rent by living with his parents (which she estimated at $1,518, based on comparable rental properties). Both parties and the Department appeared at a contested hearing in August 2024. Corless was represented by counsel, and Malcolm, who is an attorney and appeared remotely from Australia, was not. Malcolm explained that he was living in the United States until the previous year, when he went to Australia for a visit. Upon arriving, he was arrested and incarcerated for about a month, after which he began living with his parents. He said he was fighting the criminal charges, and most of the income he currently received was through an Australian grant to start a small business. He claimed he lived with his parents “out of necessity,” since his income was not enough to