Guan v. Ran, 2017 Va. App. LEXIS 30 (February 7, 2017)
The Court of Appeals reversed a circuit court's decision to modify a lump sum spousal support award, which the Court of Appeals concluded was a vested right once the final order of divorce was entered. A vested right is a right belonging unconditionally to a person as a property interest which cannot be taken away. The final order of divorce, which had incorporated the parties' property settlement agreement, required the husband to pay a lump sum payment of spousal support. Pursuant to the property settlement agreement, the husband was given the option to pay over five consecutive years. A year after, the parties entered into an amended property settlement agreement. The amendment waived the wife's right to spousal support. Under the authority of Va. Code 20-109(C) the trial court incorporated the amended agreement on May 13, 2016. In doing so, the circuit court held that the wife had waived the lump sum spousal support from the property settlement agreement and the final order of divorce. The court of appeals held that all of the support was vested once the final order of divorce was entered. Thus, the circuit court erred by retroactively modifying the support. While husband was given the option to pay over five consecutive years, the language of the final order of divorce required that he pay a "lump sum" of spousal support. Thus, the day the order was entered the wife had a fully vested right to spousal support. Once spousal support has vested, the circuit court may not modify the vested portion of the spousal support.