Thanks for the replies. If you'll notice in my first post, I did file and get total legal and physical custody of our minor child. Also, I did use an attorney, which has put me in the poor house (to the tune of $45,000 )because her attorney was nastier than mine was and the reason I'm filing bankruptcy. Here, attorneys get $300+ per hour. So to hire an attorney to modify a spousal support would cost 6 months of spousal support. I'm hoping the court will will be reasonable but you never know. I'm also asking her to agree to stipulate it so going to court will not be necessary. And here in CA, the courts retain jurisdiction over support "forever" so there is really nothing here that is permanent, unless someone were to agree to that. We were to revisit her support amount prior to the dissolution but agreed to delay it pending the outcome of her criminal charges. Now that has been decided and now it is time to revisit the support amount. In CA, the court is supposed to take the following factors into consideration when ordering spousal support POST DISSOLUTION (permanent support as opposed to temporary support)

4320. In ordering spousal support under this part, the court shall
consider all of the following circumstances:
(a) The extent to which the earning capacity of each party is
sufficient to maintain the standard of living established during the
marriage, taking into account all of the following:
(1) The marketable skills of the supported party; the job market
for those skills; the time and expenses required for the supported
party to acquire the appropriate education or training to develop
those skills; and the possible need for retraining or education to
acquire other, more marketable skills or employment.
(2) The extent to which the supported party's present or future
earning capacity is impaired by periods of unemployment that were
incurred during the marriage to permit the supported party to devote
time to domestic duties.
(b) The extent to which the supported party contributed to the
attainment of an education, training, a career position, or a license
by the supporting party.
(c) The ability of the supporting party to pay spousal support,
taking into account the supporting party's earning capacity, earned
and unearned income, assets, and standard of living.
(d) The needs of each party based on the standard of living
established during the marriage.
(e) The obligations and assets, including the separate property,
of each party.
(f) The duration of the marriage.
(g) The ability of the supported party to engage in gainful
employment without unduly interfering with the interests of dependent
children in the custody of the party.
(h) The age and health of the parties.
(i) Documented evidence of any history of domestic violence, as
defined in Section 6211, between the parties, including, but not
limited to, consideration of emotional distress resulting from
domestic violence perpetrated against the supported party by the
supporting party, and consideration of any history of violence
against the supporting party by the supported party.
(j) The immediate and specific tax consequences to each party.
(k) The balance of the hardships to each party.
(l) The goal that the supported party shall be self-supporting
within a reasonable period of time. Except in the case of a marriage
of long duration as described in Section 4336, a "reasonable period
of time" for purposes of this section generally shall be one-half the
length of the marriage. However, nothing in this section is
intended to limit the court's discretion to order support for a
greater or lesser length of time, based on any of the other factors
listed in this section, Section 4336, and the circumstances of the
parties.
(m) The criminal conviction of an abusive spouse shall be
considered in making a reduction or elimination of a spousal support
award in accordance with Section 4325.
(n) Any other factors the court determines are just and equitable.

And this as well:
4321. In a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation
of the parties, the court may deny support to a party out of the
separate property of the other party in any of the following
circumstances:
(a) The party has separate property, or is earning the party's own
livelihood, or there is community property or quasi-community
property sufficient to give the party proper support.
(b) The custody of the children has been awarded to the other
party, who is supporting them.