## Facts

- Joseph Maddick (Husband) and Roberta (Sue) Ann DeShon (Wife) were married for about 20 years.
- The marriage was dissolved in 2003, and the dissolution decree required Husband to pay Wife $500 per month in periodic, modifiable maintenance.
- In 2004, the parties entered a stipulation modifying maintenance: Husband would pay Wife $750 per month for seven years as “non‑modifiable contractual maintenance,” and the obligation would terminate only upon Husband’s death.
- The circuit court entered a modified judgment incorporating the stipulation and providing that maintenance would be paid for seven years and “shall only terminate upon the death of [Husband] or September 30, 2011, whichever occurs first.”
- Wife remarried on September 29, 2007.
- Husband filed a motion to modify, arguing that under Missouri law maintenance terminates when the recipient remarries unless a written agreement or court order expressly provides otherwise.
- After a hearing, the trial court terminated maintenance as of Wife’s remarriage, finding there was no written agreement or court order extending maintenance beyond remarriage.
- Wife appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the 2004 stipulation and the modified judgment, which labeled maintenance “non‑modifiable” and stated it would “only terminate” upon Husband’s death or a specified date, expressly provided that maintenance would continue after Wife’s remarriage so as to avoid termination under Missouri statute.

## Decision

- The Missouri Court of Appeals (Western District) affirmed.
- The court held Husband’s maintenance obligation terminated upon Wife’s remarriage.
- The stipulation and modified judgment did not expressly state that maintenance would continue despite remarriage, so the statutory termination rule controlled.

## Legal Principles

- Under § 452.370.3, RSMo, maintenance terminates upon the recipient’s remarriage unless a written agreement or a court order expressly provides that maintenance continues after remarriage.
- Calling maintenance “non‑modifiable” limits later modification of amount or duration, but it does not by itself prevent statutory termination on remarriage.
- A fixed payment term (such as seven years) and language that maintenance will “only terminate” upon death or a date certain is not enough to show an express agreement to continue maintenance after remarriage when remarriage is not specifically addressed.

## Conclusion

Because neither the parties’ written stipulation nor the court’s modified judgment expressly provided that Husband’s maintenance payments would continue after Wife’s remarriage, Missouri’s statutory termination rule applied and maintenance ended by law on the date Wife remarried; the appellate court therefore affirmed the termination order.


Maddick v. Deshon, 296 S.W.3d 519 (2009)