## Facts

- Mary Stewart and Johnny Stewart ended their marriage through a dissolution decree that incorporated their written separation agreement.
- The parties held title to the marital residence jointly.
- Under the agreement, Mary was entitled to remain in the residence until the couple’s youngest son reached the age of majority (then 21).
- When the youngest son reached majority, Mary was to pay Johnny a sum equal to one-half of the home’s “current equity,” with language allowing deductions for proper selling expenses, taxes, and fees if the home were sold.
- The agreement also stated the home’s fair market value “as of the signing of this Agreement” (about $28,000), which reflected equity of roughly $12,000 at that time.
- By the time the youngest son reached majority, the home’s equity had increased substantially (reported at roughly $38,000 or more), and the parties disagreed about what “current equity” meant.
- Johnny filed a motion seeking to hold Mary in contempt for failing to pay him his one-half share and sought relief that would result in sale of the home to satisfy his claim.
- Mary filed her own motion seeking to hold Johnny in contempt for alleged unpaid child support (and related expenses).
- The trial court denied both contempt motions, ordered the home sold, and ruled that Johnny was entitled to one-half of the equity measured as of the time Mary’s obligation to pay matured (effectively, at or near the time of sale).
- Mary appealed the interpretation of “current equity” and also sought relief tied to her claimed child-support arrearages.

## Issues

1. Whether the separation agreement’s phrase “current equity” required calculating equity as of the time the agreement/decree was entered (when a fair market value was stated) or as of the later time when Mary’s obligation to pay arose (at or near sale).
2. Whether Mary could obtain affirmative monetary relief for claimed child-support and related arrearages when those claims were raised through contempt motion practice rather than pleaded as requests for affirmative relief.

## Decision

- The appellate court reversed the trial court’s interpretation of “current equity.”
- The court held that, in light of the agreement’s stated fair market value “as of the signing,” “current equity” referred to the equity at the time of the agreement/dissolution decree, not the increased equity years later.
- The court remanded with directions to calculate Johnny’s one-half share using the equity figure tied to the agreement/decree date, rather than a later sale-date valuation.
- The court declined to award Mary affirmative arrearage relief because her attempt to recover back child support and related items was not properly presented as a pleaded claim for affirmative relief.

## Legal Principles

- A separation agreement incorporated into a dissolution decree is interpreted using ordinary contract rules; if the language is clear, the court enforces it as written.
- When a dissolution agreement uses the term “current” while also stating a property value “as of” the signing date, the text indicates the parties fixed the valuation point at the time of the agreement/decree unless the agreement clearly states a later valuation date.
- A court may not reinterpret an unambiguous property-division term in a way that shifts post-decree appreciation to the other spouse contrary to the agreement’s fixed division.
- Contempt proceedings address compliance; a party seeking a money award for arrearages must request that affirmative relief through proper pleadings, not solely through contempt motions.

## Conclusion

The Missouri Court of Appeals held that the separation agreement’s reference to “current equity,” read together with the stated fair market value as of the signing, fixed Johnny’s one-half interest at the equity existing at the time of the agreement/dissolution decree rather than at the later sale/maturity date, and it also refused to grant Mary affirmative arrearage recovery because those claims were not properly pleaded as affirmative requests for relief.


Stewart v. Stewart, 727 S.W.2d 416 (1987)