O'Connor Brothers Abalone Co. v. Brando

Marlon Brando (defendant) and his ex-wife Movita agreed in a 1968 settlement that his $1,400 monthly spousal support would end if Movita "remarried," a term the agreement defined broadly to include appearing to maintain a marital relationship with anyone. Marlon stopped payments in 1971, arguing Movita's ongoing relationship with James Ford — which included frequent sexual intimacy, Ford keeping clothes and eating meals at her home, using her grocery and department store charge accounts, driving her cars, listing her address as his own, and regularly appearing with her in public including with her children — qualified as remarriage under the agreement, even though the couple never married or held themselves out as married. The trial court found no remarriage occurred because there was no ceremony and no public representation of marriage, and Marlon appealed.