Richardson v. Richardson
Missouri Supreme Court
218 S.W.3d 426 (2007)
When Joseph and Ida Richardson (plaintiff and defendant) divorced, they entered a separation agreement under which Joseph promised to pay Ida $2,425 per month in maintenance until her remarriage or either party's death, expressly stating the agreement was nonmodifiable no matter the circumstances; the trial court found it not unconscionable and incorporated it into the divorce decree. Years later, Joseph petitioned to terminate his maintenance obligation, alleging Ida had tried to hire people to burglarize his home and kill him; the trial court dismissed his petition, and he appealed.
Whether maintenance may later be terminated, despite a nonmodifiable agreement incorporated into a divorce decree after being found not unconscionable, on the grounds that the recipient attempted to have the payor burglarized and murdered.