Vandervort v. Vandervort
Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
134 P.3d 892 (Okla. Civ. App. 2005)
Roger and Patricia (parties), seeking to protect their marital assets given Patricia's declining health from multiple sclerosis (so she could qualify for Social Security disability and Medicaid nursing-home coverage), agreed to file an uncontested divorce on the pretextual ground of incompatibility, with Roger privately assuring Patricia he'd continue as her caregiver until she needed nursing-home care. After the divorce was granted, Roger allegedly stopped serving as caregiver soon afterward, forcing Patricia to move in with her parents; Patricia sued to vacate the divorce judgment, and the trial judge, finding the couple had colluded to fraudulently obtain the divorce, vacated it. Roger appealed.
Whether a trial court may vacate a divorce decree if there has been conduct amounting to fraud perpetrated upon the court.