Sheahan v. Sheahan

721 S.W.2d 81, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4849
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 21, 1986
DocketNos. 50547, 50567
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 721 S.W.2d 81 (Sheahan v. Sheahan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sheahan v. Sheahan, 721 S.W.2d 81, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4849 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

DOWD, Judge.

The marriage of Appellant/Cross-Respondent Eliza Fusz Whittemore, formerly Sheahan, (hereinafter Wife) and Respondent/Cross-Appellant Andrew Patrick Sheahan (hereinafter Husband) was dissolved by a decree of the St. Louis County Circuit Court on September 27, 1982. Two minor children, Andrew, currently age 7, and Ashley, currently age 5, were bom of the marriage. A marital settlement agreement was incorporated into the decree. It provided, inter alia, that Husband would pay all reasonable educational expenses for the children provided he consented to Wife’s choice of school and such consent was not to be unreasonably withheld.1 Custody was awarded to Wife. Andrew was enrolled at Rohan Woods School for kindergarten for the 1984-85 academic year. Husband paid all expenses (excluding lunches).2 A letter dated December 5, 1984, was enclosed with the payment in which Husband stated that payment was not to be construed as consent for the present or any future year. Andrew was then enrolled at Rohan Woods for first grade and Ashley for kindergarten in the 1985-86 academic year. Husband again refused consent and also-withheld payment. [83]*83Wife then brought a Motion for Citation of Civil Contempt or in the Alternative to Enforce Decree. The circuit court found the tuition costs for both children to equal $7,000.00 and that it would be equitable for the Husband to be obligated to pay one-half. It was therefore ordered that Husband pay $1,750.00 per child for the 1985-86 academic year and one-half of the tuition costs per child for subsequent years so long as they are enrolled at Rohan Woods. The court also ordered that judgment be entered for Husband as to the contempt portion of Wife’s motion. Wife appeals and Husband cross-appeals from the order requiring the Husband to pay one-half of the tuition costs. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

Among the court’s findings are the following: (1) Husband presented no evidence as to his financial status; (2) the location of the school is not unreasonable; (3) the parties have stipulated that Rohan Woods is a quality school; (4) attendance at Rohan Woods is in the children’s best interests; (5) Husband’s refusal to consent was based on a desire that the children be sent to Catholic schools in order to encourage their being raised in the Catholic faith; (6) Husband’s consent was therefore unreasonably withheld as Wife, as custodian, has by statute,3 the right to determine not to raise the children in the Catholic faith; and (7) the tuition costs are not unreasonable for a private school in the St. Louis area.

I.

Wife raises two points on appeal: (1) the court erred in requiring respondent to pay only one-half because the agreement requires the Husband to pay all of the expenses; and (2) an award of one-half constitutes a modification of the decree of dissolution without a proper hearing.

Since this was a court tried case, on appellate review “the court shall review the case upon both the law and the evidence as in suits of an equitable nature.” Rule 73.-01. This has been construed to mean that:

[T]he decree or judgment of the trial court will be sustained by the appellate court unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, unless it is against the weight of the evidence, unless it erroneously declares the law, or unless it erroneously applies the law. Appellate courts should exercise the power to set aside a decree or judgment on the ground that it is ‘against the weight of the evidence’ with caution and with a firm belief that the decree or judgment is wrong.

Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976).

Despite the highly deferential standard we find that an award of only one-half is not supported by substantial evidence.

This dispute centers on the interpretation to be placed on the word “reasonable” in the phrase “all reasonable expenses” in Paragraph Seven of the Marital Settlement Agreement. The trial court made no specific ruling as to this issue. It has been raised on appeal as a result of the one-half award.

Wife contends that the only contingency affecting the Husband’s obligation is that of his consent. She places the emphasis on “all” and refers us to Witzke v. Witzke, 662 S.W.2d 873 (Mo.App.1983). In Witzke the husband was required to pay all medical and dental bills. There was no modifier such as “reasonable.” There was, therefore, no ambiguity created. The provision was enforceable once evidence of the specific amount of the bills was introduced. We do not find Witzke helpful since the case before us requires the interpretation of the terms of the agreement as opposed to proving an amount.

Husband contends that “reasonable” means that portion of the expenses the court finds reasonable.4 He offers Nelson [84]*84v. Nelson, 516 S.W.2d 574 (Mo.App.1974), and Keltner v. Keltner, 589 S.W.2d 235 (Mo. banc 1979), for the proposition that agreements must be construed on their wording to ascertain the intent of the parties and that words must be given their established, legal meaning. Nelson and Keltner were part of a long line of cases which attempted to resolve whether a maintenance agreement was decretal or contractual.5 In Keltner “statutory alimony” was the term to be construed. “ ‘Statutory alimony’ has an established meaning which is understood by lawyers and which is consistently used by the Missouri courts.” Keltner, supra, at 238. Husband offers no such established meaning for “reasonable.” “The word, as applied to any set of circumstances, has an elastic meaning, depending greatly upon the position and viewpoint of the one who utters it and the one who interprets it.” Anderson v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 367 S.W.2d 657, 660 (Mo.App.1963).

We decline to ignore the term as Wife would have us do and agree with Husband that “reasonable” was inserted for a purpose. We disagree, however, as to that purpose. There is no indication anywhere else in Paragraph Seven that the parties, intended to apportion tuition expenses. “Reasonable” serves to modify expenses. It does not change all to one-half. We find the more tenable construction to be that “reasonable” modifies the types of expenses incurred such as those listed in the agreement. Once the expense is found to be reasonable, the Husband is obligated to pay the entire expense. We do agree that “reasonable” is intended as a limitation on the Wife’s freedom to obligate the Husband, but the limitation is not intended to apportion responsibility. The consent portion of the agreement limits the Wife’s choice of school and the expenses portion limits the types of expenses associated with that choice. These expenses, however, must stand or fall in their entirety. It appears unlikely that the parties intended the courts to apportion educational costs in determining periodically what is a “reasonable” share. Tuition obviously is a reasonable expense incidental to education. It is also specifically mentioned in the agreement.

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Bluebook (online)
721 S.W.2d 81, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4849, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sheahan-v-sheahan-moctapp-1986.