In re: Marriage of Schu
Annotate this CaseAfter twenty-three years of marriage, husband and wife separated when wife was convicted of seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under 16 years of age and three counts of oral copulation of a minor 18 years of age. Wife filed a motion for support five weeks before her release from prison, set to be heard three days after her release. The hearing was continued because husband was out of the country and then the hearing was continued a second time when husband could not obtain wife's vocational examination. The trial court concluded that its jurisdiction expired and issued an order denying spousal support to wife. At issue is the marital settlement agreement, which provided that the trial court will reserve jurisdiction to award long-term spousal support "until" wife is released from prison. The court concluded that the parties' conduct after wife's release from prison demonstrates that they did not contemplate the hearing on the issue of long-term support would take place the day of wife's release. Wife requested support before she was released and the hearing went forward as soon as reasonably possible. Therefore, the trial court retained jurisdiction to award long-term spousal support. It would be inequitable to so narrowly construe the word "until" when the parties' conduct and action evince no such interpretation. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded.
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