The first step in the process of a divorce in Missouri is for the petitioner to file a petition for dissolution with a circuit court. Once the court issues a summons and the respondent is then served with the summons and the petition for dissolution, the parties typically begin to negotiate and exchange information via the process of discovery. Almost all Missouri divorcing couples come to an agreement regarding the terms of their divorce prior to the trial date. If the dissolution isn't settled, then each spouse (or their lawyer) will argue why their position is correct to the judge in what is known as a bench trial, and the judge will solely determine the terms of the divorce.
Duress
In Missouri divorce settlements, where both parties sign the marital settlement agreement, that agreement is generally legally enforceable and cannot be changed absent a significant and continuous change in circumstances that render the previous agreement unreasonable (the standard required for a motion to modify) Mo. Rev. Stat. 455.530. There are a few exceptions which allow a divorce settlement to be set aside and voided. Among the exceptions are duress, illegality and unconscionability.
Duress essentially means someone threatened you to sign the agreement to such an extent that you lacked free will to make a decision on your own. To void an agreement by claiming duress, one must prove that the contract was obtained by oppressing a person with threats as to deprive them of the free exercise of their will. What follows later in this blog below is a legal example of duress in a divorce settlement involving a famous television actor.
Definition of Duress
Black’s Law Dictionary defines duress as “any unlawful threat or coercion used…to induce another to act [or not act] in a manner [they] otherwise would not [or would]. Several appellate cases in Missouri have defined what constitutes duress in signing a contract or other agreement. The Costello case states that, “The central question with respect to duress is whether, considering all surrounding circumstances, one party to the transaction was prevented from exercising his free [consequent to] threats or wrongful conduct of the other.” Costello Family Trust dated July 20, 2006 v. Dean Family Lotawana Trust Dated July 20, 2006, 551 S.W.3d 561, 572 (Mo. Ct. App. 2018). In order for a contract to be upheld, both parties must have signed the agreement using their own free will. “Duress is to be tested, not by the nature of the threats, but by the state of mind induced thereby in the victim.” Id. To constitute duress [according to the Coleman case, it is sufficient to show one party was prevented from exercising his free will by reason of threats made by the other. Coleman v. Crescent Insulated Wire & Cable Co. 168 S.W.2d 1060.
Duress in divorce settlements
Duress can void a contract if the agreement was obtained by threats which cause the victim to lose the quality of mind essential to making a contract. Aurora Bank v. Hamlin, 609 S.W.2d 486, 488 (Mo. Ct. App. 1980). In the Aurora Bank case, Mr. Hamlin had taken out a loan with Aurora bank, having sign the loan documents himself only. When Mr. Hamlin fell behind on the payments, a loan officer and then the bank president visited Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin at their home. The bank officials lied to Mrs. Hamlin by telling her that she was legally responsible for her husbands debt simply because she was married to him, and that the bank would sue her for the debt. They then went further by convincing both Hamlin's to sign over the deed to their farm to be used a collateral to back Mr. Hamlin's loan with the bank.
When the bank sued the Hamlin's for the debt, the court found in favor of the bank against Mr. Hamlin, but in regard to Mrs. Hamlin the court ruled against the bank and determined the agreement and inclusion of the farm was procured under duress. Other cases have suggested that [t]hreats to take legal action with knowledge of the falsity of the claim can amount to duress. Leeper v. Beltrami, 53 Cal.2d 195, 1 Cal.Rptr. 12, 18-19, 347 P.2d 12, 18-19, 77 A.L.R.2d 803, 812 (1959). The court also found that Ms. Hamlin was a mild mannered person and not strong willed, and could likely be fairly easily overcome by other persons and in particular persons in positions of authority.
Empire
A relatively well know actor was involved in a divorce where duress was alleged. In the tv show Empire, a drama on the Fox network from 2015-2020, actor Terrence Howard plays the patriarchal role of Lucious Lyon, a music executive who is CEO of Empire Entertainment. The premise revolves around Lyon's diagnosis with ALS and his pending decision regarding which one of his 3 sons he will choose to succeed him to run the company. Perhaps ironically, while the character Howard played on Empire struggled through many dramatic situations, Howard's own personal life was not uneventful in itself.
Terrence Howard has been married four times to three different women, and has 5 children (3 sons and 2 daughters). Howard married his second wife Michelle Ghent in 2010, with whom he had no children. This short marriage was apparently quite turbulent, with at one point Ghent obtaining a restraining order against Howard consequent to accusations of domestic violence.
Following an equally turbulent divorce case, Howard and Ghent settled their differences and entered into an agreement to divorce in 2012. And that was that! Or was it? One of the key parts of the divorce settlement involved a clause stating Ghent would be entitled to a sizeable portion of Howard's future earnings. When the agreement was made in 2012, Howard was not enjoying the same magnitude of success as he had during other portions of his acting career. Yet a few years later he was set to receive a very large pay increase because of the popularity of his show Empire in its first year. The divorce settlement agreement called for Howard to pay Ghent substantial alimony (called maintenance in Missouri) in the amount of $5800 per month plus a percentage of any future income up to $4 million dollars annually.
In 2015 Howard's attorney filed a motion in the 2nd District Court of Los Angeles to set aside the 2012 divorce settlement and decree alleging he was coerced into signing the agreement by Ghent. According to a voicemail left by Ghent on Howard's phone, she threatened to publicly release embarrassing details of his life to humiliate and derail any future career opportunities in acting. Amongst the duress were threats to sell nude pictures of Howard, reveal embarrassing videos of him singing naked in the bathroom, as well as to reveal the details of alleged affairs and physical abuse on his part.
The Judge agreed that Howard had been forced to sign the settlement documents under duress consequent to Ghent's threats of public humiliation. Once the settlement was thrown out the parties were to re-litigate their divorce...or were they? Anecdotally by this time in 2015, Howard had already been married and divorced from his third wife Mira Park. The case then took another twist when a California appeals court threw out the District Judge's decision to set the judgment aside and reinstated the separation agreement.
Missouri duress in divorce
In Missouri divorce cases, marital settlement agreements may be set aside on the basis of fraud or duress. However, when the law was promulgated, the Missouri legislature put a limit of one year on the time within which to move to set aside the agreement due to duress. So Terrence Howard would have been unable to assert the claim of duress in Missouri had he waited the two years to file the motion to set aside the settlement, as he did in his own divorce with Ghent. Missouri courts follow the rule that a party who experienced fraud or duress coercing them to sign an agreement must come forward expeditiously.
It is crucial you are 100% certain you want to sign the settlement agreement you intend to sign in your divorce. Judges in Missouri do not frequently set aside dissolution judgments and to prove duress requires substantial evidence to paint a clear picture of threats and coercion. Anyone signing a divorce settlement agreement should discuss any details of the agreement they are uncertain about with their attorney. If you are a man signing a divorce settlement agreement in Missouri and are uncertain about anything and think you might need a lawyer, you probably do. We would be happy to review any divorce settlement agreement on your behalf. To schedule a consultation at the Men's Center for Domestic Resolution, please contact us on our website, www.kcmensdivorce.com or call us at 816-287-1530.
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