Court Opinion

ID: 9660223
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:07:56.147429+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:16.607383
License: Public Domain

REINHARD, Presiding Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the majority opinion, however, I want to state my view on the issue of the limitation of maintenance. Ordinarily, I believe that an appellate court should not tamper with a trial court’s determination to limit the period of maintenance. If any reasonable rationale can be inferred from the record for a limitation, we should affirm the trial court’s order. See, Sansone v. Sansone, 615 S.W.2d 670 (Mo.App.1981).
Here, however, wife lost custody of her two young children because of her mental condition. The trial court found that she has not fully recovered from her mental illness. While she is employed as a waitress at present, her future mental health is uncertain. Under these circumstances, the limitation is therefore, unwarranted. As was the case in Smith v. Smith, 586 S.W.2d 362 (Mo.App.1979), husband wanted to use the evidence of wife’s mental condition to obtain custody, but ignore it on the issue of maintenance.