Joseph v. Joseph, 101 A.3d 900

In Dec 2011 wife filed for divorce after 23 years of marriage.
In Oct 2012 parties agreed to split joint Morgan Stanley accounts and husband would pay ongoing obligations from his share.
Trial court approved the stipulation and entered it as a court order.
A two-day divorce hearing occurred in Mar 2013; final decree issued Apr 9, 2013 distributing assets nearly equally.
On May 10, 2013 wife moved to enforce the Oct 2012 stipulation for arrearages incurred before/through final decree; trial court denied, citing lack of jurisdiction and merger/ extinction of temporary orders.
Wife appeals; issue is whether arrearages accrued under a temporary order but not reduced to judgment survive the final decree.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a final decree extinguishes arrearages from a temporary order not reduced to judgment	Joseph contends arrearages accrued remain enforceable	Joseph argues final decree extinguishes such arrearages	Yes; arrearages not reduced to judgment do not survive.
Whether arrearages could be preserved by incorporation or judgment before final decree	Wife could have preserved arrearages by including in final decree or reducing to judgment	Husband should not pay after final decree unless preserved	Arrearages not preserved are extinguished by final decree.

Chaker v. Chaker, 155 Vt. 20 (1990) (temporary order; merge into final order; arrearages not addressed remain unresolved)
Camara v. Camara, 2010 VT 53 (2010) (temporary maintenance; final decree terminates temporary obligation; limited guidance on arrearages not reduced to judgment)
Colom v. Colom, 389 N.E.2d 856 (Ohio 1979) (final decree; accrued arrearages not reduced to judgment may be extinguished)