Appellant’s (hereinafter husband) motion to modify the alimony provisions of a Kansas divorce decree in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, was dismissed on motion of respondent (hereinafter wife) and the husband has appealed.
The apical issue on appeal is whether Missouri (the forum state) is precluded from modifying the alimony provisions of a Kansas (state of rendition) divorce decree by reason of U.S. Const. Art. IV, § 1, popularly referred to as the “full faith and credit clause.” A compendium of prior procedural events, both in Kansas and Missouri, is necessary to place this issue in proper focus for disposition.
On May 13, 1971, the District Court of Johnson County, Kansas, entered a decree of divorce dissolving the bonds of matrimony existing between the wife and husband. There were no children born of the marriage. Both parties were residents of the State of Kansas at the time and represented by counsel. Jurisdiction of the District Court of Johnson County, Kansas, both over the parties and the subject matter, has hever been questioned.
In anticipation of the divorce, a “Property Settlement Agreement” was entered into between the wife and husband on April 2, 1971, which, inter alia, contained a provision for the payment of permanent alimony in a fixed monthly sum by the husband to the wife, which was found by the District Court of Johnson County, Kansas, to be “fair and equitable”, and approved, and the terms thereof were “incorporated in”, made a “part” of, and “merged in” the decree of divorce. The settlement agreement contained no provisions for modification. Kan.Stat.Ann. § 60-1610(d) (1965)
Following the divorce, the wife and husband moved from the State of Kansas. The husband became a resident of Jackson County, Missouri, and the wife became a resident of the State of Florida. Subsequently, the monthly alimony payments fell into arrears, thereby prompting the wife to petition the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, pursuant to § 511.760, RSMo 1978 and Rule 74.79, for registration of the Kansas divorce decree. A final order of registration of the Kansas divorce decree was entered by the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, on January 27, 1982. No appeal was taken by the husband üu from.
The husband paid the monthly alimony payments which were in arrears, and, on August 19, 1982, filed a “Motion to Modify Decree of Divorce”. His motion carried
Within due time the wife, in response to the husband’s motion for modification, filed what was captioned “Motion To Dismiss For Lack Of Jurisdiction”. The gist of the wife’s “Motion To Dismiss For Lack Of Jurisdiction”, if correctly perceived by this court, being that the Circuit Court of Jackson County lacked “jurisdiction” in the sense that the Kansas decree of divorce was immune from modification in Missouri, the forum state, under the “full faith and credit clause”, as it was not subject to modification in Kansas, the state of rendition. The Circuit Court of Jackson County sustained the wife’s motion to dismiss and, accordingly, entered an order dismissing the husband’s “Motion To Modify Decree Of Divorce As To Maintenance”, from which order the husband appealed.
The husband advances two arguments in a single point on appeal as bases for reversal: (1) registration of the Kansas decree in Missouri by the wife converted the Kansas decree into a Missouri decree for all purposes, including modification in accordance with and pursuant to Missouri law; and (2) Missouri, the forum state, had a legitimate public interest in entertaining the husband’s motion for modification of the alimony provision of the Kansas divorce decree by reason of the fact that the husband was a resident of Missouri, thereby removing the Kansas divorce decree from the purview of the “full faith and credit clause” of the Federal Constitution.
As noted in Yarborough v. Yarborough,
In Mangold, a Kansas divorce decree was registered by the wife as a judgment in Missouri in accordance with the provisions of the statute for registration and enforcement of foreign judgments. Modification of the Kansas divorce decree was in no way involved. The sole issue on appeal in Mangold was whether Missouri or Kansas procedural law applied regarding enforcement of the judgment in Missouri. Mangold held that Missouri procedural law applied. The husband in the instant case seizes upon the language emphasized in the excerpt quoted from Mangold as judicially holding that registration of a foreign judgment in Missouri ipso facto converts the same into a Missouri judgment for all intents and purposes as if originally entered in Missouri. Building from there, the husband argues that under Missouri statutory and case law, citing § 452.110, RSMo 1978, and Whitworth v. Whitworth,
The strained construction which the husband attempts to attach to the emphasized language from Mangold would emasculate both the clear legislative intent in enacting § 511.760, supra, and the mandate of the full faith and credit clause of the Federal Constitution. Concomitantly, registration of the Kansas divorce decree in Missouri did not, as summarily concluded by the husband, result in merger of the Kansas divorce decree into the Missouri order of registration for all purposes and supplant or divest the Kansas divorce decree of continuing force and effect. The theory that a foreign judgment is merged in a judgment obtained in another state so as to render the foreign judgment of no further force or effect is rejected. As noted in Wolford v. Scarbrough,
The focus of this opinion now shifts to the husband’s alternate contention that his residency in Missouri gives this state a legitimate public interest of such overriding magnitude that its right to entertain the motion to modify cannot be thwarted by the full faith and credit clause. The husband relies on Thompson v. Thompson,
On appeal the court in Thompson took cognizance of the question re the full faith and credit clause reserved for consideration by the Supreme Court in Yarborough v. Yarborough, supra,
In Thompson, the court concluded that since the wife, husband and children were all residents of Missouri, coupled with the continuing relationship of parent and child between the father and children, and his attendant duty of support, Missouri was the only sovereign with a legitimate compelling public interest in the welfare of the children. Moreover, upon balancing Missouri’s singular public interest in the continuing welfare of the children with policy reasons undergirding the full faith and credit clause, the court in Thompson concluded that the scales tipped in favor of holding that the trial court’s order continuing child support payments until the children reached the age of twenty-one did not offend the full faith and credit clause.
It is readily apparent that the instant case, factually, is distinguishable from Thompson in a number of fundamental, salient respects. When the Kansas divorce decree at hand was granted the relationship of husband and wife was severed, and no relationship, such as that between parent and child, continued to exist. Moreover, the Kansas divorce decree dealt exclusively with the respective rights of adults and the present and future welfare of minor children was not involved. This court is unwilling to lightly brush aside the fact that when the husband and wife entered into the property settlement agreement in anticipation of the divorce they struck a bargain with respect to the allocation of property and the amount of alimony agreed upon was an integral part of that bargain. Under both Missouri and Kansas law contracting parties are presumed to know the law and have it in mind when they enter into an agreement. See generally: Hubbard v. Hubbard,
This court is constrained to hold that the facts of this case fail to mount a compelling public interest in Missouri, the forum state, of such sweep and force as to outweigh the policy reasons which the full faith and credit clause was intended to serve. To hold otherwise would be tantamount to reading into Thompson an authoritative breadth and scope which was never intended and which would inherently strip the full faith and credit clause of continuing integrity.
By way of a closing observation, the husband’s point on appeal, viewed in its entirety, reflects espousal of a dangerous dichotomy — registration of a foreign judgment connotes affirmation of the full faith and credit clause for a judgment creditor’s purpose and partial abrogation for a judgment debtor’s purpose. Adoption of this anomalous position advanced by the hus
The order and judgment of the Circuit Court of Jackson County dismissing the husband’s petition for modification of the Kansas divorce decree is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
All concur.
Notes
. Now Kan.Stat.Ann. § 60-1610(b)(3) (1983).
. Yarborough involved a Georgia divorce decree. The father continued to reside in Georgia.
The minor daughter became domiciled in South Carolina. A petition was filed on her behalf in*324 South Carolina, the effect of which sought modification of the Georgia divorce decree regarding support of the minor daughter. The trial court granted the additional support sought on behalf of the minor daughter and its judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court of South Carolina. The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari and reversed the state court judgment on the ground that the Georgia divorce decree was entitled to full faith and credit in South Carolina and therefore not subject to modification.