When Utah courts interpret a stipulation or an agreement in a divorce case, they generally do so in accordance with the law of contract interpretation. They attempt to determine the parties’ intention.

So far so good. But there is an exception to this general rule.

This exception pertains to alimony. By Utah statutory law, alimony terminates automatically upon the recipient spouse’s subsequent remarriage absent a court order to the contrary because of extenuating circumstances. See Utah Code Section 30-3-5(10)(e).

Husband and Wife were married for 28 years. They divorced pursuant to an agreed upon divorce stipulation. This agreement required Husband to pay alimony to Wife in two phases: 1) while Husband still had an ongoing child support obligation, he was to pay Wife $2,000 per month in alimony, subject to cost of living increases, until Husband’s death or Wife’s death; and 2) after his child support obligation ceased, Husband was to make an increased alimony payment until one of the following occurrences: a) his death, b) Wife’s death, or c) the expiration of 372 following the signing of the decree of divorce.

The agreed upon decree also included a provision requiring Husband to purchase a $1 million annuity with Wife designated as the irrevocable beneficiary during her lifetime with the power to designate any blood relative as the beneficiary for any death benefits. But if she remarried, she could not designate her subsequent spouse or his children as beneficiaries for any death benefits, even if she were to adopt the children.

This provision was designed to ensure that the annuity was for Wife’s sole benefit.

But that is not all. Importantly, the annuity provision contained a footnote …

In celebration of Halloween, I will leave the reader hanging in suspense. Will the aforementioned footnote spell doom for the legal position of one party or the other? Please stay tuned for the exciting conclusion in part 2 of this blog.

This material should not be construed as legal advice for any particular fact situation, but is intended for general informational purposes only. For advice specific to any individual situation, an experienced attorney should be contacted.