In Missouri, party waives right to appeal when a Judgment is entered by consent/agreement

Party waives right to appeal when a Judgment is entered by consent/agreement.

Recent case from the Missouri Court of Appeals: Parties cannot appeal a Judgment that was entered by Stipulation (agreement).

Father and Mother entered into a stipulation where both parties asked that the court enter its second amended judgment. A judgment was rendered after a bench trial on the parties’ cross-petitions for dissolution of marriage, and Father filed a motion to amend to change summer custody and an award of child support to Mother. Mother also filed a motion to take additional evidence related to the tax consequences of the judgment. Father’s motion was denied, Mother’s was granted, and a second bench trial was scheduled to address the tax issues. However, the parties entered into an agreement and filed a stipulation, withdrawing post-trial motions and requesting that the court’s second amended judgment be entered. The tax issues were addressed in the second amended judgment, but Father’s custody and child support issues were not. Father appealed.

Held: Appeal dismissed. A party seeking to appeal a judgment must be aggrieved by the judgment and he cannot be aggrieved when the court has entered the judgment with the party’s consent. A party is estopped or deemed to have waived his right to an appeal when a judgment, order, or decree has been entered at that party’s consent.

No. 106068 (Mo. App. E.D., August 28, 2018), Dowd, P.J.