Section 29.12 Contribution

• Library: Family Law Deskbook and 2014 Supp

a. (§29.12) Contribution

In Anderson v. Stacker, 317 S.W.2d 417 (Mo. 1958), unmarried cohabitants owned real estate titled in the names of the plaintiff and the defendant, as his wife. According to the evidence in a quiet title suit between them, the plaintiff contributed all of the funds to acquire the property. Although the defendant testified that they were pooling their resources, there was no evidence “that she performed services such as a woman living with a man ordinarily renders.” Id. at 421. The trial court concluded that the defendant did not contribute to a joint enterprise and quieted title exclusively in favor of the plaintiff. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, when parties knowingly live in a meretricious relationship, a conveyance to them as husband and wife...