{"disclaimer":"This is a summary of public court records and is not legal advice. Missouri slip opinions may be modified or withdrawn; consult the official source.","party":{"slug":"steven-r-finley-et-al","displayName":"Steven R. Finley, et al.","totalCases":1},"cases":[{"caseId":"moappd:ed111296:undated","opinionId":"c4dc79ad-7570-5378-a03c-fb5cbb6f1b08","slug":"steven-r-finley-et-al-respondents-v-karen-i-finley-et-al-appellants-111296","caseName":"Steven R. Finley, et al., Respondents, v. Karen I. Finley, et al., Appellants.","caseNumber":"ED111296","court":"moappd","courtLabel":"Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District","decisionDate":null,"year":2024,"display_summary":"Karen I. Finley and Steven R. Finley, siblings and beneficiaries of their mother's trust, disputed the interpretation of a settlement agreement (MOU) concerning a cash distribution related to their mother's residence. The trial court found a paragraph of the MOU ambiguous, concluding the payment should come from Karen personally, and ordered her to pay attorney's fees. The appellate court reversed, holding that the MOU unambiguously required the cash distribution to be made from the trust, not Karen personally, and therefore the attorney's fee award based on the erroneous interpretation was also reversed.","primaryTopic":"trusts","topicSlugs":["trusts","contracts","civil-procedure","appellate-procedure","standard-of-review"],"outcomeNorm":"unknown","officialSourceUrl":"https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=205073","detailUrl":"https://ott.law/missouri-courts/opinions/steven-r-finley-et-al-respondents-v-karen-i-finley-et-al-appellants-111296","relatedPracticeAreas":[{"slug":"real-estate","label":"Real Estate","href":"/practice-areas/real-estate","score":20,"source":"tag","evidence":["tag: real-estate"],"url":"https://ott.law/practice-areas/real-estate"},{"slug":"corporate","label":"Corporate Law","href":"/practice-areas/corporate","score":12,"source":"topic","evidence":["topic: contracts"],"url":"https://ott.law/practice-areas/corporate"},{"slug":"estate-planning","label":"Estate Planning","href":"/practice-areas/estate-planning","score":12,"source":"topic","evidence":["topic: trusts"],"url":"https://ott.law/practice-areas/estate-planning"}],"role":"respondent"}]}