Thacker v. Thacker

311 S.W.3d 402 (2010)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

W, a Russian school teacher, met H, a retired physician, over the internet on November 30, 2005. In June of 2006, H traveled to Russia to meet W her daughters. H and W had discussed the possibility of marriage prior to H's arrival. H asked W to marry him. W accepted. After H returned home, they kept in touch by phone and email. One e-mail message sent in August of 2007 suggested that W would pick out a new Toyota Sequoia when she arrived in the United States and included photos of the vehicle in various available colors. In January of 2008, H submitted Affidavits of Support to the Department of Homeland Security stating that H intended to contribute to the support of W and her daughters, that he would marry W and adopt her daughters, and that they would be a family. H sent a letter to the American Embassy in Russia that stated his intention to marry W and provided financial information regarding H's assets and income. H suggested to W that she have her ex-husband sign away his parental rights to W's daughters to facilitate her visa. W sold her apartment in Russia and sold many of her possessions and several of her daughters' possessions. After making travel preparations, W sent all of the remaining proceeds from the sale of her assets to Husband in the United States. W arrived at the end of January 2008. Wand her daughters immediately moved in with H. The daughters, ages thirteen and sixteen, were frightened to live in H's house because there was no solid fence around the house, they believed that they heard noises in the attic or outside of their windows. The youngest daughter asked whether she might come in and sleep in H and W's bedroom. H agreed, but only if she slept in the middle. At about four o'clock in the morning, the daughter reported that H had touched her inappropriately. W and H married on March 29, 2008. Things fell apart from the start. W did not like H's frequent pornography viewing, H's constant demands for sex, the presence of H's loaded firearms in the house, and H's taking photos of her daughters. H testified that W's interest in sex seemed to decrease after the marriage and the daughters did not help enough around the house. On May 29, 2008, a Missouri Department of Social Services worker investigated the February incident with the younger daughter. The Social Services worker advised W that she should remove her daughters from the house immediately or that H should leave the house. H petitioned the court for dissolution of the marriage. Wife filed a counter-petition for maintenance and child support based on H's representations to the Department of Homeland Security evidenced an express contract for H to provide financial support for W and that W had relieved to their detriment on those representations. The trial court dissolved the marriage and found that neither H's affidavits of support submitted to the Department of Homeland Security nor his letter to the American Embassy in Russia established an express or implied contract to provide support. W appealed.