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Plaintiff appealed the trial court’s judgment disinheriting her from a revocable living trust because she violated the trust’s no-contest clause, arguing that she was entitled to a jury trial and erred in characterizing the no-contest clause violation as a counterclaim rather than an affirmative defense. Plaintiff further argued that the trial court based its judgment on previously abandoned determinations.
Where parties had asserted tort counterclaims against plaintiff and the trial court’s judgment did not resolve those counterclaims, the judgment was not final and thus the court could not exercise appellate jurisdiction.
Appeal is dismissed.
Beckmann v. Wilson (MLW No. 83940/Case No. ED113220 – 13 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Hess, J.) Appealed from circuit court, St. Louis County, Stewart, J. (Timothy C. Sansone, Joseph A. Ott, Jeremy D. Hollingshead, Edna Besic and James C. Keaney for appellant) (Paul J. Harris and Sarah M. Vatterott for respondents)