Dodge v. Dodge

Paragraph 10 of the separation agreement, entered into in New York by Lucienne Dodge and Douglas Dodge, provided that “[i]f by reason of monetary inflation or deflation the purchasing power of the dollar is impaired, the Husband’s payments to the Wife . . . [$800 per month] shall, commencing January 1, 1972, be increased in the same proportion as the rise of consumer prices as reflected in The Consumer Price Index of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.” The husband construes the quoted clause as requiring him to adjust the monthly payments to his former spouse only once — as of…