Marriage of Howard v. Howard

SNYDER, Presiding Judge.

The husband appeals from an order of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis denying a motion to convert a decree of legal separation to a decree of dissolution. The specific issue presented is whether the trial court properly exercised its discretion in denying the motion on the ground that dissolution would terminate health, welfare, life insurance and pension benefits furnished the wife by the husband’s union and employer. This issue naturally raises the broader question, one of first impression, of what standards should guide a trial court in exercise of its…