Duffy v. Duffy

881 A.2d 630 (2005)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
D
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Duffy v. Duffy

Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia
881 A.2d 630 (2005)

SC

Facts

Brian Duffy (defendant) and Joan Duffy (plaintiff) divorced. The Duffys negotiated a separation agreement, which Joan drafted in the form of a letter to her lawyer. The letter agreement included child-support obligations for Brian. Both Brian and Joan signed the letter. Brian and Joan agreed that the lawyer would reduce the letter to a formal agreement that could be reviewed by Brian’s lawyer. Brian never signed the agreement drafted by Joan’s lawyer, but abided by the terms of the letter for a more than a year until Brian unilaterally reduced his child-support payments. Joan filed a petition to enforce the settlement agreement, including the child-support obligations, as contained in the letter. The trial court found that the letter agreement was enforceable. Brian appealed, arguing that the letter was unenforceable and that the letter should have contained a provision for reducing his child-support obligations if, for example, he lost his job.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Ruiz, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Family Law

Key Terms