Favorable Changes to 065 Agreements in Missouri Apply Prospectively Only

The Court of Appeals of Missouri’s Western District has issued an opinion holding that the recent amendment to Section 537.065 RSMo. may not be applied retrospectively, under the Missouri Constitution.  The Court of Appeals held in Desai v. Seneca Specialty Ins. Co., 2018 WL 3232697 (not released for publication as subject to motion for rehearing or transfer, etc.) that the trial court’s judgment should be affirmed in which the insurance company’s motion to intervene and motion for relief from judgment were denied.  The insurance company had argued that Section 537.065, as amended effective August 28, 2017, required that it should have received notice of a “065” agreement and the opportunity to intervene as a matter of right.

Finding that amended Section 537.065 imposes a new legal duty, obligation on parties, attaches a new disability on the parties, and, further, gives a different affect to an “065” agreement than it had prior to the amended statute.  As such, the Court held that “amended Section 537.065 applies prospectively only to Section 537.065 contracts entered into after the amended statute took effect.”