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71(b)(2)(C), that required Mr. Landreth to make support payments
to petitioner. The parties agree that Missouri law controls the
resolution of this dispute. A review of the relevant Missouri
statutes and procedural rules reveals that the terms "order" and
"judgment", rather than "decree", are used. We are satisfied
that an order or judgment that is issued by a Missouri court
constitutes a decree, which is defined by Black's Law Dictionary
410-411 (6th ed. 1990), as follows:
The judgment of a court of equity or chancery,
answering for most purposes to the judgment of a court
of law. A decree in equity is a sentence or order of
the court, pronounced on hearing and understanding all
the points in issue, and determining the rights of all
the parties to the suit, according to equity and good
conscience. It is a declaration of the court
announcing the legal consequences of the facts found.
With the procedural merger of law and equity in the
federal and most state courts under the Rules of Civil
Procedure, the term "judgment" has generally replaced
"decree". [Citations omitted.]
Accordingly, we consider whether the docket sheet entry is either
a valid order or judgment pursuant to Missouri law.
In Missouri, a judgment is the final determination of the
rights of the parties in the action. Mo. Ann. Stat. sec. 511.020
(West 1952). An order is every direction of a court or judge,
made or entered in writing and not included in a judgment. An
application for an order is a motion. Mo. Ann. Stat. sec.
506.050 (West 1952).
In Missouri, a request for relief pendente lite is in the
nature of an independent cause of action. Tate v. Tate, 920
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