Carl Ray Marburger v. Leslie Rene Guest A/K/A Leslie Renee Guest and Walter J. Parker

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 19, 2025
Docket01-23-00628-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Carl Ray Marburger v. Leslie Rene Guest A/K/A Leslie Renee Guest and Walter J. Parker (Carl Ray Marburger v. Leslie Rene Guest A/K/A Leslie Renee Guest and Walter J. Parker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carl Ray Marburger v. Leslie Rene Guest A/K/A Leslie Renee Guest and Walter J. Parker, (Tex. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Opinion issued June 19, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00628-CV ——————————— CARL RAY MARBURGER, Appellant V. LESLIE RENE GUEST A/K/A LESLIE RENEE GUEST AND WALTER J. PARKER, Appellees

On Appeal from the 190th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 2016-49657

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In this partition suit involving the interests of various family members and

two non-family members in a single-family residential home, the trial court issued a

final judgment declaring the parties’ ownership interests and ordering a sale of the

home. The judgment declared that appellant Carl Ray Marburger owned an undivided 1/2 interest in the home and that appellee Leslie Rene Guest a/k/a Leslie

Renee Guest, appellee Walter J. Parker, and Mary Frances Marburger Gannon each

owned an undivided 1/6 interest in the home. In his sole issue on appeal, Marburger

argues that the trial court erred by declaring that Guest and Parker each owned an

undivided 1/6 interest in the home. We affirm.

Background

Nancy Marburger was the sole owner of a single-family home in Humble (the

home or the subject property) when she died in 2005.1 In June 2005, the executor of

Nancy’s will conveyed the home by special warranty deed in four equal shares to

Nancy’s four children: Marburger, Vick John Marburger, Glen Greg Marburger, and

Mary Frances Marburger Gannon. About two weeks later, Mary disavowed her

interest in the home and conveyed her 1/4 share to each of her siblings in equal

shares. After this conveyance, Marburger, Vick, and Glen each owned an undivided

1/3 interest in the home.2

Vick died in 2008. He apparently died intestate, and his siblings were his heirs.

Vick’s 1/3 interest in the home was thus distributed in equal shares to his siblings.

1 Except for appellant Carl Marburger, we adopt the parties’ practice of referring to members of the Marburger family by their first names for ease of reading because they share the same last name. 2 The executor of Nancy’s will and Mary both conveyed Marburger’s share to a trust for Marburger. The trust was dissolved in 2012, and the interest was then distributed to Marburger. 2 After Vick’s death, Marburger and Glen each owned an undivided 4/9 interest, and

Mary owned the remaining undivided 1/9 interest in the home. Mary did not convey

this interest.

In February 2011, Guest and Parker moved into the home. In 2012, Glen

conveyed an undivided 1/3 interest to Guest by warranty deed. This conveyance is

the primary dispute in this proceeding. Marburger claims that he bought Glen’s

entire interest in the home in 2008 prior to the conveyance to Guest. In 2016,

Marburger filed a forcible detainer action against Guest, obtained a writ of

possession, and obtained possession of the home.

Guest and Parker filed the underlying lawsuit in 2016 against Marburger,

Glen, and Mary.3 In their live petition, they sought a declaratory judgment that they

owned an undivided 1/3 interest in the home. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE

§ 37.004(a). They asserted claims for quiet title, partition, and contribution from the

co-owners for maintenance and repairs to the property. They also asserted claims for

conversion of their personal property, liability under the Texas Theft Liability Act,

unjust enrichment, and attorney’s fees under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments

Act. See id. §§ 37.009 (UDJA attorney’s fees), 134.001–.005 (Theft Liability Act).

3 Guest and Parker were unable to find Mary to serve her with citation, so she was served by publication. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 758. The trial court appointed an attorney ad litem to defend Mary’s interests in the lawsuit. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 759. Guest and Parker originally named Vick as a defendant, but they nonsuited their claims against him in the second amended petition. 3 After the underlying trial proceedings were initiated, Glen died. Like Vick,

Glen apparently died intestate, and his siblings were his heirs. To the extent that

Glen retained a 1/9 interest in the home—which Marburger disputes—this interest

was distributed in equal shares to his living siblings. Assuming that Glen had

retained a 1/9 interest, after his death, Marburger owned an undivided 1/2 interest,

Mary owned an undivided 1/6 interest, and Guest owned the remaining undivided

1/3 interest.

The case was called for trial in February 2023. Prior to trial, Guest, Parker,

and Glen died. The attorney for Guest and Parker represented that they were married,

Guest’s 1/3 interest in the home was community property, and Guest and Parker

therefore each owned half of the 1/3 interest—or 1/6 undivided interest—in the

home.

At a pretrial hearing, Guest and Parker requested that the trial court rule as a

matter of law on the parties’ ownership interests in the home for purposes of

partition. To support Guest’s and Parker’s argument concerning their ownership

interest in the home, the trial court admitted into evidence the 2005 deed conveying

the home from Nancy to her four children, including Glen; the 2005 deed conveying

Mary’s 1/4 interest to her three siblings, including Glen; the 2012 deed conveying

Glen’s undivided 1/3 interest to Guest; and a demonstrative exhibit showing the

4 various conveyances, distributions, and ownership interests in the home since Nancy

died in 2005.

Marburger appeared pro se at the hearing. He argued that he bought Glen’s

entire interest in the home in 2008 by oral contract, and therefore Glen had no

interest to convey to Guest in 2012. The record indicates that Marburger introduced

into evidence an affidavit from a witness to the oral contract. The trial court did not

admit the affidavit, but the court allowed it to be entered into the record for purposes

of appeal. Marburger also argued that the 2012 warranty deed to Guest was invalid

because any sale “was supposed to go through the executor of the estate,” but the

deed indicated that Glen acted individually in the sale. Marburger did not present

any evidence supporting this argument. Marburger also argued that the deed did not

use Glen’s legal name.

During the hearing, the trial court ruled as a matter of law that Marburger

owned an undivided 1/2 interest in the home, and Guest, Parker, and Mary each

owned an undivided 1/6 interest. At the end of the hearing, the parties stated that

they had entered into a settlement agreement, and they withdrew their exhibits. The

affidavit of the witness to the alleged oral contract between Marburger and Glen

therefore does not appear in the appellate record.

5 The parties ultimately did not settle. Guest and Parker tried their claims for

conversion, liability under the Theft Liability Act, unjust enrichment, and attorney’s

fees under the UDJA to a jury, but the jury found against them on all their claims.

The trial court subsequently entered a final judgment in accordance with its

prior rulings and the jury’s verdict. Concerning the various ownership interests in

the home that the court had previously decided as a matter of law, the judgment

stated that:

2. Plaintiff, the Estate of Leslie Rene Guest, owns an undivided one-sixth (1/6) interest in the fee simple title to the Subject Property; 3. Plaintiff, the Estate of Walter Parker, owns an undivided one- sixth (1/6) interest in the fee simple title to the Subject Property; 4.

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Carl Ray Marburger v. Leslie Rene Guest A/K/A Leslie Renee Guest and Walter J. Parker, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carl-ray-marburger-v-leslie-rene-guest-aka-leslie-renee-guest-and-walter-texapp-2025.