Carter v. Carter

736 S.W.2d 775
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 25, 1987·No. B14-86-278-CV·Published·Cited by 61 cases

Opinion

736 S.W.2d 775 (1987)

Nancy Marie CARTER, Appellant,
v.
Donald H. CARTER, Jr., Appellee.

No. B14-86-278-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (14th Dist.).

June 25, 1987.
Rehearing Denied August 6, 1987.

*777 Hillord H. Hinson, Houston, for appellant.

John C. Pavlos and Susan E. Crowley, Houston, for appellee.

ROBERTSON, SEARS and CANNON, JJ.

OPINION

SEARS, Justice.

Nancy Marie Carter (appellant) appeals from a division of property in a divorce decree. At issue is the characterization of certain stocks and bonds and a house in Montgomery County, Texas, which were awarded to Donald H. Carter, Jr. (appellee) as his separate property. At appellant's request, the trial court filed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Appellant did not file any objections to these findings nor did she request any additional findings. In eight points of error appellant alleges the trial court abused its discretion in characterizing the stocks and the house as separate property or in failing to impose a constructive trust on the house. We affirm.

Initially, we observe that where a court's findings of facts are unchallenged, these facts will constitute undisputed facts that are binding on all the parties. Further, these findings will be sustained if there is any evidence in the record to support them. James Holmes Enterprises, Inc. v. John Bankston Construction & Equipment Rental, Inc., 664 S.W.2d 832, 834 (Tex.App.—Beaumont 1983, writ ref'd n.r.e.). In addition, we note that appellant's points of error, both in her Motion for New Trial and her appellate brief, do not complain of the sufficiency of the evidence to support the trial court's findings but instead attack that court's characterization of the property as an abuse of discretion. Unless a trial court's findings of fact are challenged by point of error on appeal, they are binding on the appellate court. Katz v. Rodriguez, 563 S.W.2d 627, 631 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1977, writ ref'd n.r.e.). We will, however, address all issues as the results will be the same.

In her first two points of error appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by characterizing seventeen blocks of stock as separate property. She alleges there was insufficient evidence to show the stock was purchased with separate funds and that appellee failed to trace the original separate property into those stocks by clear and convincing evidence.

Property possessed by either spouse during or on dissolution of marriage is presumed to be community property. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 5.02 (Vernon 1975). To overcome that presumption, a spouse asserting separate ownership must clearly trace the original separate property into the particular assets on hand during the marriage. Cockerham v. Cockerham, 527 S.W.2d 162, 167 (Tex.1975).

The parties were married on December 7, 1974. Appellee testified that in April 1970 his father made a gift to him of 159 shares of Milk Proteins, Inc. (MPI) stock. MPI appears to have been a small, family-owned company that also employed appellee. In 1976, Stauffer Chemical Company bought MPI, employed appellee and converted his 159 shares of MPI stock into 4,645 shares of Stauffer stock. Appellee testified that in 1979 Stauffer had a two-for-one stock split, which doubled his shares to 9,290.

In January and April of 1981, appellee sold 1,156 and 1,000 shares of Stauffer stock, and, in 1982, he sold an additional 1,000 shares. The proceeds from those three sales went into community assets to pay community debts and living expenses. Appellee also traded in Stauffer stock apart from the converted shares, acquiring *778 166 shares as a Christmas gift from his father in 1981 and participating in six short sales in 1982 and 1983. The 166 shares were sold on June 13, 1984, and one-half of the proceeds went to appellant.

After he retired from Stauffer, appellee went to work for a securities firm. When he obtained his broker's license, appellee opened a margin account at the firm in his name only. He bought and sold stock on credit through that account, using his remaining Stauffer stock (some 6,134 shares) as collateral for the debt created within the account. On February 22, 1985, appellee sold 500 Stauffer shares to reduce the debt in his margin account. Shortly thereafter, he tendered 900 shares and then an additional 4,700 shares to Chesebrough-Pond's Inc. He accounted for all except thirty-four of the original 9,290 shares. Appellee used most of the $156,800 he received for the tender to pay off the debt within his separate margin account, to buy additional stock listed on his inventory (which he kept in his separate account) and to buy a van.

The trial court made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pertaining to the stock:

FINDINGS OF FACT

12. The following assets were acquired by DONALD H. CARTER, JR. prior to his marriage to NANCY MARIE CARTER:

. . . . .

(i) 159 shares of the common stock of Milk Proteins Inc.

. . . . .

14. Following the marriage of DONALD H. CARTER, JR. and NANCY MARIE CARTER, the 159 shares of Milk Proteins Inc. stock was exchanged for 4,645 shares of Stauffer Chemical Company stock.

15. The following assets were acquired subsequent to the date of marriage of DONALD H. CARTER, JR. and NANCY MARIE CARTER, with funds acquired by DONALD H. CARTER, JR. as a result of the sale of shares of Stauffer Chemical Company stock which Stauffer stock was acquired in exchange for 159 shares of Milk Proteins Inc. stock:

[listed are shares in sixteen companies, $20,000 of Harris County Tax Free Bonds and a 1985 Chevrolet van].

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

7. The 159 shares of Milk Proteins Inc. stock was the separate property of DONALD H. CARTER, JR.

. . . . .

9. The following assets are the separate property of DONALD H. CARTER, JR.:

[listed are shares in sixteen companies, $20,000 of Harris County Tax Free Bonds and a 1985 Chevrolet van].

Appellee testified at length about the 159 shares of MPI stock and its subsequent metamorphosis. A 1974 income tax return was offered into evidence to show that dividends on the stock were reported for that year. Appellee testified that MPI dividends generally were declared at the end of the year and then dated the following year. This testimony lends credence to his claim of ownership of the stock in 1973 (and thus prior to the December 7, 1974, marriage). The parties' tax returns for the years 1975 through 1983 were also placed in evidence to reflect the trading that occured in the Stauffer stock. Finally, on both the 1976 and 1977 tax returns, the notation (H) appears beside the Stauffer Chemical Company dividends reported on Schedule B. Schedule B instructs one to write (H), (W) or (J) to denote stock held separately by the husband or wife, or stock held jointly.

Appellant offered no evidence to refute appellee's testimony concerning the acquisition of the MPI stock. She merely concluded the shares "could have been acquired during the marriage." She argues, however, that appellee did not meet his tracing burden with clear and convincing evidence and that the uncorroborated testimony of an inte

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