David Mark Loyd v. Kymberly Loyd

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 24, 2025·No. 02-24-00284-CV·Published

Opinion

In the

Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth

No. 02-24-00284-CV

DAVID MARK LOYD, Appellant V.

KYMBERLY LOYD, Appellee

On Appeal from the 481st District Court Denton County, Texas Trial Court No. 21-6418-393

Before Kerr, Birdwell, and Bassel, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Birdwell

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant David Mark Loyd (Husband) appeals from a divorce decree dissolving his marriage to appellee Kymberly Loyd (Wife). In eleven issues, which we treat as ten, 1 Husband argues that the trial court erred by (1) disregarding certain intercompany loans between two entities wholly owned by Husband—ML Resources, Inc. (ML Resources) and Imagery Exploration, Inc. (Imagery)—when calculating the amounts to which Wife was entitled under the parties’ premarital agreement (PMA); (2) finding that Husband had breached his fiduciary duty to Wife; (3) finding that Husband had breached the PMA; (4) not finding that Wife had breached the PMA; (5) characterizing certain assets purportedly belonging to ML Resources as Husband’s separate property; (6) declaring that, as used in the PMA, the term “salaries payable to [Husband] generated solely from the new business entity” means all sums that Imagery had available for the payment of salaries to Husband, including net income; (7) ordering Husband to pay $2,300.00 in monthly child support despite a purported lack of evidence to support this award; (8) failing to require Wife to provide Husband

1 The argument raised in Husband’s fifth issue is also part of the arguments he raises in his first and eleventh issues. Because we will address this argument as part of our analysis of these other issues, we do not treat it as a stand-alone issue. See Nickerson v. Pineda, No. 13-17-00346-CV, 2019 WL 2041774, at *1 (Tex. App.— Corpus Christi–Edinburg May 9, 2019, pets. denied) (mem. op.) (condensing appellant’s four appellate issues into three); cf. McKinney v. Meador, 695 S.W.2d 812, 813 (Tex. App.—Tyler 1985, writ ref’d n.r.e.) (combining all of appellant’s points addressing separate elements of prejudgment interest claim and treating them as one challenge to the propriety of awarding prejudgment interest). Nevertheless, for ease of reference, we will refer to Husband’s appellate issues by the numbers assigned to them in his brief.

an explanation of benefits showing the uninsured portion of any healthcare expenses for the couple’s children before Husband was required to pay his share of any such expenses; (9) awarding Wife attorney’s fees; and (10) failing to award Husband attorney’s fees. We will affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Husband and Wife married in April 2008. They have two children.

Prior to marriage, Husband and Wife entered into the PMA, which contained provisions addressing the characterization of their property—whether acquired before or after marriage—and delineating the parties’ respective rights and obligations in the event of a divorce proceeding. Specifically, the PMA provided, among other things, that no community property would be created during the parties’ marriage; that all marital property would be owned by the separate estates of the parties; and that no community estate would be created during the marriage.

In July 2021, Wife sued for divorce, and Husband countersued shortly thereafter. The protracted divorce proceedings focused on the parties’ property rights under the PMA2 and the allocation of Husband’s and Wife’s parental rights and obligations with respect to their two children.

2 Each party asserted that the other had breached the PMA and sought declaratory relief to that effect. Additionally, Wife sought a declaratory judgment that Husband had breached his fiduciary duty to her by, inter alia, engaging in transactions designed to minimize the amount to which she would be entitled under the PMA in the event of a divorce and failing to fully and fairly disclose information concerning these transactions.

After a three-day bench trial, the trial court signed a final divorce decree in May 2024. Among other things, the decree (1) appointed Husband and Wife as their children’s joint managing conservators; (2) ordered Husband to pay Wife $2,300.00 in monthly child support; (3) declared that Husband had breached (i) the PMA and (ii) his fiduciary duty to Wife; (4) awarded Wife a judgment in the total amount of $321,120.64 for damages and attorney’s fees; 3 and (5) awarded Wife’s counsel a judgment in the amount of $46,466.04 for attorney’s fees incurred in connection with the suit affecting the parent–child relationship (SAPCR). At Husband’s request, the trial court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 296, 297; see also Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 6.711. This appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Intercompany Loans In his first issue, Husband contends that the trial court erred by disregarding Imagery’s loan obligations to ML Resources and himself when determining the amounts to which Wife was entitled under the PMA. We disagree.

1. Relevant Background Paragraph 7.5 of the PMA contemplated that Husband, who is a petroleum engineer involved in various oil and gas enterprises, would create a “new business entity,” that this entity would be his “sole and separate property,” and that the entity’s

The decree awarded Wife $254,315.93 in damages and $66,804.71 in attorney’s 3

fees.

“working capital” would “come from a loan or loans from . . . [ML Resources].” Based on the evidence presented at trial, the trial court determined that this “new business entity” was Imagery.

Under the PMA, Husband agreed that “[i]n consideration of [Wife’s] agreement to relinquish any and all interest in” Imagery, “all oil and gas leases acquired through his efforts after the date of marriage [would] be acquired in the name of [Imagery]”; “all drilling operations” under these leases would “occur through” Imagery; and “all oil royalties, working interests, overriding oil interests, and mineral deeds as to oil, gas, and other minerals arising from” these leases would “be through” Imagery. Husband also agreed that if the couple divorced, Wife would receive, among other things, “one[]half (50%) of all cash or cash equivalents” in any of Imagery’s accounts “net of all liabilities,” including the working capital loans from ML Resources, and “a one-half depreciated cash value payment for any undeveloped oil and gas leases that [Imagery] may own which [had] not been developed into drilling prospects . . . after all other liabilities of [Imagery] have first been deducted.” The PMA further provided that all “salaries payable to [Husband] generated solely from [Imagery]” would be jointly owned by Husband and Wife and would be placed in a jointly managed account in which each party would have a fifty-percent undivided interest.

In her divorce petition, Wife sought declaratory relief confirming her aforementioned rights under the PMA. In addition, she sought a declaration that “the loans allegedly owed by [Imagery] to [ML Resources and Husband] are barred by . . .

limitations and are there[fore] unenforceable against [Imagery].” Husband and Wife both called forensic certified public accountants (CPAs) as experts to testify regarding the enforceability of these loans and whether they should be considered liabilities of Imagery for purposes of calculating the amounts to which Wife was entitled under the PMA.

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