Glass v. Williamson

137 S.W.3d 114, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 2296, 2004 WL 440406
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 11, 2004
Docket01-02-00361-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 137 S.W.3d 114 (Glass v. Williamson) 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
Glass v. Williamson, 137 S.W.3d 114, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 2296, 2004 WL 440406 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION ON REHEARING

ADELE HEDGES, Justice.

We issued our opinion in this appeal on July 10, 2003, in which we reversed and rendered the trial court’s judgment in favor of appellee. Appellee filed a motion for rehearing in this Court on August 11, 2003. We grant appellee’s motion for rehearing, vacate and withdraw the Court’s prior opinion and judgment of July 10, 2001, and issue this opinion and judgment in their stead. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

*116 Procedural Background

This is an appeal from a cumulative money judgment for child-support arrear-ages in the amount of $276,450.85 entered against appellant Roger K. Glass (husband) in favor of appellee Patricia Williamson (wife). 1 In three points of error, husband contends the trial court erred because (1) it did not issue findings of fact and conclusions of law, (2) it enforced a decree that was ambiguous, and (3) it awarded child support in the amount of $43 per week per child.

Background

On April 7, 1980, a final decree of divorce was entered in Wayne County, Michigan dissolving the marriage between husband and wife and ordering husband to pay wife child support for his three children. The relevant language of the decree (support order) states as follows:

[Husband] shall pay the sum of Dflorty-three ($43.00) [djollars, per week, in advance, to the Office of the Friend of the Court, as and for the support and maintenance of each of the minor children until the children shall respectively attain the age of eighteen (18) years or until the further [o]rder of the Court.

The clerk’s record reflects that wife filed the following documents on November 3, 1999: (1) a notice of registration of foreign support order, (2) a notice of application for judicial writ of withholding, and (3) a certificate of delivery of the notice of application for judicial writ of withholding. Husband filed his motion to stay issuance of writ of withholding on December 14, 1999. Wife then filed a motion for cumulative judgment of child support arrears and a petition for suspension of licenses for failure to pay child support on August 9, 2001. On December 21, 2001, wife filed a supplemental motion for cumulative judgment of child support arrears and petition for suspension of licenses for failure to pay child support. The trial court entered a cumulative money judgment in the amount of $276,450.85 against husband on December 31, 2001.

Jurisdiction

On rehearing, wife contends that the trial court was without jurisdiction to consider husband’s contest of the amount of arrearages reflected in the application for judicial writ of withholding, because he failed to timely file his motion to stay issuance of writ of withholding as required by Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 158.307(a) (Vernon 2002).

Section 158.307 requires that an obligor file a motion to stay within ten days after receipt of the obligee’s application for judicial writ of withholding. Id. Wife contends she filed the notice of application for writ of judicial withholding on November 3, 1999, and perfected service on husband by sending the document to husband’s address by first class mail pursuant to Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 158.306 (Vernon 2002). Assuming without deciding these facts, husband had, pursuant to Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 158.306 (Vernon 2002) and Tex. Fam.Code ANN. § 158.307 (Vernon 2002), at the maximum, 20 days from the date wife mailed the notice to contest the application. Because more than 20 days elapsed from when wife mailed the notice, she argues that the trial court was without jurisdiction to consider whether the amounts reflected in the notice of application for writ of judicial withholding were incorrect. We disagree.

*117 In Dubai Petroleum Co. v. Kazi, 12 S.W.3d 71, 76 (Tex.2000), the Texas Supreme Court overruled Mingus v. Wadley, 115 Tex. 551, 285 S.W. 1084, to the extent that Mingus characterized a plaintiffs failure to establish a statutory prerequisite as jurisdictional. Dubai, 12 S.W.3d at 74. After Dubai was decided, it was no longer permissible to characterize a party’s failure to establish a statutory prerequisite as a jurisdictional defect. Id. at 76. The focus shifted from whether or not the district court had subject matter jurisdiction to decide the issue to whether or not the party requesting relief was entitled to the relief sought. Id. at 76-77.

Husband’s failure to adhere to the procedural requirements of Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 158.307 (Vernon 2002) did not divest the district court of subject matter jurisdiction, but instead, only raised the issue of whether husband was entitled to the relief he sought. Dubai, 12 S.W.3d at 76-77. Furthermore, because only the issue of whether husband was entitled to the relief sought was raised, husband’s right to object to wife’s failure could be waived. See Tullos v. Eaton Corp., 695 S.W.2d 568, 568 (Tex.1985) (complaint that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction raises fundamental error and therefore may be made at any time on appeal); Mann v. Ramirez, 905 S.W.2d 275, 278-79 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1995, writ denied) (finding point of error raised on appeal did not amount to fundamental error, determination made as to whether point of error was waived).

Attorney General v. Mitchell, 819 S.W.2d 556 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1991, no writ), on which wife relies, is distinguishable from the present case in two ways. First, Mitchell, decided prior to Dubai, is based on overruled supreme court precedent. Second, the decision in Mitchell was based on an analogy to administrative adjudications by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Mitchell, 819 S.W.2d at 559 (discussing Texas Alcoholic Beverage Comm’n v. Sfair, 786 S.W.2d 26, 28 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1990, writ denied) and Stanfield v. Texas Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 422 S.W.2d 14, 17 (Tex.Civ.App.-Dallas 1967, writ ref'd n.r.e.)). We decline to employ the same analogy; contrary to the decisions relied upon in Mitchell,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

in the Interest of R.S.T., a Child
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015
in the Interest of A.W.D., a Child
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014
In Re RG
362 S.W.3d 118 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)
in the Interest of R.G., a Minor Child
362 S.W.3d 118 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Sonny Wilson v. Tdcj-Id
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010
Robert Twist v. Roel "Robie" Flores
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010
Ralph O. Douglas v. Elise S. Douglas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
Brian Lee Pope v. Nancy Pope
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007
Tina Marie Fox v. Troy Ben Fox
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
137 S.W.3d 114, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 2296, 2004 WL 440406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glass-v-williamson-texapp-2004.