Grossman v. Grossman

799 S.W.2d 511, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 2675, 1990 WL 176001
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 8, 1990
Docket13-90-077-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 799 S.W.2d 511 (Grossman v. Grossman) 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
Grossman v. Grossman, 799 S.W.2d 511, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 2675, 1990 WL 176001 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

BENAVIDES, Justice.

Ann Dea Thompson Grossman appeals a summary judgment granted on her divorce petition against Maurice Sidney Grossman awarding him property as described in their premarital agreement. Ann raises four points of error related to the premarital agreement. We affirm the trial court's judgment.

Ann and Maurice were married on or about September 28, 1974. On June 16, 1988, Ann filed for divorce. Maurice responded with a general denial regarding Ann’s request for division of marital property, pleading that the division of the marital property was subject to a premarital agreement. He also filed a counter-claim for divorce.

In January, 1989, Maurice filed a motion for summary judgment on his counterclaim, alleging that the premarital agreement was a valid document establishing that income or other property acquired during the marriage of the parties was to be the separate property of the party who earned it, or whose property produced the income or acquisition. He requested that the marital property be divided pursuant to the agreement. Attached to the motion were three exhibits: Maurice’s affidavit, a copy of the premarital agreement, and excerpts from Ann’s deposition.

Ann responded that the premarital agreement was void ab initio or, in the alternative, the formulation and execution of the agreement did not comply with Tex.Fam. Code § 5.46 (Vernon Supp.1990) and is unenforceable. Attached to her motion was a copy of Maurice’s deposition and a copy of the premarital agreement.

After the Texas Supreme Court handed down Sadler v. Sadler, 769 S.W.2d 886 (Tex.1989), an opinion relevant to the validity of the premarital agreement, the trial court reconsidered Maurice’s motion and granted it. The summary judgment granted the divorce and set out the property division between Ann and Maurice, essentially awarding all property to Maurice. By four points of error, Ann challenges the summary judgment.

The first matter we address involves the summary judgment evidence before the trial court. See Carr v. Hertz Corp., 737 S.W.2d 12, 13 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1987, no writ). The only summary judgment evidence before the trial court was Maurice’s affidavit and a copy of the premarital agreement referred to in the affidavit and attached to Maurice’s motion for summary judgment.

We turn to the other attachment to Maurice’s motion and to the attachments to Ann’s motion. In addition to the premarital agreement and his affidavit, Maurice attached a copy of excerpts from Ann’s deposition to his motion. Ann attached a copy of Maurice’s entire deposition to her response. An attorney who wishes to rely on excerpted portions of a deposition should attach copies of the excerpted portions of the original deposition as exhibits to the summary judgment motion or response, together with a copy of the court reporter’s certificate, and his or her own original affidavit certifying the truthfulness and correctness of the copied material. Kotzur v. Kelly, 791 S.W.2d 254, 255-57 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1990, no writ); accord Mendez v. International Playtex, Inc., 776 S.W.2d 732, 733 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1989, error denied). Unsworn deposition testimony does not constitute summary judgment evidence. Carr, 737 S.W.2d at 13. Neither the copy of the deposition excerpts nor the copy of the deposition were accompanied by a completed copy of the court reporter’s certificate or an attorney’s affidavit. Hence, the excerpts from Ann’s deposition and the copy of Maurice’s deposition were not properly before the trial court.

By points of error two and four, Ann contends that the trial court erred in entering the summary judgment based on the premarital agreement because it was void *513 as a matter of law under the law in effect at the time it was signed and if that law does not apply, that the agreement does not comply with § 5.46 of the Texas Family Code. By point of error three, Ann contends that there are genuine issues of fact concerning the premarital agreement with regard to her voluntary participation in the premarital agreement. Summary judgments are reviewed in accordance with the following standards:

1. The movant for summary judgment has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
2. In deciding whether or not there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, evidence favorable to the non-movant will be taken as true.
3. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movant and any doubts resolved in its favor.

Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-59 (Tex.1985).

The validity and enforceability of the premarital agreement is determined by the law in effect at the time the divorce decree was signed. Sadler, 769 S.W.2d at 886-87; Chiles v. Chiles, 779 S.W.2d 127, 129 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1989 writ denied). 1 The premarital agreement was signed by Ann and Maurice in July, 1974, and the divorce decree was signed in November, 1989. At that time, § 5.46 of the Texas Family Code was in effect. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 5.46 (Vernon Supp.1990).

Pursuant to § 5.46, Ann had the burden to prove either, (1) that the agreement was not executed voluntarily, or (2) that the agreement was unconscionable when it was executed and before execution: (a) she was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of Maurice’s property or financial obligations, (b) she did not waive her right to such disclosure, and (e) she did not have adequate knowledge of Maurice’s property or financial obligations. Chiles, 779 S.W.2d at 129.

The gist of Ann’s argument is that Maurice did not meet his burden of establishing as a matter of law that the agreement in question was enforceable. As discussed above, Maurice did not have such a burden; Ann had the burden of proving that the agreement was unenforceable. Section 5.46 places the burden on the party resisting the enforcement of the agreement by creating a rebuttable presumption that the agreement is enforceable. In a summary judgment context, when the movant is seeking to enforce a premarital agreement to which he is a party, such a presumption operates without evidence other than that of the existence and terms of the agreement to establish that there is no genuine issue of material fact regarding the enforceability of the agreement.

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Bluebook (online)
799 S.W.2d 511, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 2675, 1990 WL 176001, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grossman-v-grossman-texapp-1990.