Hirczy v. Hirczy

838 S.W.2d 783, 1992 WL 208610
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 8, 1992
Docket13-91-424-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 838 S.W.2d 783 (Hirczy v. Hirczy) 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
Hirczy v. Hirczy, 838 S.W.2d 783, 1992 WL 208610 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

FEDERICO G. HINOJOSA, Jr., Justice.

Wolfgang Hirczy appeals from a divorce decree. By eight points of error, he challenges the constitutionality of Tex.Fam. Code Ann. § 12.06 (Vernon Supp.1992), complains that the trial court erred by not finding appellee equitably estopped from denying his paternity of the child, claims the evidence was insufficient for the trial court to deny him possessory conservator-ship, and contends the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney fees and costs. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Wolfgang Hirczy married Mary Hirczy on December 14, 1985, and Mary Hirczy gave birth to Alexander Hirczy on April 9, 1986. Wolfgang Hirczy is not Alexander’s biological father. The Hirczys separated in February 1989. Mrs. Hirczy began residing with Donald Moser in September 1989, and Mr. Hirczy filed for divorce on October 17, 1989. Mary Hirczy subsequently alleged that Sammy Salomeh was Alexander’s biological father, denied that Mr. *785 Hirczy was the child’s biological father, and requested that Mr. Hirczy undergo paternity testing to establish that he was not the child’s biological father. 1 Due partly to Mr. Salomeh’s absence, the trial court found paternity testing not to be in the best interest of the child and denied Mrs. Hirczy’s motion on June 4, 1990.

On January 8, 1991, Mr. Hirczy amended his petition and requested paternity testing of Mr. Salomeh. Blood tests proved that neither Mr. Hirczy nor Mr. Salomeh was the biological father of the child. By this time, Mrs. Hirczy had given birth to another son, Aaron Moser. Mrs. Hirczy then alleged that Edward Becker was Alexander’s biological father. The parties went to trial before the court on March 25, 1991, stipulating that Mr. Hirczy was not Alexander’s biological father. Edward Becker did not file an answer in this suit. The trial court found him to be Alexander’s biological father and then terminated the parent-child relationship between him and the child. The trial court granted the divorce, found Donald Moser to be Aaron’s father, named Mrs. Hirczy sole managing conservator of Alexander Hirczy and Aaron Mos-er, named Donald Moser possessory conservator of Aaron, and named no possessory conservator of Alexander.

By his second point of error, Mr. Hirczy complains that the trial court erred in not finding that Mrs. Hirczy was equitably estopped from denying his paternity of Alexander. Mr. Hirczy did not raise this argument at trial, and, therefore, did not preserve this point for review. Tex. R.App.P. 52(a). We overrule appellant’s second point of error.

By his third, fourth, fifth and sixth points of error, Mr. Hirczy challenges the constitutionality of Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 12.06.

A party who participates in a proceeding without challenging its constitutionality may waive his right to question that proceeding. Mercer v. Phillips Natural Gas Co., 746 S.W.2d 933, 936 (Tex.App. — Austin 1988, writ denied). A litigant who challenges the constitutionality of the statute that authorized the cause of action raises an affirmative defense, which must be pleaded. Leckey v. Warren, 635 S.W.2d 752, 753 (Tex.App. — Corpus Christi 1982, no writ); U.S. Reading Lab v. Brochette, 551 S.W.2d 531, 532-33 (Tex.Civ.App.— Austin 1977, no writ). Mr. Hirczy neither pleaded nor argued to the trial court that Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 12.06 was unconstitutional. We overrule points of error three, four, five and six.

By his first point of error, Mr. Hirc-zy challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the trial court’s decision not to appoint him Alexander’s possessory conservator. He argues that the trial court failed to find that it was in the best interest of the child not to appoint him a possessory conservator.

The best interest of the child shall always be the primary consideration of the court in determining questions of managing conservatorship, possession, and support of and access to a child. Tex.Fam. Code Ann. § 14.07(a) (Vernon Supp.1992). Trial courts have wide discretion in determining what is in the best interest of the child. Weimer v. Weimer, 788 S.W.2d 647, 650 (Tex.App. — Corpus Christi 1990, no writ). The trial court’s judgment regarding what serves the best interest of the children with regard to child support and visitation, specifically the establishment of terms and conditions of the conservator-ship, is a discretionary function of the trial court and will only be reversed upon a determination that the trial court has abused its discretion. MacCallum v. MacCallum, 801 S.W.2d 579, 582 (Tex.App.— Corpus Christi 1990, writ denied). The test for abuse of discretion is whether the trial court acted without reference to any guiding rules or principles; in other words, whether the act was arbitrary or unreasonable. Worford v. Stamper, 801 S.W.2d 108, 109 (Tex.1990).

*786 The trial court did not file findings of fact in this case, ruling that Mr. Hirczy’s request was not timely. Mr. Hirczy raises no point of error regarding this ruling. When an appellant does not properly request findings of fact and the trial court files none, we infer that the trial court made all the necessary findings of fact to support its judgment. Thompson v. Thompson, 827 S.W.2d 563, 567 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1992, writ pending); Saldana v. Saldana, 791 S.W.2d 316, 319 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1990, no writ).

The trial court ordered blood tests and found that Mr. Hirczy was not Alexander’s biological father. He is, therefore, not entitled to any statutory rights to possess the child under Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 14.03(d) (Vernon Supp.1992). He was, however, entitled to file suit and ask for possessory conservatorship before the paternity presumption was destroyed. Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 11.03(a)(1). If the trial court found that he had substantial past contact with the child, then Mr. Hirczy was entitled to maintain his request for posses-sory conservatorship despite having lost the paternity issue. Tex.Fam.Code Ann.

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Bluebook (online)
838 S.W.2d 783, 1992 WL 208610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hirczy-v-hirczy-texapp-1992.