Holder v. Scott

396 S.W.2d 906
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 23, 1965
Docket7670
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 396 S.W.2d 906 (Holder v. Scott) 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
Holder v. Scott, 396 S.W.2d 906 (Tex. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinions

DAVIS, Justice.

Plaintiff-appellee, Howard L. Scott, filed suit in the Fifth Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, against defendant-appellant, Carmen Holder, a widow, in the nature of a partition suit involving about five acres of land. The parties will be referred to as in the trial court.

Plaintiff and defendant were formerly husband and wife. They married in Tex-arkana, Arkansas, on March 9, 1930, and lived together until October 22, 1932. On April 28, 1931, they acquired the 5 acre tract of land. They lived in Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas. Plaintiff left defendant and went to Garland County, Arkansas, for the express purpose of getting a divorce, where he filed a suit on or about January 24, 1933. A judgment of divorce was granted to plaintiff, on Citation by Publication, on Feb. 28, 1933.

The defendant filed a suit for divorce and a division of the community property against plaintiff in the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, on Feb. 28, 1933. Mr. Scott was served with Citation by Publication. Judgment of divorce was granted to Mrs. Scott on March 23, 1933, and the community property was therein partitioned. According to the judgment as entered in the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, plaintiff was awarded the five acre tract of land that is involved in this suit as her separate property, free from any rights or claims. The judgment also awarded to Mr. Scott a $2,000.00 diamond ring, a $1400.00 automobile, and a radio of the value of $100.00.

It appears that the plaintiff, in the year 1934, filed a suit in the Fifth Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, to set aside the judgment of divorce and partition of the community property that was entered by the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas. The attorney who represented the plaintiff in that proceedings made the statement in a letter dated July 23, 1934, that the judgment “ * * * can be set aside by a proceedings brought in the same court in which it was rendered.” Yet, he filed the suit in the Fifth Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, and cited Mrs. Carmen Scott Holder by Citation by Publication.

It seems that Mr. Scott was not a resident of Bowie County, Texas, at any time after his separation from the defendant, but the record shows that he paid taxes on the property that is involved in this suit. The defendant also paid the taxes.

The plaintiff alleged that he and the defendant were the joint owners of the five acre tract of land that was described in his petition, and that each party was entitled to one-half of the same. Plaintiff alleged the value of the property to be $6,000.00. Defendant denied the allegation and alleged that she was the sole owner of said land.

Plaintiff demanded an abstract of title from the defendant which was furnished, showing that she claimed title to the prop[908]*908erty under the judgment of the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas. The defendant demanded an abstract of title and the plaintiff furnished one, showing that he claimed title to the property under the divorce decree of the Chancery Court of Garland County, Arkansas; and, under a divorce decree in the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, and a judgment of the Fifth Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, setting aside the divorce decree of the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas. After all the evidence was in, defendant filed a motion for judgment in her favor. The court overruled defendant’s motion and she excepted. The court entered a judgment for the plaintiff. Defendant excepted and gave notice of appeal. She brings forward four points of error.

By her points, defendant says the trial court erred in not granting her motion for judgment; there is no evidence upon which the trial court could find for the plaintiff; in holding the Arkansas Judgment a valid judgment; and in holding that the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, was without jurisdiction and could not grant defendant a divorce and partition the community property; and, in holding that the judgment of the Fifth Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, had jurisdiction to set aside and nullify the judgment rendered by the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas.

In a partition suit, a plaintiff must plead and prove title to the tract of land involved. There is no stipulation or proof of a common source of title, but it was stipulated that the land described in plaintiff’s original petition is the land that is involved in the controversy. The plaintiff, anticipating that the defendant would offer in evidence the judgment of the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, offered in evidence a divorce judgment that was rendered by the Chancery Court of Garland County, Arkansas. This judgment was offered for the purpose of attempting to show that the plaintiff still owned an undivided interest in and to the title to the land that he was seeking to partition. There was no objections to the judgment, but the defendant took the position that the judgment was void because it was acquired through fraud. Defendant then offered in evidence a judgment of divorce and partition of the community property of the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas. The plaintiff offered in evidence a judgment of the Fifth Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas, which judgment purportedly set aside the judgment of the 102nd Judicial District Court of Bowie County, Texas.

The plaintiff testified in the case that his wife asked him for a divorce. He then testified that they had an agreement that he would go to Arkansas and establish residence for a divorce and they would “split the sale of that property if and when it sold”. The plaintiff also testified as follows :

“Q. You didn’t let Mrs. Holder know where you were at that time did you?
“A. No.
“Q. I believe you said on cross examination to Mr. Brown that the reason you went to Hot Springs to file this, divorce suit was at the request of your wife.
“A. We had discussed it together and had agreed on it.

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Holder v. Scott
396 S.W.2d 906 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1965)

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396 S.W.2d 906, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holder-v-scott-texapp-1965.