Howard Reginald WILLIS, Appellant v. Lola E. WILLIS, Appellee

533 S.W.3d 547
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 24, 2017
DocketNO. 14-15-00913-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 533 S.W.3d 547 (Howard Reginald WILLIS, Appellant v. Lola E. WILLIS, Appellee) 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
Howard Reginald WILLIS, Appellant v. Lola E. WILLIS, Appellee, 533 S.W.3d 547 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

Kem Thompson Frost, Chief Justice

An ex-husband appeals from a final divorce decree arguing (1) the trial court abused its discretion in dividing the community estate and (2) the evidence conclusively established that spousal maintenance should not be awarded to his ex-wife. We modify the decree to delete the spousal-maintenance award and affirm the decree as modified.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Appellant/respondent Howard Reginald Willis and appellee/petitioner Lola E, Willis, married in April 1995, are the parents of three children — two sons, born in 2001 and 2002, and a daughter, born in 2005.

■ The parties’ two sons, now teenagers, both suffer from autism and receive Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) from the Social Security Administration, Howard and Lola stipulated that these sons are special-needs children. Lola has been the primary caretaker of all three children for the whole of their lives. She takes the children to receive medical care, and attends to.their other needs on a regular basis. Lola relies upon and receives help from her family in caring for the children.

Lola suffers from end-stage renal disease as well as other medical ailments. She has been hospitalized because of her kidney and liver problems. On dialysis for about two-and-a-half years, Lola goes for dialysis .treatments three times a week. Lola receives SSI from the Social Security Administration for her physical disability.

- At the time of trial, Lola and the children resided in Lola’s mother’s home. Lola and Howard stipulated that Lola cannot afford the costs of this lawsuit.

Lola and Howard stopped living together as husband and wife in January 2009, more than five years before this divorce proceeding commenced. In October 2014, Lola filed a petition for divorce, and Howard filed a counter-petition. The trial court conducted a bench trial. Howard and Lola were the only witnesses to testify.

■After the trial court signed a final divorce decree, Howard timely filed a motion for new trial. While the. trial court still had plenary power, over the decree, the trial court signed a different final divorce decree, from which Howard timely perfected an appeal. The trial court later filed findings of fact and conclusions of law.

II, Issues and Analysis

In his first issue, Howard asserts that this court has appellate jurisdiction over this case because the trial court signed the final divorce decree while it still had plenary power and because Howard timely perfected this appeal. Howard timely filed a motion for new trial on July 24, 2015. The trial court signed a final divorce, decree on September 16, 2015, while it still had- plenary power to vacate, modify, correct, or reform its prior decree. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 329b, Howard timely perfected this appeal. Thus, we have jurisdiction over this 'appeal. Though we agree with the assertions in Howard’s first issue,' Howard does not assert in that issue that the trial court erred in any way.

In Howard’s second issue, he asserts that the trial court erred in dividing the community estate. In Howard’s third issue he challenges the trial court’s order that he pay Lola $972 each month in spousal maintenance. In Howard’s fourth issue, he asserts that, if this court does not sustain his second or third issue, we should conclude that Lola .is not entitled to both spousal maintenance and the $60,000 judgment contained in the divorce decree because Lola asked that the trial court to grant one or the other, not both,

A. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in dividing the community estate?

In Howard’s second issue, he challenges the fairness of the trial court’s division of the community estate, claiming it is unfair to him because he received less than twelve percent of the community. estate despite there being no evidence of any bad behavior by Howard sufficient to warrant such a disproportionate division.

2. Standard of Review

When dividing property between two divorcing spouses, the trial court is required to “order a division of the estate of the parties in .a manner that the court deems just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of the marriage.” Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 7.001 (West, Westlaw through 2017 1st C.S.); Murff v. Murff, 615 S.W.2d 696, 698 (Tex. 1981). We will not disturb the property division on appeal unless the appellant demonstrates that the trial court clearly abused its discretion by a division or an order that is manifestly unjust and unfair. See Hedtke v. Hedtke, 112 Tex. 404, 248 S.W. 21, 23 (1923); Chavez v. Chavez, No. 14-14-00481-CV, 2016 WL 1613240, at *5 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Apr. 21, 2016, no pet.). In reviewing the trial court’s property division, we must consider (1) whether the trial court had sufficient information upon which to exercise its discretion and (2) whether the trial court abused its discretion by dividing the property in a manner that is manifestly unjust and unfair. See Chavez, 2016 WL 1613240, at *5. We are to resolve every reasonable presumption in favor of a proper exercise of discretion of the trial court in dividing the parties’ property. Id. Under this abuse-of-discretion standard, the legal sufficiency of the evidence is not an independent ground of error, but is merely a relevant factor in assessing whether the trial court abused its discretion. Stavinoha v. Stavinoha, 126 S.W.3d 604, 608 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2004, no pet.).

In Murff, the Supreme Court of Texas identified various factors that the trial court may consider when dividing the community, estate. See Murff, 615 S.W.2d at 698-99; Chavez, 2016 WL 1613240, at *5. These factors include the nature of the community property, the-“relative earning capacity and business experience of the spouses, their relative financial condition and obligations, their education, the size of the separate estates, the age, health, and physical condition of the parties, fault in breaking up the marriage, and the benefit the spouse not at fault would have received had the marriage continued. See Murff, 615 S.W.2d at 698-99; Chavez, 2016 WL 1613240, at *5.

2. The Trial Court’s Division of the Community Estate

Howard testified that he has worked for the City of La Porte for 27 years as a Production Operator. Howard holds a retirement account with the City of La Porte. The trial evidence showed that the community-property portion of this retirement account has a value of between $135,000 to $Í44,000. At trial Howard testified to a previously undisclosed deferred-compensation account worth $2,000' to $3,000.

Evidence at trial, including Howard’s Inventory , and Appraisement, showed that the community property at 249 De Haven Street had a value of $37,225. 1

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