Hudson v. Aceves

516 S.W.3d 529, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 12798, 2016 WL 7011401
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 1, 2016
DocketNUMBER 13-14-00400-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 516 S.W.3d 529 (Hudson v. Aceves) 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
Hudson v. Aceves, 516 S.W.3d 529, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 12798, 2016 WL 7011401 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

[531]*531OPINION

Opinion by Justice Garza

Paul James Hudson filed an interlocutory appeal challenging the trial court’s temporary order enjoining him from initiating or pursuing legal proceedings in Mexico against Gloria Araceli Loeza Aceves. Hudson asks us to construe the appellate brief as a petition for writ of mandamus in the event that we conclude we lack jurisdiction over the interlocutory appeal.

We lack jurisdiction over the interlocutory appeal, but we find that the trial court abused its discretion, leaving Hudson without an adequate appellate remedy. Accordingly, we will conditionally grant mandamus relief.

I. Background

Aceves filed for divorce from Hudson, her third husband, in 2010. Her petition sought, among other things, just and right division of the community property and sole managing conservatorship of the parties’ triplet sons, born in 2005. In 2011, the trial court rendered temporary orders providing, among other things, that: (1) Hudson would pay Aceves $5,000 in monthly child support and $20,000 in monthly spousal support; (2) Aceves would have exclusive possession of a home in Quintana Roo, Mexico; and (3) Hudson was authorized to “make expenditures and incur indebtedness for reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses in connection with this suit.”

In September of 2013, Hudson filed a motion to dismiss the divorce proceeding on grounds of (1) Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 39(b), regarding joinder of parties needed for just adjudication; (2) forum non conveniens; and (3) the doctrine of comity. The motion argued that Aceves’s discovery responses have revealed that the parties were not actually married, and that “the validity of the marriage and the resulting consequences' of such a decision require the joinder of indispensable third parties that cannot be joined in this proceeding.” Hudson asserted in particular that Aceves’s second husband, Michael Coleman, had filed suit in Mexico to invalidate Coleman’s divorce from Aceves and that one potential outcome of Coleman’s suit would be to reinstate the marriage between Coleman and Aceves, thereby nullifying Aceves’s marriage to Hudson.

The motion to dismiss further argued that Aceves’s daughter Myrna “claims title” to the Quintana Roo property and that, because Aceves “refus[es] to' require [Myrna] to participate in this proceeding, this Court cannot acquire personal jurisdiction over her, and is therefore unable to fully adjudicate title to that property.” The motion to dismiss also noted that “nearly all of the parties’ real property is located in Mexico” and argued that the court would be “unable to render an enforceable order transferring property located in Mexico.” The trial court denied Hudson’s motion to dismiss and set a trial date of March 31,2014.

On February 26, 2014, Aceves filed a motion for interim attorney’s fees and expert fees, asserting that she will have incurred $390,000 in such fees prior to trial and that Hudson “for all practical purposes, totally controls]” the parties’ assets. The motion argued that Hudson “expanded this litigation by asserting that the parties are not married due to one or more prior unresolved marriages of [Aceves]” and that Aceves has incurred additional attorney’s fees as a result. On March 13, 2014, Aceves filed a motion to reinstate Hudson’s $20,000 monthly spousal support obligation, which had previously been reduced to zero. At a hearing on March 31 and April 2, 2014, the trial court orally denied Aceves’s request for reinstatement [532]*532of spousal support, and it reset trial for July 14, 2014. It did not rule on the request for interim fees.

On April 17, 2014, Aceves filed an “Emergency Motion for Further Temporary Orders” alleging that Hudson “has used a substantial portion of community funds in Mexico to file actions to deprive [Aceves] of the exclusive and private use” of the.Quintana Roo home and that Hudson “has falsified writings in Mexico relating to the property located in Quintana Roo to deprive [Aceves] of the exclusive and private use of the property.” The motion requested modified temporary orders prohibiting Hudson from “undertaking such actions and/or using community funds for filing and prosecuting of actions in Mexico with the sole purpose of depriving [Aceves] of the exclusive and private use” of the Quintana Roo property. The motion further stated:

Additionally, [Hudson] has used a substantial portion of community funds in Mexico to file other miscellaneous actions to harm [Aceves]. [Aceves] requests that the Temporary Orders be modified to prohibit [Hudson] from undertaking such actions and/or using community funds for filing and prosecuting actions in Mexico aimed at harming [Aceves].

Subsequently, on May 13, 2014, Aceves filed an “Emergency Motion to Reconsider Denying Temporary Spousal Support of Petitioner.” This motion asserted as follows:

As of May 1, 2014, [Myrna] or [Hudson] has taken complete control over the Quintana Roo residence and any rents or income from said property. Myrna has stated to [Aceves] that she has revoked the Power of Attorney for [Aceves]’s benefit and has refused to provide [Aceves] with any rent payments for the residence, if she is receiving any, until the criminal charges and litigation commenced by [Hudson] against Myrna and [Aceves] in Mexico have been resolved, [1] as Myrna has represented that it is her intent to use any rental income she may receive toward the costs of her legal expenses in responding to matters filed by [Hudson] in Mexico. The rent from the Quintana Roo residence was the only income, aside from spousal support, which has since been terminated, and child support, that [Aceves] was receiving for herself and the triplets.

The trial court set a hearing on all pretrial motions for June 18, 2014, with the hearing to be continued to June 25, 2014, if necessary. On June 18, the trial court heard testimony on whether Aceves was entitled to interim attorney’s fees and expert fees pursuant to her February 26 motion. In testifying with regard to that motion, Hudson agreed that he had spent over $400,000 in attorney’s fees in the pri- or ten months, including approximately $200,000 for attorneys in Mexico to litigate the controversy over the Quintana Roo property. He explained that that property was worth “something above $10 million for sure” and that he had pursued the litigation in Mexico in order “[t]o put [the property] into the [community] estate and under the jurisdiction of this case.” Hudson testified that, overall, he has spent $1,076,028 in attorney’s fees and expert fees in connection with the divorce, while Aceves has incurred $942,867.83 in such fees.

On June 18, the trial court also heard testimony regarding a motion Aceves had filed to transfer the custody issues to Flor[533]*533ida under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UC-CJEA”). The trial court did not explicitly state that it was considering Aceves’s April 17, 2014 or May 13, 2014 emergency motions on June 18.

The hearing continued on the following day, June 19, 2014. The trial court announced its intention to award both parties attorney’s fees “in order to move on to more substantive matters.” The court also discussed the scheduling of a hearing on a special appearance filed by Harry B. Swartout, an associate of Hudson who was named as a respondent in Aceves’s divorce suit.2

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
516 S.W.3d 529, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 12798, 2016 WL 7011401, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hudson-v-aceves-texapp-2016.