In Re LAF

270 S.W.3d 735, 2008 WL 4838417
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 23, 2008
Docket05-07-00051-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 270 S.W.3d 735 (In Re LAF) 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
In Re LAF, 270 S.W.3d 735, 2008 WL 4838417 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

270 S.W.3d 735 (2008)

In the Interest of L.A.F., C.D.F. and N.C.F., Children.

No. 05-07-00051-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Dallas.

November 10, 2008.
Rehearing Overruled December 23, 2008.

*736 Jimmy L. Verner, Jr., Verner & Brumley, Dallas, for Appellant.

*737 Brian S. Loughmiller, Loughmiller & Higgins, McKinney, for Appellee.

Before Justices WHITTINGTON, BRIDGES, and FRANCIS.

OPINION

Opinion by Justice BRIDGES.

Appellant Christopher Fess appeals from the trial court's Order in Suit to Modify Parent-Child Relationship. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Background

Appellant and appellee are the parents of three children. Appellant and appellee were living in Arkansas when they decided to divorce and engaged in mediation as a part of their divorce proceedings. During mediation, they reduced their agreement to writing and signed it on January 9, 2003. Appellant and appellee were divorced by an executed divorce decree on June 16, 2003. Upon signing the divorce decree, the court approved the mediation agreement and adopted it "as its order herein."

The mediation agreement required appellant to pay child support and spousal support totaling $5,550 per month with $3,000 in child support and $2,550 in spousal support. Appellee later informed appellant that she was moving to Texas, and appellant decided to also move to Texas. Appellee contends that in 2003 and 2004, without seeking approval from the court, appellant did not pay some and reduced others of his support payments.

Appellant asserts that because his income decreased upon his move to Texas and he had to begin his business anew, his support obligations also decreased under the terms of the mediation agreement. Appellee filed suit to modify the Arkansas divorce decree in December of 2004 and requested appellant be cited for contempt of court for failing to pay his monthly support obligations from the time the parties had moved to Texas. The trial court awarded appellee a judgment of $18,200.00 plus interest for past-due spousal support and $36,855.60 plus interest for past due child support. The trial court also awarded appellee a judgment of $53,567.50 plus interest for attorney's fees, expenses and costs. This appeal ensued.

Discussion

Appellant raises six issues on appeal. First, appellant contends the trial court erred by granting a judgment for child support arrearages for the years 2003 and 2004 because the trial court incorrectly concluded appellant unilaterally reduced his child support obligation after appellee moved to Dallas. Next, appellant argues there was no evidence, or insufficient evidence, to support the trial court's findings of fact numbered 12, 13, 14, and 16 upon which the trial court based its award of child support arrearages. Third, appellant contends the trial court erred in granting a judgment for spousal support arrearages for the years 2003 and 2004 because the trial court incorrectly concluded that appellant had unilaterally reduced his spousal support obligations after appellee moved to Dallas. In his fourth issue, appellant contends there was no evidence, or insufficient evidence, to support findings of fact numbered 10, 11, and 16 upon which the trial court based its award of spousal support arrearages. Issue five challenges the award of attorneys' fees and costs. In his final issue, appellant challenges the trial court's finding of fact number 17 upon which the court based its award of attorneys' fees and costs.

A trial court's award of arrearages are reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Beck v. Walker, 154 S.W.3d *738 895, 901 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2005, no pet.); Attorney General of Texas v. Stevens, 84 S.W.3d 720, 722 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, no pet.). A judgment is reversed only when it appears from the record as a whole that the trial court abused its discretion. Worford v. Stamper, 801 S.W.2d 108, 109 (Tex.1990). A trial court abuses its discretion as to factual matters when it acts unreasonably or arbitrarily. Stevens, 84 S.W.3d at 722 (citing Worford, 801 S.W.2d at 109). The court abuses its discretion as to legal matters when it fails to act without reference to any guiding principles. Id. (citing Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 840 (Tex.1992)).

Under this standard of review, a legal and factual sufficiency review of the evidence are not independent grounds of error but are relevant factors in assessing whether the trial court abused its discretion. Niskar v. Niskar, 136 S.W.3d 749, 753 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2004, no pet.). We review the record to determine whether some evidence exists to support the judgment. Id. (citing Worford, 801 S.W.2d at 109). The judgment will be upheld on any legal theory that finds support in the evidence. Niskar, 136 S.W.3d at 754.

Issues One and Three

Appellant contends in his first and third issues that the trial court erred by granting a judgment for child support and spousal support arrearages for the years 2003 and 2004 because the trial court incorrectly concluded appellant unilaterally reduced his child support and spousal support obligations after appellee moved to Dallas. The mediation agreement provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

MONTHLY EXPENSES
. . .
27. Starting January 1, 2003, [appellant] will pay to [appellee] the sum of $5,500 per month for child support and spousal support. [Appellant] will pay $2550 in spousal support and $3000 in child support. . . . Child support and spousal support are based upon [appellant's] estimated net annual after taxes income of $165,000 each year. Spousal support will be paid until December 31, 2007. . . . After taxes are filed each year, [appellee] will receive a copy of [appellant's] tax returns. If an adjustment is in order according to the Family Child Support Chart one will be initiated at that time. Either party can ask their attorney to do the necessary legal work.
. . .
MOVING
38. The parties agree that [appellee] has the option of moving to Texas to be near her family. If and when [appellee] decides to move she will give [appellant] as much notice as possible as he plans to move to the same city to be near the children. He will need to change his business structure. [Appellee] is aware that a move may create a shift in [appellant's] income. [Appellant] will make every effort to maintain his financial agreement. In the event his income is reduced, the financial agreement would be ammended [sic] that [appellant] would provide 19% of his net income toward spousal support, and he would provide 22% of his income toward child support.
. . .

During the course of the trial, appellant admitted that he reduced or failed to pay his child support and spousal support obligations after moving to Texas. Appellant; however, contends the "moving" section of the mediation agreement permitted him to reduce his support obligations without court intervention if his income decreased. *739

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Bluebook (online)
270 S.W.3d 735, 2008 WL 4838417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-laf-texapp-2008.