In the Estate of Aguilar

492 S.W.3d 807, 2016 WL 1689659, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 4330
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 27, 2016
DocketNo. 04-14-00898-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 492 S.W.3d 807 (In the Estate of Aguilar) 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 the Estate of Aguilar, 492 S.W.3d 807, 2016 WL 1689659, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 4330 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by:

Patriciá O. Alvarez, Justice

This ease, stems from an award of sanctions imposed against Appellant Anthony Aguilar. On appeal, Aguilar raises fourteen separate issues. For purposes of clarity, Aguilar’s complaints are jointly restated as follows: (1) the Bexar County Probate Court did not have jurisdiction to sanction him for conduct in a separate court, .(2) the Bexar County Probate Court’s sanction order was an abuse of discretion, and (3) the Bexar County Probate Court admitted and considered inadmissible evidence of attorney’s fees. We affirm the Bexar County Probate Court’s December 12,2014 sanctions order.

Factual, and Procedukal BackgRound

.This is not the first time these parties have come before this court. To the contrary, this court has issued no less than six opinions in cases filed by Aguilar regarding this subject matter.2 Because the Bex-ar County Probate Court failed to hold an evidentiary hearing on sanctions, as required by Rule 13 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, we reversed and remanded the matter to the Bexar County Probate Court on February 19, 2014, for an evidentiary hearing as required by Rule 13 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. See In re Estate of Aguilar, No. 04-13-00038-CV, 2014 WL 667516, at *7-8 (Tex. App.-San Antonio Feb. 19, 2014, pet. denied) (mem.op.) (citing Tex. R. Crv. P. 13) (“If a pleading, motion or other paper is signed in violation of this rule, the court ... after notice and hearing, shall impose an appropriate sanction[.]”)). Since understanding the factual and procedural background of this case is important to resolution of the issues presented, we again set out the facts necessary for context.

This dispute originally stems from a probate matter between siblings Appellant Anthony Aguilar, a licensed attorney, and Appellee Margaret Morales. Their father, Ramiro Aguilar Jr., died in the summer of [811]*8112012.. On August 31,2012, Aguilar filed an application on behalf of Morales to probate their father’s will in Bexar County Probate Court No. 2. On September 15, 2012, Morales retained new counsel. The will was admitted to probate and Morales was appointed independent executrix on September 17,2012.

Two days later, on September 19, 2012, Aguilar sued Morales in the 327th El Paso District Court. Aguilar’s petition alleged he was the personal representative of Ramiro’s estate and that Morales breached her fiduciary duty by mismanaging the estate’s real and personal property.

On October 10, 2012, the Bexar County Probate Court granted Morales’s motion to transfer all proceedings to the Bexar County Probate Court pursuant to section 34.001 of the Estates Code. See Tex. Est. Code Ann. § 34.001 (West Supp.2015).3 Two days later, on October 12, 2012, Morales mailed a copy of the transfer order to the El Paso District Court. Morales did not send a copy of the notice of the transfer order to Aguilar. Morales then filed an answer in the Bexar County Probate Court.

Despite Morales’s attempt to notify the El Paso District Court of the transfer, Aguilar obtained a default judgment against Morales on October 29, 2012. At the proceeding, Aguilar assured the El Paso District Court that it had competent jurisdiction. The El Paso District Court entered default judgment against Morales in the amount of $3,175,500,00.

Relying on the October 10, 2012 transfer order, Morales filed a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment and Motion for Sanctions in the Bexar County Probate Court, asserting Aguilar’s El Paso pleadings were frivolous. On December 5, 2012, the Bex-ar County Probate Court held a hearing on the motion and took • the matter under advisement.

On December 12, 2012, prior to any-ruling'by the Bexar County Probate Court on the pending motion, Aguilar filed a second'lawsuit against Morales in El Paso County Court at Law No. 6. The petition was substantially' similar to the petition filed in the El Paso District Court. In response, Morales again filed' a motion to transfer the County Court at Law matter to the Bexar County Probate Court and sought1 further sanctions against Aguilar. Aguilar nonsuited the County Court at Law matter prior to the Bexar County Probate. Court acting on Morales’s motion to transfer.

On January 11, 2013, the Bexar County Probate Court signed an order setting aside the El Paso District Court default judgment, dismissing the El Paso District Court original petition with prejudice, and sanctioning Aguilar for filing frivolous pleadings. On January 28, 2013, the Bex-ar County Probate Court imposed further sanctions against Aguilar for filing frivolous pleadings in the County Court at Law matter.

Oii February 19, 2014, this' court affirmed the Bexar County Probate Court’s transfer, voided the; El Paso District Court’s default judgment, and affirmed the Bexar County Probate Court’s January 28, 2013 sanctions order. See Estate of Aguilar, 2014 WL 667516, at *9. However, because the probate court failed to hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue of sanc[812]*812tions, the January 11, 2013 sanctions order was reversed and remanded for an eviden-tiary hearing. See id. at *8.

On remand, following an evidentiary hearing, on December 12, 2014, the Bexar County Probate Court again held that Aguilar’s pleadings and subsequent conduct in the El Paso District Court violated Rule 13 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 13. The probate court imposed sanctions, in the amount of $34,005.91 equal to the amount of Morales’s attorney’s fees, and this appeal ensued.

As stated above, in his current appeal, Aguilar raises fourteen, issues which can be summarized as follows: (1) the Bexar County Probate Court did not have jurisdiction to impose sanctions against Aguilar for conduct in the El Paso District Court; (2) the Bexar County Probate Court’s sanctions order, 'dated December 12, 2014, was an abuse of discretion; and (3) the probate court admitted and considered inadmissible evidence of attorney’s fees.

We turn first to Aguilar’s issues related to the Bexar County Probate Court’s jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction

A. Law of the Case Doctrine

Aguilar contends the El Paso District Court, and not the Bexar County Probate Court, possessed jurisdiction to impose sanctions, if any, for his pleadings and conduct in the El Paso District Court. Based on our previous holdings in In re Estate of Aguilar, 2014 WL 667516, at *6, we disagree.

The law of the case doctrine provides that “the initial determination of questions of law will be held to govern the case throughout its subsequent stages.” Trevino v. Turcotte, 564 S.W.2d 682, 685 (Tex.1978); see also Briscoe v. Goodmark Corp., 102 S.W.3d 714, 716 (Tex.2003); In re Estate of Chavana, 993 S.W.2d 311, 314-15 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1999, no pet.).

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492 S.W.3d 807, 2016 WL 1689659, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 4330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-estate-of-aguilar-texapp-2016.