In the Interest of B.N.L.-B.

523 S.W.3d 254, 2017 WL 1908623, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 4273
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 10, 2017
DocketNo. 05-16-00025-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 523 S.W.3d 254 (In the Interest of B.N.L.-B.) 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 Interest of B.N.L.-B., 523 S.W.3d 254, 2017 WL 1908623, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 4273 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

[257]*257OPINION

Opinion by

Justice Myers

Colleen Logan appeals the trial court’s order modifying a previous possession order and giving appellee Mark Aguirre additional possession time with the child, B.N.L.-B. Logan brings eight issues asserting the trial court lacked jurisdiction to render the orders in this case, abused its discretion by awarding Aguirre rights and duties concerning the child as well as additional access and possession of the child, and abused its discretion by denying Logan’s claim for breach of contract and her request for attorney’s fees. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

BACKGROUND

In 2001, Logan and Deborah Bloom were in what they characterized as a committed relationship, and they decided to have a child. They entered into the Donor Agreement with Aguirre to donate his sperm that would be used for Bloom to conceive a child. The agreement provided that Aguirre would not be a parent and that Logan and Bloom would not seek child support from him. Aguirre agreed “that he 'will not demand, request, or compel any guardianship, custody or visitation rights with respect to the Children)” and he will not “claim any parental or paternal rights with respect to the Child(ren), except upon the death of both [Bloom] and [Logan].” Aguirre agreed to the termination of his parental rights and agreed to support adoption of the child by Logan. The parties also agreed that if Aguirre “seeks to establish a legal relationship” with the child, then he would indemnify Logan and Bloom for all costs they incurred in defending the action, including paying their attorney’s fees.

The insemination procedure' was successful, and the child was born in 2002. Logan adopted the child in 2003. The adoption order contained the finding, “there is no father of the child in accordance with section 151.101 of the Texas Family Code.”2

Virginia Litigation and Consent Order

After Logan adopted the child, Logan, Bloom, and the child moved to Virginia. Aguirre lived nearby in Washington, D.C. Logan and Bloom allowed Aguirre to have limited possession of the child. Aguirre brought suit against Logan and Bloom in Virginia seeking to put in writing the agreements they had made for Aguirre’s possession of the child.3 That suit was settled in May '2007 by the parties’ signing a “Consent Order” agreeing to give Aguirre possession of the child for the third weekend of each month after Logan, Bloom, and the child,moved to Dallas in September 2007.

Dallas Litigation 2007 to 2009

After Logan and Bloom returned to Texas, they separated. They also refused to allow Aguirre to have possession of the child for one weekend per month as provided in the Consent Order. Aguirre registered the Consent Order in a Dallas County court as a foreign judgment. In October 2007, Aguirre filed a motion for clarification and modification of the terms of the Consent Order seeking to make it sufficiently specific to be enforceable by contempt. The trial court signed temporary orders on December 5, 2007. In those orders, the court overruled Logan and [258]*258Bloom’s objection to the registration of the Consent Order as a foreign judgment and ruled that it was “duly registered as an enforceable order of this Court.” The court also clarified the Consent Order by specifying the place where the exchange of possession of the child was to take place.

. On May 22, 2008, Bloom filed.her petition in suit affecting the parent-child relationship (SAPCR) asserting she and Logan were separated and requesting the court appoint her sole managing conservator and order Logan to pay child support, provide health insurance, and pay for other expenses of the child. Logan filed a counter-petition requesting she be appointed sole managing conservator and that Bloom be ordered to pay child support. On June 30, Aguirre filed a petition' in intervention in the SAPCR requesting that he be made a joint managing conservator of the child with Logan and Bloom and that he have the exclusive right to determine the child’s primary residence. In the ■ alternative, Aguirre asked that he be appointed a non-parent joint managing or possessory conservator and that he be awarded possession of the child equivalent to the periods awarded under the Family Code’s Standard Possession Order. The trial court signed temporary orders on .July 9 giving Bloom primary possession of the child; giving Logan possession of the child two weekends-each month, and giving Aguirre possession for one weekend each month. Logan filed a plea to the-jurisdiction asserting Aguirre did not have standing to intervene in her and Bloom’s SAPCR.

On Deceihber 9, 2008, Logan and BloOm signed a settlement agreement resolving their competing claims in the SAPCR. They agreed they would be joint managing conservators and that Logan would have possession of the child each Thursday and on the second, fourth, and fifth weekends of each month. Concerning Aguirre, they agreed he would have possession of the child only by their mutual agreement. They also agreed that if the court' awarded Aguirre weekend possession of the child, they would alternate the parent from whose weekend Aguirre’s possession would be taken.-

On May 11, 2009, the court ruled on Logan’s plea to the jurisdiction challenging Aguirre!s standing in his suit for intervention in Logan’s and Bloom’s SAPCR. The court ruled that Aguirre did not have standing to file his suit for intervention under sections 102.003(a)(3), (9) or 156.002(a), (b), but the court ruled Aguirre did have standing to file his suit for intervention under section 102.004(b) as a person with substantial past contact with the child.

Logan and Bloom reached a settlement with Aguirre on his petition for intervention. They agreed to Aguirre’s having possession of the child from 8:30 a.m. on Saturday to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday for one weekend per month, namely, the second weekend in odd-numbered months (Logan’s weekend) and the- third weekend in even-numbered months (Bloom’s weekend).. Aguirre was not to take the child out of Dallas County and into a contiguous county except to see the child’s counselor without the prior ■ approval of whichever parent last had possession of the child, and he could not take the child outside the contiguous counties of Dallas County without the prior approval of both parents. The parties did not reach- a settlement on whether Aguirre should be required to pay Logan’s and Bloom’s attorney’s fees.

On May 14, 2009, the' court signed its final order, which incorporated the parties’ agreements and ordered Aguirre to pay Logan’s and Bloom’s attorney’s fees. Aguirre appealed the final order’s award of attorney’s fees, but Logan and Bloom did not appeal the order. This Court re[259]*259versed the amount of attorney’s fees awarded to Logan and remanded that- issue for further proceedings. In all other respects, we affirmed the May 14, 2009 order. See In re B.N.L.-B., 375 S.W.3d 557 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2012, no pet.).

Dallas Litigation 2014 to 2016

In July 2014, Aguirre filed a petition to modify the May 14, 2009 order. Aguirre requested he be appointed a nonparent possessory conservator. He also requested that the court modify the periods of his possession by switching the order of weekends he would have possession of the child4

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523 S.W.3d 254, 2017 WL 1908623, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 4273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-bnl-b-texapp-2017.