In the Interest of Z.A.T.

193 S.W.3d 197, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 2783
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 5, 2006
DocketNo. 10-04-00347-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 193 S.W.3d 197 (In the Interest of Z.A.T.) 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 Z.A.T., 193 S.W.3d 197, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 2783 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

LEAD OPINION

FELIPE REYNA, Justice.

Appellant Richard Owen Taylor complains of the trial court’s order modifying the provisions of a divorce decree regarding Appellee Valerie Annette Taylor’s and his parental rights and duties. Richard presents twenty-four issues in which he generally contends: (1) the court abused its discretion by denying his request for a jury trial; (2) the court abused its discretion by denying his motion to order Valerie to bring the children to the trial and by denying him a continuance due to the absence of a witness; (3) the court abused its discretion by limiting his impeachment of Valerie and by excluding certain evidence; (4) there is no evidence or factually insufficient evidence to support the court’s findings of fact and the court’s conclusions of law are erroneous; (5) the court abused its discretion by modifying the parties’ parental rights and duties in the manner it did; and (6) the court abused its discretion by denying his motion for new trial. The judgment will be affirmed.

Background

Richard’s and Valerie’s divorce decree was rendered in December 2002. At the time, Richard was imprisoned, and he remains so under a forty-year sentence. The decree named Valerie as sole managing conservator of their three children and named Richard as possessory conservator. The decree gave each of them the standard rights and duties attendant to his or her respective conservator status. However, the decree recognized that Richard could not currently exercise some of his rights because of his incarceration. Thus, the decree also provided that many of Richard’s possessory rights would commence thirty days after his release.

Richard has filed numerous pleadings and instituted numerous proceedings (both before and after the final divorce decree) with respect to his parental and custodial rights. See In re Taylor, 28 S.W.3d 240 (Tex.App.-Waco 2000, orig. proceeding); In re Taylor, 39 S.W.3d 406 (Tex.App.-Waco 2001, orig. proceeding); In re Taylor, 45 S.W.3d 357 (Tex.App.-Waco 2001, orig. proceeding); Taylor v. Taylor, 63 S.W.3d 93 (Tex.App.-Waco 2001, no pet.); In re Taylor, 110 S.W.3d 67 (Tex.App.-Waco 2003, orig. proceeding) (per curiam).

This appeal concerns Richard’s petition to modify the conservatorship provisions of the decree. Among other things, Richard seeks: (1) more notice of activities in which the children are involved; (2) more information about physicians and other caregivers; (3) more involvement in making decisions regarding the children’s well-being; (4) more prompt notice of emergencies and of the children’s activities; (5) to have his parents named possessory conservators; (6) to restrict the children’s residence to McLennan County; and (7) a permanent injunction prohibiting Valerie and others from contacting the Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division, or the Board of Pardons and Paroles regarding any alleged misconduct on his part.

Valerie filed a competing petition to modify the decree. She asked that Richard’s rights be limited “to prevent further abuse of the court system” by his “vexatious litigation.” She requested a permanent injunction prohibiting Richard or any[203]*203one acting in his behalf from removing the children from McLennan County and from communicating with Valerie or the children other than through her attorney or some other designated person.

After a hearing, the court granted Valerie’s petition and denied Richard’s. Richard’s parents informed the court in a letter that they would not pursue possessory conservatorship.

Modification of Decree

Richard contends in his nineteenth through twenty-second issues that the court abused its discretion by granting Valerie’s petition and denying his own. He contends in his twelfth through eighteenth issues that there is no evidence or factually insufficient evidence to support twenty-two of the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. He contends in his twenty-third issue that there is no evidence or factually insufficient evidence to support the modification order.

A trial court has broad discretion in child custody matters. Pena v. Pena, 8 S.W.3d 639, 639 (Tex.1999) (per curiam); In re J.R.P., 55 S.W.3d 147, 151 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2001, pet. denied). Thus, we review child custody orders under an abuse-of-discretion standard. See In re T.J.S., 71 S.W.3d 452, 458 (Tex.App.-Waco 2002, pet. denied); J.R.P., 55 S.W.3d at 151.
We do not conduct an independent review of findings of fact in a child custody case under traditional legal and factual sufficiency standards. See In re J.C.K., 143 S.W.3d 131, 135 (Tex.App.Waco 2004, no pet.); London v. London, 94 S.W.3d 139, 143-44 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2002, no pet.); cf. Norns v. Norris, 56 S.W.3d 333, 338 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2001, no pet.). Rather, legal and factual sufficiency are factors which can be considered in determining whether an abuse of discretion has occurred. J.C.K, 148 S.W.3d at 135; London, 94 S.W.3d at 143-44; accord Beaumont Bank, N.A. v. Buller, 806 S.W.2d 223, 226 (Tex.1991).

In re A.C.S., 157 S.W.3d 9, 20 (Tex.App.Waco 2004, no pet.).

Section 156.101(1) of the Family Code1 provides:

The court may modify an order that provides for the appointment of a conservator of a child, that provides the terms and conditions of conservatorship, or that provides for the possession of or access to a child if modification would be in the best interest of the child and:
(1) the circumstances of the child, a conservator, or other party affected by the order have materially and substantially changed since the earlier of:
(A) the date of the rendition of the order; or
(B) the date of the signing of a mediated or collaborative law settlement agreement on which the order is based.

Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 156.101(1) (Vernon Supp.2005).

There was no settlement in this case, so the two relevant issues are: (1) whether the requested modifications would be in the best interest of the children; and (2) whether there has been a material change of circumstances since the rendition of the divorce decree.

[204]*204Richard concedes in his brief that “the circumstances of a child or one or both of the conservators have materially and substantially changed since the divorce” and that the only disputed issue is whether the modification is in the best interest of the children.

Valerie’s petition alleges that limiting Richard’s rights and duties would be in the best interest of the children, and the court so found.2

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Bluebook (online)
193 S.W.3d 197, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 2783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-zat-texapp-2006.