Ingram v. Ingram

249 S.W.2d 86, 1952 Tex. App. LEXIS 2143
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 8, 1952
Docket12407
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 249 S.W.2d 86 (Ingram v. Ingram) 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
Ingram v. Ingram, 249 S.W.2d 86, 1952 Tex. App. LEXIS 2143 (Tex. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

MONTEITH, Chief Justice.

This appeal in a divorce action was brought by Mabel Ingram, against appellant, Grady L. Ingram, in the District Court of Anderson County on August 7, 1951. In a trial before the court default judgment was rendered on September 5, 1951, granting the divorce. No motion for new trial was made in the trial court. On November 14, 1951, another judgment was rendered by the trial court setting aside the judgment rendered on September 5, 1951, and decreeing a divorce of appellee from appellant as of September 6, 1951. The November 14, 1951, judgment recited all parties were before the court, both in person and by their attorneys and that they had joined in a request to the court that the judgment of September 5, 1951, as entered in said case be set aside, and that the evidence be again heard and that judgment in said cause be entered as of September 6, 1951.

Appellant contends in his 5 points of assigned error that the trial court committed fundamental error in setting aside the judgment rendered on September 5, 1951 and decreeing a divorce in said cause as of September 6, 1951, for the alleged reason that the judgment rendered on September 5th had become final since no motion for new trial had been filed after the rendition of the judgment and that more than 30 days had elapsed after the rendition of the judgment, and that the term of court at which the judgment was rendered had expired. Appellant further complains of the action of the trial court in granting a divorce for the alleged reason that the plaintiff’s petition affirmatively shows that appellee was living in Trinidad, Texas, which town is ift Henderson ‘County, Texas, approximately a, month prior to the date of the filing of her petition for divorce in Anderson County on August 7, 1951.

No statement of facts has been filed in this Court.

While Rule 374, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, provides that a ground of error • not distinctly set forth in the motion for new trial shall be considered as waived, this rule was modified by the Supreme Court in the case of Ramsey v. Dunlop, 146 Tex. 196, 205 S.W.2d 979, 983, in which it is held that unassigne'd errors of a fundamental nature may be considered by the Courts of Civil Appeals, and that, “ * * * an error which directly and adversely affects the interest of the public generally, as that interest is declared in the statutes or Constitution of this state, is a fundamental error.”

Judge Alexander, in a concurring opinion in the Ramsey case, held that the ■Court of Civil Appeals is authorized to reverse a judgment of the trial court upon an unassigned error only when it involves a matter of public interest and when the record affirmatively and conclusively shows that the appellee was not entitled to recover or where the record affirmatively shows that the court rendering judgment was without jurisdiction over the subject matter.

*88 Under this authority questions as to whether the appeal involves a matter of public interest, and whether the court rendering the judgment had jurisdiction over the subject matter of the suit seem to be controlling issues.

It is undisputed that under Article 5, Section 8, of the Constitution of the State of Texas, Vernon’s Ann.St., the District Court has jurisdiction of divorce suits.

“Among the powers of a court which persist beyond the expiration 'of the term is the authority to set.aside a void judgment, especially when the record upon which the judgment is based reflects the vice. A judgment not merely erroneous, but an absolute nullity, can have no binding force, either in the tribunal in which it was rendered or in any other in which it may be brought in question.” 25 Tex. Jur. 551, Sec. 156.

In the case of Snow v. Snow, Tex.Civ.App., 223 S.W. 240, it is held that a-judgment granting a divorce before the expiration of the statutory period of thirty days from the date of filing of the suit, in,violation of Article 4632 of Vernon’s Ann. Tex.St., is void and not merely voidable so that motion to set it aside after the term need not show a meritorious defense to the suit.

As to whether the alleged error complained of involves the interest of the public to the extent that it may be considered by this Court, it is said in 3-B Texjur. 35, Sec. 684 that, “As an illustration of an error affecting public interest within the foregoing rule, it would constitute fundamental error under the Rules of Civil Procedure to render judgment on a contract which is void because in violation of the anti-trust law, or to render judgment for a person not entitled to hold public office.”

In this appeal, it is, we think, obvious that the. matters in controversy and the result of the suit can be of consequence to the litigants involved alone and that no broad question of public interest is involved in the appeal.

In the case of Bridgman v. Moore, 143 Tex. 250, 183 S.W.2d 705, 707, it is said that, “*■ * * the court has not only the power but the duty to vacate the inadvertent entry of a void judgment at any time, either during the term or after the term, with or without a motion therefor.”

The following authorities are in accord with the rule announced in the Bridgman case: Mosier v. Meek, Tex.Civ.App., 235 S.W.2d 686; Barton v. Montex Corporation, Tex.Civ.App., 295 S.W. 950.

It is undisputed in the record that appel-lee filed her original petition in this appeal on August 7, 1951. On the 29th day theré-' after, the 5th -day of September, 1951, a default judgment was rendered granting appellee a divorce from appellant. On November 14, 1951, judgment was rendered in the same suit setting aside the judgment rendered on September 5th decreeing a divorce from appellant as of the 6th day of September, 1951, the decree reciting that the parties to the suit had requested the court to take such action.

Under the above cited authorities, it is, we think, obvious that the trial court in' the instant case had the power and authority, and it was his duty, to set aside and hold for nought the judgment of September 5, 1951.

The first paragraph of the judgment entered on November 14, 1951, contains the recitation that, “On this the 14th day of November, 1951, at a regular term of this Court, it having been called to the attention of the Court in open court that the judgment heretofore entered in this Cause on the 5th day of September, A. D. 1951, was entered prematurely and prior to the time that same had been on file for the required thirty day period, * * *, and all parties being before the court, both in person and by their attorneys; did join in a request to the court in open court that the judgment of September 5, 1951, as entered in this case be set aside, that the evidence again be heard, and that judgment be entered herein as of September -6, 1951 * * . The last paragraph of this judgment states, “Dated, rendered and entered on this the 14th day of November, 1951, but to be effective as of September 6, 1951.”

*89

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249 S.W.2d 86, 1952 Tex. App. LEXIS 2143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ingram-v-ingram-texapp-1952.