Jenkins v. Jenkins

16 S.W.3d 473, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2279, 2000 WL 351406
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 6, 2000
Docket08-99-00116-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by112 cases

This text of 16 S.W.3d 473 (Jenkins v. Jenkins) 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
Jenkins v. Jenkins, 16 S.W.3d 473, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2279, 2000 WL 351406 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Justice.

This is an appeal from the modification of a joint managing conservatorship in which Jennifer Leigh Jenkins challenges the designation of her former husband as having the right to establish the primary residence of their son. Finding no error, we affirm.

SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE

Jennifer and Chris Jenkins were divorced by final decree on December 31, 1997 and appointed joint managing conservators of their then three-year-old son, Zachary. Jennifer was granted the sole right to establish Zachary’s primary residence. The decree specifically ordered that Jennifer “shall not reside with, nor have any unmarried males over the age of thirteen for overnight visits during any period that JENNIFER LEIGH JENKINS is in possession of the child.” Additionally, the decree ordered:

[Tjhat the primary residence of the child shall be established in Ector County, Texas. The parties shall not remove the child from Ector County, Texas for the purpose of changing the primary residence of the child until this order is modified by further order of the court of continuing jurisdiction or by written agreement signed by the parties and filed with the court.

With regard to the division of property, Jennifer was awarded the couple’s home at 3620 North Adams in Odessa. However, the terms of the final decree did not fully comport with the trial court’s judgment *476 rendered in open court on September 19, 1997:

THE COURT: The child also, I will point out, must reside at that home unless they have prior order of the Court. Okay? ... No change in the residence. [Emphasis added].

In May 1998, Chris Jenkins sought to correct the error in the decree concerning Zachary’s primary residence via a motion for judgment nunc pro tunc. The motion was granted on May 27, 1998, and the final decree was modified to reflect that Zachary’s primary residence was established at 8620 North Adams and that any change in residence required court approval. Jennifer did not appeal or otherwise challenge the judgment nunc pro tunc. At the modification hearing at issue here, however, Jennifer testified that she was unaware of the judgment nunc pro tunc.

On August 28, 1998, Chris filed a motion to enforce and a motion to modify the divorce decree. He alleged that since the divorce, Jennifer had continued to reside with her boyfriend, Sam Lance, first at 3620 North Adams and then at 2609 Spur, in violation of the divorce decree. He also contended that Jennifer had moved Zachary’s primary residence from the North Adams home without court approval, and was cohabitating with Lance when she had possession of Zachary. Chris asked the court to find Jennifer in contempt and to modify the decree to designate him as the joint managing conservator having the sole right to establish the primary residence of Zachary.

In her answer, Jennifer admitted that she had moved to 2609 Spur, but claimed that the change of residence was only temporary. Once repairs on the home at 3620 North Adams were completed, she and Zachary would return. At the hearing on the motion, Jennifer also contended that she and Lance had entered into a common law marriage. The trial court found that she had violated the court’s orders against moving the primary residence of the child and against having overnight male guests when she had possession of Zachary. The court did not hold her in contempt, but it did modify the decree so as to grant Chris the right to establish Zachary’s primary residence under the joint managing con-servatorship.

Upon request, the trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law. Pertinent to our analysis here, the court found:

• Jennifer was present in the courtroom when the court ordered that she not cohabitate with any man to whom she was not married when she had possession of Zachary.
• Jennifer had admitted to residing with Sam Lance at 2609 Spur.
• Jennifer had resided with Sam Lance at 2609 Spur when she had possession of Zachary.
• There was no evidence of a ceremonial marriage and no common law marriage was established.
• Jennifer changed the residence of the child and gave no notice.
• Jennifer had knowingly and intentionally violated the court’s orders.
• The existing order regarding possession of the child had become inappropriate under the circumstances.
• Retention of the joint managing con-servatorship was in Zachary’s best interest.
• The award to Chris of primary custody and the right to establish the primary residence of Zachary would be a positive improvement and in the best interest of Zachary.

This appeal follows.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT

MODIFICATION OF THE RIGHT TO ESTABLISH PRIMARY RESIDENCE

In her first two issues for review, Jennifer complains that the trial court *477 abused its discretion when it transferred to Chris the right to establish the primary residence of the child because there was legally and factually insufficient evidence to support it. See Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 156.202 (Vernon 1996). Where these two standards of review overlap, as they frequently do in family law cases, we employ a hybrid analysis.

Standard of Review

In considering a legal sufficiency or “no evidence” point, an appellate court considers only the evidence which tends to support the jury’s findings and disregards all evidence and inferences to the contrary. Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 823 (Tex.1965); Worsham Steel Co. v. Arias, 831 S.W.2d 81, 83 (Tex.App. — El Paso 1992, no writ). If any probative evidence supports the jury’s determination, it must be upheld. In re King’s Estate, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660, 661-62 (1951). However, a factual sufficiency point requires examination of all of the evidence in determining whether the finding in question is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust. In re King’s Estate, 244 S.W.2d at 660; Lindsey v. Lindsey, 965 S.W.2d 589, 591 (Tex.App. — El Paso 1998, no pet.). In an appeal from a bench trial, findings of fact are the equivalent of jury answers to special issues. Lindsey, 965 S.W.2d at 591. The reviewing court cannot substitute its conclusions for those of the trial court if there is sufficient competent evidence of probative force to support the trial court’s findings. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
16 S.W.3d 473, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2279, 2000 WL 351406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jenkins-v-jenkins-texapp-2000.