Liudmila A. Yuryeva v. Delos N. McManus

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 26, 2013·No. 01-12-00988-CV·Published

Opinion

Opinion issued November 26, 2013.

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

for divorce as required by section 6.301 of the Texas Family Code, 1 and therefore the venue was improper; (2) the trial court did not have jurisdiction to grant the divorce; (3) the trial court failed to award child support or to grant her a greater division of the estate despite McManus’s alleged adoption of her son; (4) the trial court abused its discretion in dividing the marital estate; and (5) the trial court was biased against her. We affirm.

Background

In 2001, Liudmila Yuryeva, a citizen of Belarus, and Delos McManus first met in Moscow. According to Yuryeva, a few days after meeting for the first time, McManus asked her to marry him. McManus filed an immigrant fiancé petition so that Yuryeva and her son, G.Y., could move to the United States. In support of the petition, McManus signed a U.S. Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service “Affidavit of Support,” guaranteeing that he would provide “an annual income at or above 125 percent of the federal poverty line” to support Yuryeva and her son. In 2005, McManus and Yuryeva were married in a legal ceremony in Fort Bend County, Texas. They lived in Texas, where McManus formed a business, leased a car, and made several investments. In 2006, the couple purchased a home in Sugar Land, Texas.

1 TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 6.301 (West 2006).

In 2008, McManus and Yuryeva entered a two-year lease for a second home in California. While Yuryeva and her son lived in the California house, McManus lived and worked in Oklahoma. McManus testified that he was unable to afford for Yuryeva to continue living in California and he tried to persuade her to return to their home in Sugar Land, Texas. Unable to persuade her to return, in August 2009, McManus filed a petition for divorce in Fort Bend County, Texas. Yuryeva continued to live in California, and McManus remained in Oklahoma.

In their pleadings, both McManus and Yuryeva stated that they had been domiciliaries of Texas for the preceding six-month period, residents of Fort Bend County for the preceding ninety-day period, and that there was no child “born or adopted of this marriage, and none is expected.” In 2010, after a preliminary hearing but before the divorce trial, McManus granted his attorney, Don Schwartz, a durable power of attorney to sell the couple’s house in Sugar Land. Schwartz sold the house and deposited the $84,706.71 proceeds from the sale with the Fort Bend County District Clerk.

Yuryeva had two different attorneys in this case. Each withdrew because of non-payment. At the time of trial, Yuryeva appeared pro se. At trial, McManus and Yuryeva each filed an inventory, appraisement, and list of claims related to the division of the marital estate. Yuryeva did not request the trial court to make findings of fact or conclusions of law regarding the division of their estate, other

than those contained in the divorce decree. In 2012, the trial court divided the marital estate, awarding to Yuryeva,

(1) All household furniture, furnishings, fixtures, goods, art objects, collectibles, appliances, equipment and personal property in the possession of the wife or subject to her control, including bedroom set and TV console bought by husband, sofa set, bedroom set, four TVs with stands, washer, dryer, ninepiece office set, camera and sewing machines with supplies and expensive materials.

(2) All clothing, jewelry, and other personal effects in the possession of the wife or subject to her sole control, including rings, earrings, fashion designer clothing, bags and accessories, two laptop computers and printers.

(3) All sums of cash in the possession of the wife or subject to her sole control, including funds on deposit, together with accrued but unpaid interest, in banks, savings institutions, or other financial institutions, which accounts stand in the wife’s sole name or from which the wife has the sole right to withdraw funds or which are subject to the wife’s sole control.

(4) 2007 Audi motor vehicle, together with all prepaid insurance, keys, and title documents.

(5) Mila’s Design, Inc. certificates of stock.

(6) The sum of $15,000 out of the funds on deposit with the Fort Bend County District Clerk’s Office of which the District Clerk is ordered to pay said sum of $15,000 to Liudmila A. Yuryeva.

(7) Judgment against Delos N. McManus in the sum of $25,000 to be paid as hereinafter stated in this decree under paragraph H-4 for which let execution issue for nonpayment thereof.

The trial court awarded McManus the following:

(1) All household furniture, furnishings, fixtures, goods, art objects, collectibles, appliances, equipment and personal

property in the possession of the husband or subject to his control.

(2) All clothing, jewelry, and other personal property in the possession of the husband or subject to his sole control.

(3) All sums of cash in the possession of the husband or subject to his sole control, including funds on deposit, together with accrued but unpaid interest, in banks, savings institutions, or other financial institutions, which accounts stand in the husband’s sole name or from which the husband has the sole right to withdraw funds or which are subject to the husband’s sole control.

(4) All sums, whether matured or unmatured, accrued or unaccrued, vested or otherwise, together with all increases thereof, the proceeds therefrom, and any other rights related to any profit-sharing plan, retirement plan, Keogh plan, pension plan, employee stock option plan, 401(k) plan, employee savings plan, accrued unpaid bonuses, disability plan, or other benefits existing by reason of the husband’s past, present, or future employment.

(5) All individual retirement accounts, simplified employee pensions, annuities, and variable annuity life insurance benefits in the husband’s name.

(6) The 2005 GMC S1E Pickup motor vehicle, together will all prepaid insurance, keys, and title documents.

(7) The 2004 GMC Denali motor vehicle, together with all prepaid insurance, keys, and title documents.

(8) Rotary Steerable System, Inc. certificates of stock.

(9) Interest on funds on deposit with Fort Bend County District Clerk.

Additionally, the trial court determined that the remaining funds on deposit with the Fort Bend County Clerk, less the $15,000 awarded to Yuryeva, were

McManus’s separate property. The divorce decree does not address the affidavit of support. Yuryeva timely appealed.

Waiver of Divorce Suit Requirements We first address Yuryeva’s contention that the trial court erred in granting the divorce because McManus was not a resident of Texas when he filed for divorce as required by section 6.301 of the Texas Family Code and that the “venue” was improper. 2 A. Standard of review A suit for divorce may be maintained if either the petitioner or the respondent (1) has been domiciled in the state for the preceding six months and (2) resided in the county of suit for the preceding 90 days. 3 The section 6.301 residency requirements are not jurisdictional; they are requirements necessary to bring a divorce action. See Oak v. Oak, 814 S.W.2d 834, 837–38 (Tex. App.—

2 Yuryeva also argues that California, rather than Fort Bend County, was the proper “venue” for the divorce. See TEX. FAM. CODE. ANN. §§ 6.301–302 (West 2006).

However, section 6.301 is not a venue statute per se—instead it “controls the right to maintain a suit.” Oak v. Oak, 814 S.W.2d 834, 837 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1991, writ denied). Because she challenges both the residency and domiciliary requirements along with the court’s authority to divide the estate, we construe her claim as both a challenge of the section 6.301 requirements and a personal jurisdictional challenge. See TEX. FAM. CODE. ANN. § 6.305 (outlining requirements for acquiring jurisdiction over nonresident respondent); see, e.g.

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