Matter of Marriage of Thurmond

888 S.W.2d 269, 1994 WL 666162
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 29, 1994
Docket07-93-0311-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 888 S.W.2d 269 (Matter of Marriage of Thurmond) 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
Matter of Marriage of Thurmond, 888 S.W.2d 269, 1994 WL 666162 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

BOYD, Justice.

In six points of asserted error, appellant Roger Chaney Thurmond challenges the portion of the trial court judgment making a property division and setting child support. For the reasons stated herein, we sever that portion of the judgment and reverse it. The remainder of the judgment, being unchallenged by appellant, is affirmed.

The parties were married in Arkansas in 1969. Subsequent to their marriage, appellant formed two corporations in Arkansas and one in Texas. One of the two Arkansas corporations, Universal Properties, managed several rental properties owned by other entities. The second, Thurmond Development Corporation (TDC), developed and sold air purification systems. Some time before 1990, substantial judgments were taken against TDC rendering it essentially insolvent.

In late 1989, the parties moved to Texas and purchased a home in the City of Plano for $198,809. Of that amount, $53,809, or 27.07 percent of the purchase price, came from a testamentary trust created by appellant’s father and, thus, constituted appellant’s separate property. The remaining 72.93 percent of the cost was paid by incurring community debt. Payments on this community debt have been paid exclusively out of the separate property income of the trust. Soon after moving to Texas, appellant also formed a third corporation, Thurmond Air Quality Systems (TAQS).

On April 16, 1991, a little over a year after the parties moved to Texas, appellee filed a petition for divorce in which she sought, inter alia, a division of community property, sole managing conservatorship of the parties’ minor child, and an award of child support.

In its judgment, the trial court awarded exclusive possession of the parties’ residence to appellee until the emancipation of the minor child. At such time, the house was to be sold and the proceeds of the sale divided forty percent to appellant and sixty percent to appellee. In its findings of fact and conclusions of law, the trial court stated that appellant failed to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, any “separate property reimbursement” due on the residence or any separate property interest in the house.

In his first point, appellant contends that the trial court erred in finding that he had no separate property interest in the parties’ home. When both separate and community resources are used to acquire property during marriage, Texas courts have fairly consistently referred to the relationship between the separate estates and community estates as “a type of tenancy in com *273 mon.” See Gleich v. Bongio, 128 Tex. 606, 99 S.W.2d 881, 883-84 (1937); Cook v. Cook, 679 S.W.2d 581, 583 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1984, no writ); Carter v. Grabeel, 341 S.W.2d 458, 462 (Tex.Civ.App.—Amarillo 1960, no writ). However, because a tenancy in common is not an estate in property but, rather, a description of the relationship between estates, 16 Tex.Jur.3d Cotenancy and Joint Ownership § 9 (1981), the cases have failed to clearly articulate the property interests of each of the estates.

Our courts have variously referred to the rights of a spouse’s separate estate in this situation as “pro tanto ownership,” Broussard v. Tian, 156 Tex. 371, 295 S.W.2d 405, 406 (1956); “a part interest,” Gleich, 99 S.W.2d at 883; “equitable title,” Goddard v. Reagan, 28 S.W. 352, 353 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1894, no writ); “separate interest,” Cook, 679 S.W.2d at 583; and “constructive trust,” Maxie v. Maxie, 635 S.W.2d 175, 177 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1982, no writ). We believe the most viable characterization of the interest of a spouse’s separate estate is that of “equitable title.”

In addition to Goddard, several decisions have applied the principles of resulting trusts and equitable title in resolving these issues. See Cohrs v. Scott, 161 Tex. 111, 338 S.W.2d 127, 130 (1960); Blum v. Rogers, 71 Tex. 668, 9 S.W. 595, 597 (1888); Parker v. Coop, 60 Tex. 111, 116 (1883); Ford v. Simpson, 568 S.W.2d 468, 470 (Tex.Civ.App.—Waco 1978, no writ); Robbins v. Robbins, 519 S.W.2d 507, 509 (Tex.Civ.App.—Fort Worth 1975, no writ); Penman v. Blount, 264 S.W. 169, 170 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1924, no writ). These cases provide a single analysis for characterizing property not only at the dissolution of marriage, but also in resolving the claims of third party creditors.

Equitable title is a property right greater than a right of reimbursement. It has been held that equitable title is a sufficient interest to permit execution by a creditor. See, 34 Tex.Jur.3d Enforcement of Judgments § 29 (1984). As a property right, it may not be divested from a spouse at divorce without violating our state constitution. Eggemeyer v. Eggemeyer, 554 S.W.2d 137, 142 (Tex.1977).

It is a well established rule that when a spouse uses separate property to acquire property during marriage and takes title to that property in the names of both spouses, a presumption arises that the purchasing spouse intended to make a gift of one half of the separate funds to the other spouse. 1 Cockerham v. Cockerham, 527 S.W.2d 162, 168 (Tex.1975); Graham v. Graham, 836 S.W.2d 308, 310 (Tex.App.—Texarkana 1992, no writ). This rule is consistent with the principles of trust law concerning purchase money resulting trusts. See George T. Bogert, Trusts § 74, at 271 (6th ed. 1987). The presumption, however, can be rebutted by evidence of the absence of an intent to make a gift. See Cockerham, 527 S.W.2d at 168. That is, there is no requirement that an affirmative intent not to make a gift be shown.

In addition to, and apart from, the ownership interest that is acquired by a separate estate which pays part of the purchase price of property acquired during marriage, payments made out of a separate estate for the benefit of the community estate, including the reduction of community debt, give rise to a claim for reimbursement. Penick v. Penick, 783 S.W.2d 194, 196 (Tex.1988); Burton v. Bell, 380 S.W.2d 561, 565 (Tex.1964); Graham, 836 S.W.2d at 310. However, as appellant’s point of error only challenges the trial court’s failure to find a separate property interest in the parties’ home and does not raise the issue of reimbursement, we need not consider that issue.

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