McCaskill v. McCaskill

761 S.W.2d 470, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2794, 1988 WL 120234
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 10, 1988
Docket13-87-540-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 761 S.W.2d 470 (McCaskill v. McCaskill) 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
McCaskill v. McCaskill, 761 S.W.2d 470, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2794, 1988 WL 120234 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

KENNEDY, Justice.

Edith McCaskill appeals from her divorce from Norman McCaskill. Appellant complains that the entire divorce should be reversed and remanded because there was insufficient evidence to prove the ground for divorce or to show that the trial court had jurisdiction or venue. She also complains that the trial court’s division of the marital estate was not just and right.

Appellant originally brought suit for divorce. In her first amended petition, filed on November 11, 1985, she alleged the required domicile and residence on her part, the date of the marriage and the date she ceased to live with appellee. As grounds for divorce, she alleged appellee’s cruel treatment toward her and his having committed adultery.

On November 18, 1985, appellee answered these allegations by a general denial and the defense of condonation with a reasonable expectation of reconciliation. Appel-lee, however, also counterclaimed for divorce on the grounds of insupportability and cruel treatment by the appellant. Ap- *472 pellee therein alleged the required domicile and residence on his part, the date of the marriage and the date he ceased to live with appellant.

On December 30, 1985, appellant filed an answer to appellee’s counterclaim denying all allegations of the counterclaim, except the date of the marriage and the date the couple ceased to live together, and that they had two children.

On August 17, 1987, the case was tried. Appellant’s attorney informed the court that the parties had reached an agreement and read that agreement to the court in the presence of the parties. The agreement, which both parties acknowledged and asked the court to accept, provided for a certain division of the property and joint managing conservatorship of the minor child. The trial court at that time agreed to grant the divorce in accordance with the agreement.

A final decree of divorce was rendered on September 18, 1987. In the decree, the trial court found that it had jurisdiction over the cause and the parties, that 60 days had elapsed since the suit was filed, and that the petitioner had been a domiciliary of the State for the preceding six months and resident of the county for the preceding 90 days. The decree grants the divorce without specifying a ground, provides for child support, custody and visitation, and divides the marital estate.

Appellant filed a motion for new trial in which she complained that the settlement agreement was invalid for a number of reasons, including that: she was under duress at the time she entered into the agreement; she revoked the agreement before final judgment was entered; the agreement did not dispose of all issues in the case, including the grounds of divorce; and the final judgment differs from the terms agreed upon at the hearing.

In her first and second points of error appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to show the grounds upon which the divorce was granted. Appellant plead insupportability and cruelty as grounds for divorce from appellee. The trial court subsequently granted a divorce without receiving evidence or specifying the grounds it relied upon to authorize the divorce.

Admissions in trial pleadings are regarded as judicial admissions in the case in which that pleading is filed, require no proof of the admitted fact and authorize the introduction of no evidence to the contrary. Houston First American Savings v. Musick, 650 S.W.2d 764 (Tex.1983); Hinojosa v. Castellow Chevrolet Oldsmobile, Inc., 678 S.W.2d 707, 714 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1984, writ ref’d n.r.e.); De La Fuente v. Home Savings Association, 669 S.W.2d 137, 145 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1984, no writ). It is not necessary for either party to prove facts which are distinctly alleged by the adverse party. Taylor v. Catalon, 166 S.W.2d 102 (Tex.1942); Hinojosa, 678 S.W.2d at 615; De La Fuente, 669 S.W.2d at 145. Facts admitted in a pleading are considered judicial admissions or a substitute for evidence. Johnson v. Johnson, 579 S.W.2d 30 (Tex.Civ. App.—Beaumont 1979, no writ).

In the present case, appellant’s petition serves as a judicial admission and a substitute for evidence of the grounds of divorce she alleges. She cannot now challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the divorce granted by the trial court. Points of error one and two are overruled.

In her third point of error appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to show that the trial court had jurisdiction and venue of the cause under Tex.Fam. Code Ann. § 3.21 (Vernon 1975), which provides that “[n]o suit for divorce may be maintained unless at the time suit is filed the petitioner or the respondent has been a domiciliary of this state for the preceding six-month period and a resident of the county in which the suit is filed for the preceding ninety-day period.” The residency requirements of Section 3.21 are not jurisdictional, but prescribe qualifications that must be met before the court is authorized to grant a divorce. Skubal v. Skubal, 584 S.W.2d 45 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1979, writ dism’d); Allen v. Allen, 397 S.W.2d 99 (Tex.Civ.App.—Amarillo *473 1965, no writ); see also Morris v. Morris, 717 S.W.2d 189, 190 (Tex.App.—Austin 1986, no writ).

As with the grounds of divorce in points one and two, appellant admitted in her petition that she satisfied the residency requirements of Section 3.21. Though not jurisdictional, the residency requirement protects the interests of the State as well as the parties, and cannot be waived by the parties. Berry v. Berry, 612 S.W.2d 213 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1980, writ dism'd); see also Kopecinski v. Kopecinski, 627 S.W.2d 472 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1981, writ dism’d.) However, in Morris, 717 S.W.2d at 190, the court held that, in the context of a default judgment, the respondent’s implied admission of the allegations of residence and domicile in the petition for divorce would meet the requirements of Section 3.21, even without evidence of residence and domicile at trial. Similarly, in the present case, we hold that appellant’s judicial admission of residence and domicile in her petition prevents her from now challenging the evidence as insufficient to show that the requirements of Section 3.21 have been satisfied.

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Bluebook (online)
761 S.W.2d 470, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2794, 1988 WL 120234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccaskill-v-mccaskill-texapp-1988.