Miles v. Peacock

229 S.W.3d 384, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 3018, 2007 WL 1166162
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 19, 2007
Docket01-06-00313-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 229 S.W.3d 384 (Miles v. Peacock) 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
Miles v. Peacock, 229 S.W.3d 384, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 3018, 2007 WL 1166162 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

JANE BLAND, Justice.

Victor Miles brings this restricted appeal from the trial court’s entry of a no-answer default judgment in a paternity and child support proceeding brought by appellee, Bridget Peacock. Miles contends (1) the statute of limitations bars Bridget’s paternity suit involving a fourteen-year-old child, (2) the trial court erred in ordering him to pay various forms of child support, and (3) the trial court should have awarded him possession of the child. We affirm the judgment in part, reverse it in part, and remand for further proceedings.

Background

Bridget and Carnell Peacock, a non-party to the appeal, married in 1985. Bridget filed for a divorce in 2004. In her petition, she alleges that Miles — not Carnell — is the father of her child, N.S.P., who was born in 1990. 1 Bridget and Carnell both requested that the trial court order Miles to submit to genetic testing, and Bridget additionally sought child support from Miles. Miles accepted citation of service in February 2005. He did not answer or otherwise appear in the lawsuit, however.

The trial court held a bench trial in August 2005. Miles did not appear for trial. The court took judicial notice of a paternity test showing that Miles is the father of N.S.P. Bridget testified that Miles had been paying child support in the amount of $1,000 per month and asked the court to order him to continue making such payments.

The trial court entered a no-answer default judgment against Miles adjudicating his paternity of N.S.P. and ordering him to pay child support. 2 Specifically, the court ordered Miles to pay $1,000 per month as current child support and $24,000 in retroactive support. 3 The court also ordered Miles to include and maintain N.S.P. on the health insurance policy available through his job, and to purchase a $50,000 life insurance policy naming Bridget as beneficiary for the benefit of N.S.P. With respect to conservatorship and possession, the court appointed Miles and Bridget as joint managing conservators, but ordered that “[i]t is the Best Interest of the child that VICTOR MILES shall not have Possession of the child, until this Order is modified by the Court, as he has not bonded with the child.” Miles subsequently filed this restricted appeal.

Standard of Review

A restricted appeal is a procedural device available to a party who did not participate, either in person or through counsel, in a proceeding that resulted in a judgment against the party. Tex.R.App. P. 30. It constitutes a direct attack on a default judgment. Id.; Gen. Elec. Co. v. Falcon Ridge Apartments Joint Venture, *387 811 S.W.2d 942, 943 (Tex.1991). A party filing a restricted appeal must demonstrate that (1) he appealed within six months after the judgment was rendered, (2) he was a party to the suit, (3) he did not participate in the actual trial of the case, and (4) error appears on the face of the record. See Tex.R.App. P. 30; Quaestor Inv., Inc. v. Chiapas, 997 S.W.2d 226, 227 (Tex.1999). The face of the record includes all papers on file in the appeal, including the clerk’s record and any reporter’s record. DSC Fin. Corp. v. Moffitt, 815 S.W.2d 551, 551 (Tex.1991); Davenport v. Scheble, 201 S.W.3d 188, 193 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2006, pet. filed). Because a restricted appeal affords an appellant the same scope of review as an ordinary appeal, he may challenge the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence. See Norman Commc’ns v. Tex. Eastman Co., 955 S.W.2d 269, 270 (Tex.1997); Whitaker v. Rose, 218 S.W.3d 216, 220 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2007, no pet.).

Unlike other civil cases in which a defaulting defendant is presumed to admit the petition’s allegations regarding liability and liquidated damages, the allegations in a divorce petition are not admitted by a defaulting defendant. Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 6.701 (Vernon 2006); Wilson v. Wilson, 132 S.W.3d 533, 538 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2004, pet. denied); see Sandone v. Miller-Sandone, 116 S.W.3d 204, 207 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2003, no pet.) (noting that divorce petition may not be taken as confessed if respondent does not file answer).

Paternity

In his first issue, Miles contends the trial court erred in adjudicating his paternity of N.S.P. He does not challenge the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence establishing his paternity; rather, he asserts that the four-year statute of limitations set forth in Family Code section 160.607 bars Bridget’s paternity suit. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 160.607(a) (Vernon Supp.2006).

Section 160.607 applies in cases where there is a presumed father. Id. A man is presumed to be the father of a child if he is married to the child’s mother and the child is born during the marriage. Id. § 160.204(a)(1) (Vernon Supp.2006). Here, Carnell is N.S.P.’s presumed father because he was married to Bridget at the time N.S.P. was born. A presumption of paternity may be rebutted by adjudication, however. Id. § 160.204(b)(1). Under section 160.607, such a proceeding must be commenced “not later than the fourth anniversary of the date of the birth of the child.” Id. § 160.607(a).

Miles asserts that the four-year statute of limitations set forth in section 160.607 bars Bridget’s paternity suit because she did not bring it until N.S.P. was nearly fourteen years old. “Limitations!, however,] is an affirmative defense that is waived if not pleaded.” G.R.A.V.I.T.Y. Enters., Inc. v. Reece Supply Co., 177 S.W.3d 537, 544 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2005, no pet.); see Tex.R.Civ. P. 94 (listing statute of limitations as affirmative defense that party “shall set forth affirmatively”); Frazier v. Havens, 102 S.W.3d 406, 411 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2003, no pet.) (“A party waives the affirmative defense of statute of limitations if it is not pleaded or tried by consent.”); Brown v. Shores, 77 S.W.3d 884, 885 n.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
229 S.W.3d 384, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 3018, 2007 WL 1166162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miles-v-peacock-texapp-2007.