Monroe v. Monroe

358 S.W.3d 711, 2011 WL 3915582
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 17, 2011
Docket04-10-00561-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 358 S.W.3d 711 (Monroe v. Monroe) 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
Monroe v. Monroe, 358 S.W.3d 711, 2011 WL 3915582 (Tex. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

OPINION

OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

Opinion by:

MARIALYN BARNARD, Justice.

Appellee Dalai Monroe’s motion for rehearing is denied. This court’s opinion and judgment dated June 15, 2011 are withdrawn, and this opinion and judgment are substituted. We substitute this opinion to clarify our opinion and judgment.

Dalai Monroe (“Dalai”) appeals from a final decree of divorce. On appeal, Dalai contends (1) the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support certain findings of fact, and (2) the trial court abused its discretion in the division of the parties’ community estate. After this appeal was filed, David Monroe (“David”) filed a motion to dismiss the appeal based on the acceptance of benefits doctrine. We affirm.

Background

Dalai and David Monroe were married in 2000. They signed both pre- and post-marital agreements. These agreements converted most, but not all, of David’s separate property into community property. The couple separated in 2006 and eventually divorced in 2010. David and Dalai did not have children together. Al[715]*715though David challenged the validity of the pre- and post-marital agreements, the trial court upheld the agreements.

Included in the conversion of David’s separate property into community property was his house on Mandalay Street and his interest in any corporation, including PhotoTelesis and PTEL. The post-marital agreement also converted some of Dalai’s separate property into community property, but that property is not a subject of this appeal.

Three pieces of property make up the bulk of the community estate: (1) Telesis Holdings, Inc.’s stock, which the trial court valued at $4.4 million; (2) the house on Mandalay Street valued at $8.65 million, with $2.4 million in equity; and (3) the antique telephone collection, which consists of over 4,000 phones valued at $2.7 million.

Telesis Group, Inc. is a holding company that owns E-Watch Corporation of Texas (“E-Watch Texas”), E-Watch, Inc. of Nevada (“E-Watch Nevada”), and Telesis Holdings, Inc. (“Telesis Holdings”). Tel-esis Holdings owns 17-18% of Symmetries Technology Group (“Symmetries”) and Symmetries, through two subsidiaries, owns PhotoTelesis, LP. According to David, PhotoTelesis relies on E-Watch Texas to develop and maintain technology patents, mainly developed by David, and E-Watch Nevada holds and manages these patents for PhotoTelesis.

David testified that the last time E-Watch Texas made a profit was 2005 or 2006, but the company is integral to operating E-Watch Nevada and maintaining the value of Symmetries in the PhotoTeles-is operation. David also testified E-Watch Nevada was losing money and if he tried to sell it, “it would be almost valueless.” On the other hand, Dalai testified David told her E-Watch Nevada was “possibly worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” and David told her he was on the verge of selling 20% of E-Watch Texas for $2 million. Dalai then valued Telesis Holdings’s stock at $4.4 million by taking the last sales price of the stock, $5.00, and multiplying it by the outstanding shares. The trial court refused to value the Telesis Group due to incomplete evidence of fair market value of the stock, but because Dalai valued Telesis Holdings’s stock at $4.4 million, the trial court valued Telesis Holdings at $4.4 million.

As for the house on Mandalay Street in San Antonio, Texas, the trial court found the fair market value to be $3.65 million with approximately $2.4 million in equity. Two mortgage payments must be made every month in the amount of $9,294.63 and $2,352.55.

As for the antique telephones, David testified that before he married Dalai, he owned about 1,000 phones. Over the years, David’s collection grew to be one of the largest privately owned collections in the United States. David assessed the value of the phones to be $2.7 million in his Fifth Inventory and Appraisement.

The trial court valued the net community estate at $9,358,398.21. The trial court awarded Dalai: (1) the house on Mandalay, valued to have approximately $2.4 million in equity; (2) a car, valued at $20,000; (3) the “Jaffe furniture” in the house, valued at $175,000; (4) jewelry, valued at $150,000; (5) $18,700 in a trust account from the sale of Symmetrics’s stock; and (6) all bank accounts and frequent flyer miles in her name. The trial court awarded David: (1) the antique telephone collection, valued at $2.7 million; (2) Telesis Holdings, valued at $4.4 million; (3) furniture, valued at $25,000; (4) jewelry, valued at $2,000; and (5) all bank accounts and frequent flyer miles in his name, as well as an insurance policy in his name. The trial court ordered David to provide $250,000 to [716]*716Dalai in order to pay for her attorney’s fees and the mortgage and maintenance for the house for ten months.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In her first issue, Dalai contends the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to support Findings of Fact 3, 21, 25, 26, 38A, and 39. Those findings are as follows:

3. But for the husband’s contribution of his separate property to the community estate, the value of the community estate would be minimal.
21. The Telesis Group, Inc. stock has minimal value if the husband is not personally involved in the continuing operation of the companies owned by this corporation.
25. The furniture at the residence at Mandalay, including the furniture itemized as the “Jaffe Furniture,” as well as antiques, Persian carpets, art, silver, crystal, and other furnishings, are community property, and are awarded to wife free and clear of any claim of David Monroe, and the remainder of the items, are divided in an equitable manner as set out in the Decree of Divorce. The value of the furniture, antiques, Persian carpets, art, silver, crystal, and other furnishings awarded to wife is approximately $175,000 and the value of the furniture to husband is approximately $25,000.
26. The jewelry of wife has a value of $150,000; it is community property and is awarded to her. In the alternative, even if this jewelry were treated as the wife’s separate property, the division of the community estate is fair and just. 38A. If the husband has received an unequal division of the community estate in his favor, any such unequal division in his favor is justified, taking into account the nature of the property involved in the division, the size and nature of the separate estates, the attorney’s fees to be paid by each party, and the following considerations: A. Virtually all of the community estate was property owned by the husband prior to his marriage to the wife.
39. The decree of divorce orders a division of the estate of the parties in a manner that is just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party.

Standard of Review/Applicable Law

A trial court’s findings of fact are reviewable for legal and factual sufficiency by the same standards that are applied in reviewing the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting a jury finding. Ortiz v. Jones, 917 S.W.2d 770, 772 (Tex.1996).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
358 S.W.3d 711, 2011 WL 3915582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/monroe-v-monroe-texapp-2011.