Moroch v. Collins

174 S.W.3d 849, 2005 WL 2130706
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 3, 2005
Docket05-03-00492-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by249 cases

This text of 174 S.W.3d 849 (Moroch v. Collins) 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
Moroch v. Collins, 174 S.W.3d 849, 2005 WL 2130706 (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

[854]*854OPINION

Opinion by

Justice MOSELEY.

Thomas Francis Moroch appeals from a final decree of divorce from Christy Calvert Collins (Moroch).1 In seventeen issues, Thomas challenges: (1) the trial court’s characterization of the parties’ estates; (2) the economic contribution award and the division of property; (3) the child support award; and (4) the attorney’s fee award. In an additional issue, he challenges the admission of evidence relevant to Christy’s economic contribution claim. For the reasons below, we resolve Thomas’s issues against him and affirm the final decree of divorce.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Thomas and Christy married in 1976. They have two children, who were nineteen and sixteen years old when the divorce was granted. In 1979, Thomas and Christy purchased a house in Dallas referred to as the “DeLoache property.” The deposit/earnest money paid on the contract for the DeLoache property was $10,000. The parties stipulated that the amount financed was $300,000, which was secured by a hen on the DeLoache property and satisfied in 1979. During the marriage the DeLoache property was renovated in two stages: the house was “gutted and rebuilt” between 1979 and 1986, and a garage was built between 1991 and 1992. The parties stipulated that the fair market value of the house for purposes of the divorce was $1,545,000.

In 1987, Thomas and Christy signed a postnuptial agreement partitioning their property. The only items designated as community property were the DeLoache property and the funds in “the household account.”2 All other property was partitioned as either Thomas’s or Christy’s separate property. Separate property included earnings and property acquired in the future and the income, property, or increases arising from the separate property of each. The postnuptial agreement also provided for certain waivers, releases, and liability limits on the separate property.

In her original petition for divorce, Christy raised issues regarding conserva-torship, child support, reimbursement, and attorney’s fees. In her first supplemental petition for divorce, Christy made a claim for economic contribution to her separate estate against the community estate. Specifically, Christy claimed that her separate property estate contributed approximately $2.1 million to the community estate, and she requested that, if that amount exceeded the equity in the DeLoache property, then the entire amount of the equity should be awarded to her. Thomas answered, but made no counterclaims. An attorney ad litem was appointed for the children. Temporary orders were entered on behalf of the children.

Trial was to the court. The final divorce decree:

• dissolved the marriage;
• provided for conservatorship of and access to the two minor children;
• provided that Christy would make a lump-sum child support payment of $76,5003 to Thomas;
[855]*855• incorporated the 1987 postnuptial agreement;
• granted Christy’s claim for economic contribution in the amount of $1,559,043.45, and awarded her the DeLoache property in satisfaction of the claim;
• concluded that, after the award of the DeLoache property to Christy, pursuant to the parties’ postnuptial agreement, there was no more community property to be awarded;
• granted Christy’s request for attorney’s fees and provided that the award was subject to a dollar-for-dollar credit against the lump-sum child support payment; and
• awarded separate property to the parties.

The trial court made findings of fact and conclusions of law, but refused Thomas’s request for additional findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court denied Thomas’s “motion for reconsideration, or to set aside final order, or for new trial” by written order. This appeal followed.

DIVISION OF PROPERTY

In issues one through ten, Thomas challenges the award of the DeLoache property in satisfaction of Christy’s claim for economic contribution. In issue sixteen, Thomas challenges the division of property; in issue seventeen, Thomas challenges the admission of certain evidence relating to the property division. To place our review of these issues in context, we recount the general principles governing the award of marital property in divorce cases, including the law relating to contribution from one estate to another.

A. Applicable Law

A trial court is charged with dividing the community estate in a “just and right” manner, considering the rights of both parties. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 7.001 (Vernon 1998); LaFrensen v. La Frensen, 106 S.W.3d 876, 878 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2003, no pet.). Whether the property is separate or community property is determined by the facts that, according to rules of law, give character to the property. Boyd v. Boyd, 131 S.W.3d 605, 612 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2004, no pet.) (citing Robles v. Robles, 965 S.W.2d 605, 615 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1998, pet. denied) (op. on reh’g)). Separate property will retain its character through a series of exchanges so long as the party asserting separate ownership can overcome the presumption of community property by tracing the assets on hand during the marriage back to property that, because of its time and manner of acquisition, is separate in character. Id. (citing Cockerham v. Cockerham, 527 S.W.2d 162, 168 (Tex.1975)). When separate property has not been commingled or its identity as such can be traced, the statutory presumption is dispelled. Welder v. Welder, 794 S.W.2d 420, 425 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1990, no writ) (citing Estate of Hanau v. Hanau, 730 S.W.2d 663, 667 (Tex.1987)). However, if the evidence shows that separate and community property have been so commingled as to defy resegregation and identification, the community presumption prevails. Boyd, 131 S.W.3d at 612.

When tracing separate property, it is not enough to show that separate funds could have been the source of a subsequent deposit of funds. Id. (citing Latham v. Allison, 560 S.W.2d 481, 485 (Tex.Civ.App.-Fort Worth 1977, writ ref'd n.r.e.)). Moreover, as a general rule, mere testimony that property was purchased with separate funds, without any tracing of the funds, is insufficient to rebut the community presumption. Id. (citing Zagorski v. Zagorski, 116 S.W.3d 309, 316 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2003, pet. de[856]*856nied) (op. on reh’g)); Bahr v. Kohr, 980 S.W.2d 723, 728 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1998, no pet.); McElwee v. McElwee, 911 S.W.2d 182, 188 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1995, writ denied). Any doubt as to the character of property should be resolved in favor of the community estate. Boyd, 131 S.W.3d at 612 (citing Akin v. Akin,

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174 S.W.3d 849, 2005 WL 2130706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moroch-v-collins-texapp-2005.