Paul Sudhivarakom v. Anne Marie Helgeson

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 8, 2023
• Docket: 01-22-00754-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued August 8, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-22-00754-CV ——————————— PAUL SUDHIVARAKOM, Appellant V. ANNE MARIE HELGESON, Appellee

On Appeal from the 257th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 2021-25471

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an appeal from a Final Decree of Divorce signed on July 19, 2022

(“Final Decree of Divorce”) in Cause No. 2021-25471, filed in the 257th District

County of Harris County, Texas. On March 14, 2023, the parties reached settlement

and signed a “Mediated Settlement Agreement for Final Orders” (“Mediated Settlement Agreement”) memorializing the terms of their agreement. Subsequently,

the parties filed a Joint Motion for Voluntary Dismissal by Agreement” (“Joint

Motion”) in this Court requesting we dispose of the present appeal.1

Pursuant to Rule 42.1(a)(2)(B) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the

parties request that we “affirm the divorce as rendered on June 2, 20222 and [] affirm

all terms included within the July 19, 2022 Final Decree of Divorce which relate to

the suit affecting the parent-child relationship.” The parties further request that we

“set aside the terms of the July 19, 2022 Final Decree of Divorce which addresses a

division of the marital estate, including confirmation of separate property, without

regard to the merits and that those matters be remanded to the trial court for entry of

a Reformed Final Decree of Divorce” consistent with the parties’ Mediated

Settlement Agreement. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.1(a)(2)(B); Stampede TX Energy,

LLC v. Bridgetex Pipeline Co., No. 01-18-00113-CV, 2019 WL 758003, at *1 (Tex.

App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Feb. 21, 2019, no pet.) (mem. op.) (granting joint motion

1 The parties attached their Mediated Settlement Agreement to their Joint Motion to Dismiss and also filed the agreement with the Clerk of this Court. Exhibit A of the Mediated Settlement Agreement, which memorializes the parties’ agreement to file the Joint Motion, identifies Cause No. 2022-39911, which appears to be a typographical error. Cause No. 2022-39911 involves different parties and is pending in a different trial court before another trial judge. This Court’s order concerns Cause No. 2021-25471, filed in the 257th Harris County District Court, styled as Anne Marie Helgeson v. Paul Sudhivarakom. 2 The trial court issued its rendition on June 2, 2022, and signed the Final Decree of Divorce on July 19, 2022. 2 to dismiss appeal, setting aside trial court’s judgment without regard to merits, and

remanding to trial court for rendition of judgment); Correct Checks, Inc. v. Carew,

No. 01-12-00128-CV, 2012 WL 2159365, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.]

June 14, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (same). The parties request that the mandate

issue upon judgment. See TEX. R. APP. P. 18.1(c). No opinion has issued in this

appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.1(c).

We grant the parties’ Joint Motion. We affirm the terms of the July 19, 2022

Final Decree of Divorce which relate to the suit affecting the parent-child

relationship. We set aside the terms of the July 19, 2022 Final Decree of Divorce,

which address the division of the marital estate, including confirmation of separate

property, without regard to the merits of those matters, and we remand the case to

the trial court for entry of a Reformed Final Decree of Divorce consistent with the

parties’ Mediated Settlement Agreement. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.1(a)(2)(B), 43.2(f).

We direct the Clerk of this Court that costs are to be taxed against Appellant Paul

Sudhivarakom and to issue the mandate concurrent with this opinion and judgment.

See TEX. R. APP. P. 18.1(c), 42.1(d). We deny all other pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Goodman, Landau, and Rivas-Molloy.