Roebuck v. Horn

74 S.W.3d 160, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 2729, 2002 WL 575745
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 18, 2002
Docket09-01-384 CV
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 74 S.W.3d 160 (Roebuck v. Horn) 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
Roebuck v. Horn, 74 S.W.3d 160, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 2729, 2002 WL 575745 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

JOHN HILL, Justice

(Assigned).

Thomas Peter Roebuck, Jr. appeals from the entry of a turnover order and the appointment of a receiver. He presents the following five issues: (1) Did the trial court abuse its discretion in entering the turnover order when Winnie Raquel Horn, the appellee, produced no evidence that he had any asset subject to turnover?; (2) Did the trial court abuse its discretion in entering the turnover order when the order does not address any of Roebuck’s specific assets?; (3) Did the trial court abuse its discretion in entering the turnover order when the order requires turnover of assets owned in whole or in part by third parties?; (4) Did the trial court abuse its discretion in granting the receiver powers of a master in chancery and by only requiring a bond of $100?; and (5) Did the trial court abuse its discretion in ordering the production of all of the documents in a request for production attached to the order? We reverse the turnover order and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Horn obtained a judgment against Roebuck in excess of $76,000. Concluding that she would not be able to recover the judgment through execution, Horn sought and received a turnover order and the appointment of a receiver. Roebuck asserts in *163 issues one, two, and three that the trial court abused its discretion in entering the turnover order because there was no evidence that he had any asset subject to turnover, because the order is invalid and illegal on its face, and because the order requires turnover of assets owned in whole or in part by third parties.

We are required to review the trial court’s turnover order under an abuse of discretion standard. See Beaumont Bank, N.A. v. Butter, 806 S.W.2d 223, 226 (Tex.1991). Whether there is evidence to support the turnover award is a relevant consideration in determining if the trial court abused its discretionary authority in issuing the order. Id. A trial court may be reversed for abusing its discretion only when the court of appeals finds the court acted in an unreasonable or arbitrary manner or that it acted without reference to any guiding rules and principles. Id. Accordingly, we may not reverse for abuse of discretion merely because we disagree with the trial court’s decision if the decision was within the trial court’s discretionary authority. Id. A trial court’s issuance of a turnover order, even if predicated upon an erroneous conclusion of law, will not be reversed for abuse of discretion if the judgment is sustainable for any reason. Id.

At the hearing on the turnover order, evidence was presented that non-exempt property owned by Roebuck consisted of $1200 cash in a bank account; an old pickup truck; “some motorcycles;” 28% interest in his law firm, a professional corporation; and an undisclosed interest in the leasing company through which his law firm leases its budding. Also before the court was Roebuck’s deposition in which he indicated that he has a one-third interest in the building.

A trial court abuses its discretion if it signs a turnover order that does not identify specific non-exempt property subject to the order. Burns v. Miller, Hiersche, Martens & Hayward, P. C., 948 S.W.2d 317, 324 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1997, writ denied). In its order in this case, the trial court did not make any specific reference to the assets that were proved during the hearing; rather, it included a laundry list of possible assets stated in broad categories. Referring to these broad categories, Horn argues that the order is specific. She refers to the following examples: (1) the order refers to “books,” which would include Roebuck’s interest in his law firm’s library; (2) the order refers to “stocks,” which would include Roebuck’s shares in the law firm and the leasing company from which the law film leases its building; (3) the order refers to “titles to automobiles,” which would include Roebuck’s “old pickup truck;” (4) the order refers to “cash,” which would include the $1200 in a bank account; (5) the order refers to “other vehicles,” which would include Roebuck’s children’s motorcycles; (6) the order identifies “real property/deeds to real property,” which would include Roebuck’s interest in the building occupied by his law firm. A reference to broad categories of assets does not constitute a reference to specific assets that is required in a turnover order. We also note that the order makes reference to numerous generalized categories of assets without any supporting proof as to their ownership by Roebuck.

Roebuck also contends that the order requires turnover of assets owned in whole or in part by third parties. As an example, the order confers upon the receiver:

... all the power and authority to take possession of all non-exempt property of THOMAS PETER ROEBUCK, JR. *164 that is in the actual or constructive possession or control of Respondent, including but not limited to all property incidental to or associated with the daily operation of any business owned in whole or in part by Respondent, including but not limited to all cash, accounts receivable, notes receivable, promissory notes, drafts and checks, monies on deposit in financial institutions, financial accounts (bank accounts), certificates of deposit, money market accounts, accounts held by any third party, stocks, all securities, all real property, deeds to real property, titles to automobiles or other vehicles, boats, planes, all safety deposit boxes or vaults and the contents therein, monies received by the Respondent in the form of checks, cash or credit card payments or receipts; any and all causes of action or choices of action, contract rights whether present or future; and all furniture, fixtures, equipment, supplies and inventory and all documents, books and records related to any of the herein described property (including financial records) that is in the actual or constructive possession or control of Respondent and/or in connection with any business owned in whoie or in part by Respondent or any other business wholly or partially owned by Respondent....

The evidence at the hearing shows that Roebuck owns a 28% interest in the professional corporation of which he is an employee. The order as noted above is not sufficiently limited to seizure of Roebuck’s interest in law firm property, but appears to allow the seizure of any or all law firm property in the general categories listed because Roebuck is a part owner of the firm. The law firm was not served nor did it make an appearance at the turnover hearing. The turnover procedure contemplates the presence of third parties where their interests may be involved. See Schultz v. Fifth Judicial Dist. Court of Appeals at Dallas, 810 S.W.2d 738, 740 (Tex.1991).

Horn denies that the turnover order requires turnover of assets owned by third parties, noting that Roebuck’s shares in the P.C.

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Bluebook (online)
74 S.W.3d 160, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 2729, 2002 WL 575745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roebuck-v-horn-texapp-2002.