Walz v. Martinez

307 S.W.3d 374, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 9060, 2009 WL 4153436
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 25, 2009
Docket04-08-00869-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 307 S.W.3d 374 (Walz v. Martinez) 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
Walz v. Martinez, 307 S.W.3d 374, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 9060, 2009 WL 4153436 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by:

CATHERINE STONE, Chief Justice.

Irma Roldan Walz a/k/a Irma Walz Martinez appeals the trial court’s order granting a special appearance filed by the appel-lees, who were third party defendants in the underlying cause. Walz contends the trial court erred in sustaining the special appearance because the appellees purposefully availed themselves of the jurisdiction of the Texas courts by: (1) filing a will contest in a pending probate proceeding and seeking injunctive relief against Walz in that proceeding; and (2) initiating the underlying lawsuit against Walz as the purported shareholders of Construcciones Modernas de Mexico, S.A. (“Construc-ciones”). Walz further contends the trial court erred in dismissing her claims with prejudice. We sustain Walz’s complaint regarding the dismissal being with prejudice, but we overrule Walz’s other complaints. We modify the trial court’s order to dismiss the underlying cause without prejudice and affirm the trial court’s order as modified.

Background

Fernando Antonio Martinez Cobo and Walz were married on April 8, 2004. At the time of the marriage, Fernando had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Fernando had four children from two prior marriages: Maria Fernanda Martinez, Guillermo Martinez, Veronica Martinez, and Patricia Martinez. Fernando died on February 18, 2006. Soon thereafter, Walz filed an application in a Texas probate court to probate a will dated January 31, 2005.

On March 1, 2006, Fernando’s children filed a petition to contest the will in the probate court. The petition also included an application for the appointment of a temporary administrator, a request for an accounting, and a request for a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief. The will was contested on the grounds that it was not executed with proper formalities and that Fernando lacked testamentary capacity to execute the will or was unduly influenced. The petition requested the appointment of a qualified third party with no interest in the estate as temporary administrator. The temporary restraining order was requested to prevent Walz from selling, transferring, or disposing of the assets of the estate pending the outcome of the will contest.

Maria’s affidavit was attached to the petition in support of the request for the temporary restraining order. In her affidavit, Maria stated that she had learned that many of the assets Fernando owned and acquired before his marriage to Walz had been “sold, transferred and/or otherwise secreted after his marriage to [Walz] under very suspicious, suspect and/or fraudulent circumstances, while his physical, and mental abilities were rapidly deteriorating.” Maria also stated that the assets of one corporation in Mexico in which Maria also held an interest had been liquidated without her knowledge and consent. Maria further stated that some of Fernando’s assets in Mexico had already been transferred to Walz’s daughter. Based on Walz’s prior actions, Maria stated that she believed Walz would make every effort to “hide, sell or transfer the estate’s assets in order to deprive” Fernando’s children “of *378 any benefit in the estate should [they] prevail in contesting the will.”

On March 1, 2006, a hearing was held on the application for temporary restraining order filed by Fernando’s children in probate court. Fernando’s children appeared at the hearing by and through counsel of record. At the conclusion of the hearing, the probate court signed an agreed order in which Walz agreed to refrain from: (1) taking any action to release, remove, or transfer any funds belonging to Fernando’s estate; and (2) selling or disposing of any asset belonging to the estate.

On March 30, 2006, Construcciones filed a petition and an application for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction in a Texas district court against Walz and two entities that were the custodians of certain accounts in the United States. Construcciones sought to recover funds and property belonging to it that allegedly had been illegally taken or converted by Walz for her own use and benefit. The petition alleged that although Walz and her daughter were given authority as assistants to the prior administrator of Construcciones to collect and administer funds, Walz sold corporate assets and failed to account for the proceeds which she wrongfully removed to the United States and deposited into accounts of which Walz was the sole owner. The proceeds were alleged to be in excess of $3.5 million. The district court signed an order on March 30, 2006, granting the temporary restraining order and setting a hearing on the temporary injunction. The parties later agreed to a temporary injunction.

On November 16, 2006, Walz filed a third party petition asserting claims against various third party defendants, including Fernando’s children. Walz alleged that Fernando owned 90% of the shares of stock of Construcciones. Walz further alleged that although Fernando’s children contend Fernando gave them his shares of Construcciones on March 18, 2005 in Mexico, Fernando was undergoing chemotherapy in the United States when the gifting of the shares allegedly occurred. Because Mexican law required Fernando to be present in order to gift his shares, Walz asserted that any gifting of the shares was invalid because Fernando was too ill to travel to Mexico on that date. Walz alleged that Fernando’s children had fraudulently produced forged documents in Mexico to support the gifting of the shares. Walz asserted claims for fraud, conversion, and civil conspiracy against the third party defendants relating to the actions taken with regard to the alleged gifting of the shares.

In December of 2006, Fernando’s children filed a special appearance and a supplemental special appearance. Each of Fernando’s children signed an affidavit stating his or her only contact with the State of Texas was for the purpose of visiting relatives on a temporary basis.

On March 28, 2007, all of the parties in the district court case agreed to a level 3 discovery control plan. On April 12, 2007, the trial court approved the report of a mediator stating that mediation was conducted on September 29, 2006, but the case did not settle. On April 18, 2007, the trial court granted a motion to withdraw filed by the attorneys representing both Construcciones and Fernando’s children. Approximately one year later, Construc-ciones non-suited its claims against Walz and against the only defendant entity remaining since the other defendant entity had obtained a summary judgment.

On June 6, 2008, Walz filed her response to the special appearance previously filed by Fernando’s children. In the response, Walz asserted the court had jurisdiction over Fernando’s children because they had filed various motions and pleadings in the *379 probate proceeding, participated in discovery, sought and received affirmative relief in obtaining a temporary restraining order and an injunction, and made numerous appearances. In the alternative, Walz asserted Fernando’s children had purposefully availed themselves of the laws of Texas by seeking affirmative relief against Walz as the purported shareholders of Construcciones. Walz alleged that Con-strucciones had filed its lawsuit against her at the request of Fernando’s children in their capacity as alleged shareholders.

The trial court held a hearing on the special appearance.

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307 S.W.3d 374, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 9060, 2009 WL 4153436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walz-v-martinez-texapp-2009.