1 ... SeeTe x. R. App . P. 47. 4. 

## COURT OFAPPEALS SECOND DISTRICTOF TEXAS FORT WORTH NO. 2 - 08 - 31 8- CV M YR ON D . J E F F E R S ON AP P E L L ANT V . C A M ELL A REN A H O LM ES A PPELL EE

----- ----- -- FR O M THE 3 25TH DI STRI CT CO URT O F TARRA NT CO UN TY

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### MEMORANDU M OPI NI ON 1

----- ----- -- A ppel l antM yr on D . J ef f er son, a pr o se pr i soner , appeal s t he f i nal decr ee ent er ed i n hi s di vor ce . I n a s i ngl e i ss ue, hear gue s t hatt he t r i alco urter r ed by “aw ar di ng [ chi l d] supportt o be based i n t he f ut ur e w hen t her e w as no evi dence t hat[ he] coul d ear n any m oney. ” Speci f i cal l y, J e ff er son ar gues t hatt he t r i al court“f ai l ed t o com pl y w i t h th e T exas Fam i l y C ode and pert i nent Tex as2 ... H o l m e s d i d n o t f i l e a b ri e f w i th this co u rt . 2 S u p re m e C o u rt c a s e s ” b y o rd e ri n g h i m to p a y $ 6 0 0 a m o n th i n c h i l d s u p p o rt a n d th a t th e re fo re“ th e o rd e r . . . h a s n o l e g a l o r fa c tu a l b a s i s .” W ew i l l a ffir m . I n Fe br uary 2008, A ppe l l eeCam el l a Ren a Hol m esf i l ed an or i gi nalpe t i t i on se e k i n g a d i v o rce fr o m J e fferso n . T h ep e ti ti o n s tate d th a t th ep a rt i e s h a d tw o chi l dr en and t hat“ Res ponde nts houl d beor der ed t o m ake p aym ent s f ort he su pporto ft h e c h i l d [ r e n ] . ”J e f f e r s o n f i l e d a w a i v e ro fc i t a t i o n i n w h i c h he st at ed t hathe had r ead t he pet i t i on and under st ood al l t he al l egat i ons contai ned t her ei n. In J u ly2 0 0 8 , t h e t r ia l c o u rth e a r d t h ef in a l d iv o r c ep r o v e -u p a tw h ic h o n ly H o lm e sa p p e a r e d . A t t h e h e a r in g , H o lm e s t e s t if ie d t h a tJ e f f e r s o n w a sc u r r e n t ly i n pr i so n a nd t hathe w oul d be r el ea se d i n Novem ber2010 . Af t erhe ar i ng t he t es t i m ony, t he t r i al cou rt gr ant ed t he di vor ce and si gne d a f i nal de cree of di vor ce , or der i ng J ef f er son t o pa y chi l d s upportof$600 pe rm ont h w i t h t he fi rst pa y m e n t “d u e an d p a y a b le o n t h e1 st d a yo f t h e2 n d ca l e n d a r m o n th f ol l ow i ng [ hi s] r el ea sef r om j ai l . ” Thi s app ea l f ol l ow ed. 2 A det er m i nat i on of chi l d suppo rtw i l l notbe r ever sed u n l e ss th er e i s a c l e a r a b u s e o f d i s c re ti o n . I nreM. M. , 9 80 S . W . 2d 6 99 , 7 00 ( Tex . A pp. — S an A n to n i o 1 9 9 8 , n o p e t. ). H o w e v e r, an ap p e l l a te c o u rth a s n o j u ri sd i c ti o n to3

r enderan advi sory opi ni on on a cont r over sy t hati s notyetr i pe ort o deci de a c a s e o n s p e c u l a ti v e , h y p o th e ti c a l , o r c o n ti n g e n t fa c t s i tu a ti o n s . Cam arenav. Tex . E mp l o ym en t Co m m ’n , 7 5 4S .W .2 d 1 4 9 , 1 5 1 (T e x . 1 9 8 8 ); see T e x. R. App. P. 47. 1. H e re , J e ffe r s o n a rg u e sth a t th e rei sn o c re d i b l ee v i d e n c ei n th ere c o rd t hat he has t he potent i al t o m ake any m oney because now he i s a c o n v i ct ed f el on and t he coun t ry’ s f i nanci al f ut ur e i s uncert ai n. H e ar gues t hatsuch l ack o f e v i d e n c e m a k e s th e d e c re e v o i d . J e ffe rs o n c o n c l u d e sb ya s k i n g th i sc o u rt t o “ s t r ik e t h a tp o rt io n o ft h e d e c r e et h a ti n c u r s f i n a n c ia l o b lig a t io n so n [h im ] u n t il s o m e t im e w h e n h eisre le a s e d w h e n h i s f in a n c ia l s t a t u sc a n b ef u lly e x p l o re d a n d d o c u m e n te d .” Jef f er son does not com pl ai n abou t any cur r entchi l d suppo rtpaym ent s. H iso n lyc o m p l a in tc o n c e r n sw h a tf in a l d e c r e ere q u ir e sh im t o p a yu p o n h is re l e a s e fro m p ri s o n . T h e tri a l c o u rt h e a rd te s ti m o n yfro m H o l m e sth a t b e fo re J e ffe rs o n w e n t to j a i l , h e “ h a d a d e ta i l s h o p a n d - - d i ffe re n t o th e r th i n g s .” H ol m esal so t es t i f i ed t hat$600 a m ont h i n c hi l d s upportp aym ent s w oul d be a p p r o p r ia t e o n c e J e f f e r s o n re o p e n e d h isd e t a il s h o p . B e c a u s eJ e f f e r s o n ’s c h ild s u p p o rt o b lig a t io n d o e s n o t t a k e e f f e c t u n t il h is r e le a s e f r o m p r i s o n , h is ar gum ent — t hatt her e i s no evi dence t hat , now as a convi ct ed f el on and gi ven t he ec on om y, heca n m ee tt hi s obl i gat i on— i s sp ec ul at i ve and co nt i nge nton3 ... Shoul d Jef f er so n notbeab l e t o m ee thi s chi l d s upportobl i gat i on after

hi s r el ease, he coul d p res e n t hi s f i nanci al i nf or m at i on t o t he t r i al courtvi a a m o ti o n to m o d i fyh i sc h i l d s u p p o rt o b l i g a ti o n . Se eg en era llyTex. Fa m . Code A n n . § § 1 5 6 .0 0 1

– .4 1 0 (V e rn o n 2 0 0 8 ). 4 fu tu re fac ts. B a se d o n the rec o rd b e fo re u s , th e tri a l co u rtd i d n o t ab u se i ts di s c r e t i o n b ys u s p e n d i n g a n yc u r r e n tc h i l d s u p p o rto b l i g a t i o n sa n d o r der i ng fu tu rec h i l d s u p p o rt o n c e J e ffe rs o n isre l e a s e d fro m p ri s o n . A c c o rd M. M. , 980 S .W .2 d a t7 0 1 . T o t h e e x t e n tt h a tJ e f f e r s o n c o m p la in st h a tt h ef u t u r e c h ild su pport obl i gat i on i s exc es si ve, t hat com pl ai nti s att hi s poi nthyp ot het i ca l an d sp e c u l a ti v e , a n d w e w i l l n o t ad d res s i t. 3 Se eI n reH. B. , No . 0 2
- 0 6
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- CV , 2 0 0 6 W L3 4 3 8 1 9 3 , a t * 2 (T e x . A p p .— F o rt W o rth N o v . 3 0 , 2 0 0 6 , n o p e t.) ( m em . op. on r eh’ g) ( hol di ng t hatab se ntan ac t ual i nj ury f r om t he ope r at i on of f am i l y c odes ec t i on 263. 401 ( a) ’ s t i m e l i ne, ap pel l ant ’ s con st i t ut i ona l ch al l eng e w a sn o t ri p e , a n d a n yo p i n i o n b yth i sc o u rt w o u l d b em e re l ya d v i s o ry ). W e th e refo re o v e rr u l e J e fferso n ’s so l ei ss u ean d affi rm the tr i a l co u rt ’s j u d g m e n t.

P E RCU R I AM PA N EL: W A LKER, LI V I N G STO N , an d DA U PH I N O T, JJ. DEL I VERE D: M a r c h 26, 2009