1 Up o n c o nve r t ing t o I sla m, Laurence J . Davi s secured a co ur t or der chang ing his name. H e and An drea J osi ta Dav i s ap pear pro se in t his a pp ea l. 2 There were no custody

or chi l d sup port is sues b ecause there were n o chi ldren of the m arriage. 

### TEXA S COU RT O F AP PEAL S, THIR D DISTRIC T, AT AU STIN
NO. 03-01-00397-CV
Fahim M. N. Abdus-Samad, App ellant

v. Andrea Josita Davis, Appell ee
FROM THE DISTRICT CO URT OF BELL COUNTY, 264TH JUDICIAL DIS TRICT NO. 181,8 96-D, HONORABLE MARTHA J. TRUD O, JUDGE P

RESIDIN G
Fa him M. N. Ab dus-Sama

d 1 appe al s f

rom th e di stri ct-court

judgm ent in this div orce pr oc eed ing. T he o nly i

ssu e Abdu s-S amad r aises o n app eal is t he pr op er t y divisi on, spe cifically

t he re qui re men t th at h e p ay a c er tai n de b t. 2 W e wi l l

af f i rm th e d i str i ct- cou rt j udgm en t. Ab dus-Sama

d appeals f

rom a post -answ e r d ef

aul t j ud gm en t. N o i ss

ue ex i sts co ncer ningproper not ic e of the he arin g on the div

orce. A pp el l an t answ er ed

an d f i l ed wi th the c ourt a propo sed property div

is ion. He doesnot co nt ro ver t t imely re ceipt of no t ice o f the he ar ing , bu t did not appe ar. Cf. Hanners v. State Bar of Texas , 860 S.W.2d 903, 907 (T ex. Ap p. —D alla s 1 99 3, wr it dis m’ d) (f ai lure t o g ive not ice violat es d ue p ro ces s re quir ement ). The pr op er t y divisi on in t he judg ment assigne d ea ch pa rt y the pr op er t y in h is o rhe rpo ss es sio n o rsu bje ct t o his o rhe rso le co nt r o l. The property div

is ion a ls o assign ed to Ab dus-Sama

d a debt of $1,850 for warehouse storage3 At the tim e of thei r marriage, each was

in mi li tary servi ce. Each has

been dis charged. 2 chargest o be r ep aid to Davi s i n m onthly in stall me nts. Abdus -Samad contests the debt, clai mi ng that there should hav

e been n o st orag e charges at all b ecause he an d D av is ha d b een e nti tl ed to a p eri od of free storag e u po n d isc ha r ge fr o m t he milit ar y. 3 He co nt en ds t ha t Da vis fa iled t o fo llo w h is instruct ions concerni

ng the sto rage and thus needlessl y i ncurred t he charges. A post-a n sw er de f aul t con sti tute s n ei th e r an aba

ndonm ent of the ans

wer nor an i mpl ie d con f es si on of an y i ss ue s th usj oi ne d by the an sw er. Judgm

en t ca nn ot be en tere d on th e ple ad ing s; t he plaint iff

in such a cas e must offer evidenc e and pr ove t he ca se a s in a judg ment follow inga tri al . See Karl & Kelly Co. v. McLerran , 64 6 S. W.2d 174 , 17 5 (T ex. 1 983 ); Stoner v. Thompson , 578 S.W.2d 679, 682 (Tex. 19 79). It i s the pl ai ntif f ’sresp onsi

bi l i ty to se e tha

t a court report er i s pre sen

t and a rec ord m

ade. Vickery v. Texas C

arpet Co. , 792 S.W .2d 759 , 762 (Tex . App.—Houston [14th

Di st.] 1990 , wri

t deni ed). In a divo rc e pr oc eed ing, t he t rial co ur t has w ide disc re t ion in dividing t he es t at e o f the parties a nd w i l l be rev erse d onl

y on a s howi ng of abuse of d i scre tion . Mu rff

v. Mu rff , 615 S.W.2d 696, 69 9 ( T ex . 19 81 ) . On ap pe al, it i s pre sum ed th at the c ourt properl

y ex ercised i ts di scre tion . Id. at 700. The record o f the ca use contain

s a reporter ’s record showi ng th at D avi s testif

ie d co ncer ningt he it ems in s t o r ag e, wh ich sh e id en t ifie d a s A bd us - S ama d’ s p r o pe r t y. Davi s testif ie d as to the m onthl y am ount of the storage ch

arges . She also testifi

ed that she had n

ot if ie d Ab dus-Sama

d of the address o f t he st o r ag e fa cilit y and maile d h im a k ey s o t ha t he co uld retrieve h is propert y, b

ut he fai led to do so . Davis’s t est imony is sufficient evide nce t o s upp or t t he tri al cou rt’ s a l l oca ti on of3

t he storage chargesto Abdus -Sa mad . The di stri

ct c ourt d i d n ot ab us e h er d i screti on i n th e di vi si on of pr o pe r t y. A cc o r din gly, we o ve rrule ap pe llant ’s o nly is sue an d a f f i rm th e d i str i ct- cou rt j udgm en t.

Lee Yeakel, Justice Be f ore J us ti ce s K i dd, Ye akel

an d Pa tters on Af fi rmed File d: Decem

ber 20, 2001 Do No t Publis

h