Opinion ID: 2820848
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: ¶3 Rhonda L. Alexander and Joseph Dean Alexander (Appellee) married on May 5, 1973. After nearly forty years of marriage, on October 23, 2012, Ms. Alexander filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage on the ground of incompatibility. Appellee filed his Answer to the Petition on March 28, 2013, agreeing that the two were incompatible and that they should be granted a divorce. ¶4 On July 23, 2013, before the marital property had been divided, Ms. Alexander filed a Motion for a Grant of Divorce, wherein she explained she had been diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer and had only a short time to live. Appellee objected to this motion, arguing that statutory law requires the dissolution of marriage take place at the same time as the division of marital assets--thus the court should wait to grant the divorce until the property had been divided. ¶5 In Ms. Alexander's reply, she stated that she and Appellee had accumulated millions of dollars in properties during the marriage, most of which were titled under various corporations in Appellee's name. Additionally, she alleged that Appellee had withdrawn over $200,000 from an account titled solely in her name, and that Appellee was trying to force her into a quick settlement by delaying the divorce process so that she may have to face the possibility of passing away before she can have her day in court. ¶6 At the hearing over the Motion for a Grant of Divorce on August 20, 2013, the judge pronounced in court that the two were divorced from the other henceforth. After granting the dissolution of marriage, the court memorialized the decision in a handwritten Court Minute, which the judge and both parties' attorneys signed, and filed it with the court clerk. The court ordered the parties to mediation within five days to resolve their property issues, and to present a journal entry to the court within ten days. Over the following weeks, neither party presented a journal entry to the court. ¶7 On October 10, 2013, Ms. Alexander passed away. Eight days later Appellee filed a motion to dismiss the action, claiming that the death of a party to a divorce proceeding abates the cause of action and deprives the trial court of jurisdiction. Ms. Alexander's successors, Tiffany McClung and Lacey Hart (collectively, Appellants), filed a Response. After various technical delays, the trial court granted Appellee's Motion to Dismiss and the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. The matter now comes before this Court for review.