Opinion ID: 2440422
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Eggemeyer Is An Incorrect Construction of the Texas Constitution.

Text: The Court's judgment in Eggemeyer, as noted above, was fully supported by the holding that section 3.63 was merely a recodification of existing law. Thus, it is not surprising that the subsequent discussion of the constitutional limitations on the division of separate property in general has been treated as dicta, Muns v. Muns, 567 S.W.2d 563, 565 (Tex.Civ.App.Dallas 1978, no writ), and has not been viewed as prohibiting an award of one spouse's separate personalty to the other. York v. York, 579 S.W.2d 24, 25 (Tex.Civ.App.Beaumont 1979, no writ); Eichelberger v. Eichelberger, 557 S.W.2d 587, 589 (Tex.Civ.App. Waco 1977), rev'd on other grounds, 582 S.W.2d 395 (Tex.1979). The constitutional bases of Eggemeyer should not be regarded as authoritative since this Court will not decide a case on constitutional grounds if the case can otherwise be disposed of. See, e.g., Wood v. Wood, 159 Tex. 350, 359, 320 S.W.2d 807, 813 (1959); San Antonio General Drivers, Helpers Local No. 657 v. Thornton, 156 Tex. 641, 647, 299 S.W.2d 911, 915 (1957); Waller v. State, 68 S.W.2d 601, 603 (Tex.Civ.App.Amarillo 1934, writ ref'd). In my opinion, there are no constitutional limitations on the power of the trial court to divest a spouse of his or her separate property. Prior to its amendment in 1980, article XVI, section 15 of the constitution provided as follows: All property, both real and personal, of the wife, owned prior to marriage or claimed by her before marriage by gift, devise or descent, shall be the separate property of the wife; and laws shall be passed more clearly defining the rights of the wife, in relation as well to her separate property as that held in common with her husband .... Citing Arnold v. Leonard, 114 Tex. 535, 273 S.W. 799 (1925), the majority in Eggemeyer stated that the constitutional definition of separate property was exclusive and could not be altered or enlarged by the legislature. Thus, even if section 3.63 could be construed as permitting a divestiture of one spouse's separate realty, the trial court was still powerless to make an award of one spouse's separate property to the other in its divorce decree. What the Court overlooked in Eggemeyer is that the division of property upon divorce does not occur during the marriage, but at the moment of divorce; the division of property and the divorce decree are a single, integrated action. Application of those rules which characterize property before and during marriage is inappropriate. An analogous situation involves community property that is not divided upon divorce. We have consistently held such property is owned by the ex-spouses separately as tenants in common. Busby v. Busby, 457 S.W.2d 551, 554 (Tex.1970); Taylor v. Catalon, 140 Tex. 38, 41-42, 166 S.W.2d 102, 104, (1942); Kirkwood v. Domnan, 80 Tex. 645, 647-48, 16 S.W. 428, 429 (1891). In both instances, this separate property is not within the constitutional definition, but is created by the fact of divorce. There are, moreover, at least two additional situations in which property that is neither owned prior to marriage nor acquired thereafter by gift, devise or descent is treated as separate property. The first is a mutation of separate property. The second, personal injury awards, is particularly instructive for the purposes of this case. In Graham v. Franco, 488 S.W.2d 390 (Tex.1972), we unanimously held that such awards were the separate property of the injured spouse despite their exclusion from the constitutional definition. More importantly, we limited Arnold v. Leonard to its facts. Thus, the most that can be gleaned from Arnold v. Leonard is that the legislature is powerless to enact a law classifying the rents and revenues of the wife's separate realty as her separate property. There is, however, a more basic flaw in the implied exclusion reasoning of Arnold v. Leonard . Logically extended, it denies the existence of the husband's separate property since the constitution, until the 1980 amendment of article XVI, section 15, provided only for the separate property of the wife. Under a strict reading of Arnold v. Leonard , all property owned by the husband before marriage and acquired thereafter during marriage is necessarily community. The fact that property is community or separate is pertinent to its division upon divorce. The courts of appeals have evolved several equitable rules which, quite properly, limit the trial court's discretion to award the separate property of one spouse to the other spouse to extraordinary circumstances. Muns v. Muns, 567 S.W.2d 563, 567 (Tex.Civ.App.Dallas 1978, no writ); Cooper v. Cooper, 513 S.W.2d 229, 233 (Tex.Civ. App.Houston [1st Dist.] 1974, no writ); Bryant v. Bryant, 478 S.W.2d 602, 605 (Tex. Civ.App.Waco 1972, no writ); Dorfman v. Dorfman, 457 S.W.2d 91, 95 (Tex.Civ.App. Waco 1970, no writ); Keene v. Keene, 445 S.W.2d 624, 626 (Tex.Civ.App.Dallas 1969, writ dism'd). Equity and the theory of community property argue for such rules. For over a century, Texas courts awarded separate personalty upon divorce. Prior to Eggemeyer, this was not considered a constitutional problem. It was the statutory provision, not the constitution which prohibited the award of separate realty upon divorce. Therefore, I would hold that article XVI, section 15 of the constitution does not prohibit a trial court from dividing the separate property of one spouse upon divorce. The second constitutional basis for the Court's decision in Eggemeyer was the due process clause of the Texas Constitution. Tex.Const. art. I, § 19. In Eggemeyer, the Court stated that the division of one spouse's separate property was not justified by any benefit to the public welfare. Because this taking of private property was not grounded upon the police power, the legislature could not constitutionally authorize a division of one spouse's separate property. I disagree with this holding. As stated in the dissent in Eggemeyer, [t]he special relationship between the State and the institution of marriage has often been recognized. 554 S.W.2d at 147. The state's interest in the marital relationship provides a sufficient and justifiable public purpose for divestiture of one spouse's separate property. Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 205, 8 S.Ct. 723, 726, 31 L.Ed. 654 (1897). By ordering periodic child support payments, Texas courts are empowered to divest a parent of his separate personalty. Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 14.05. Likewise, the state imposes a duty upon the spouses to support each other during the marriage. Id. § 4.02. Although a spouse must look first to the community for support, the other spouse may be required to employ his or her separate funds if community funds are insufficient. Norris v. Vaughan, 152 Tex. 491, 502-03, 260 S.W.2d 676, 683 (1953); Callahan v. Patterson, 4 Tex. 61, 66 (1849). In neither case is there a violation of due process. The valid state interest in the marital relationship justifies the burdens imposed upon a spouse's separate property. That same valid state interest allows the state to provide rules for the dissolution of the marriage and the division of both separate and community property upon dissolution. Section 3.63 of the Family Code and previous Texas divorce statutes have required the division of marital property according to equitable principles. In many circumstances, equity may require an unequal division of community property. Bell v. Bell, 513 S.W.2d 20, 22 (Tex.1974). Likewise, in extreme cases, equity may require the trial court to award a portion of one spouse's separate personalty to the other. I would hold that article I, section 19 of the Texas Constitution is no impediment to an award of one spouse's separate property to the other. The majority opinion suggests that allowing a divestiture of separate personalty under section 3.63, in light of the holding in Eggemeyer that separate realty cannot be divested, is a violation of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 3 of the Texas Constitution. The argument is that a classification based on land ownership arbitrarily discriminates against those persons owning separate personalty rather than separate realty. I do not find this contention persuasive. The equal protection clauses of both the federal and state constitutions protect individuals against arbitrary discrimination by the state. The state, however, may classify its citizens into reasonable classes, and treat these different classes of persons in different ways. Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71, 75, 92 S.Ct. 251, 253, 30 L.Ed.2d 225 (1971); Railroad Commission v. Miller, 434 S.W.2d 670, 673 (Tex.1968); Bjorgo v. Bjorgo, 402 S.W.2d 143, 148 (Tex.1966). The test under both the state and federal constitutions is whether the classification is reasonable and not arbitrary. Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. at 76, 92 S.Ct. at 254 (1971); Railroad Commission v. Miller, 434 S.W.2d at 673; San Antonio Retail Grocers v. Lafferty, 156 Tex. 574, 577, 297 S.W.2d 813, 815 (1957). There must be some ground of difference which has a fair and substantial relationship to the purpose of the legislation, so that all persons similarly situated are similarly treated. New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U.S. 297, 303-04, 96 S.Ct. 2513, 2516-17, 49 L.Ed.2d 511 (1976); Railroad Commission v. Miller, 434 S.W.2d at 673. There is a rational purpose for the different treatment accorded owners of real and personal property by the trial courts upon divorce. Realty, by definition, is unique. By contrast, personalty is often fungible and more easily replaced than realty. If a spouse's personalty is genuinely unique and irreplaceable, the trial court can consider this fact under section 3.63.