Court Opinion

ID: 4062224
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2016-09-29 20:25:20.522917+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:32:00.258603
License: Public Domain

ACCEPTED
                                                                             01-14-01030-CV
                                                                  FIRST COURT OF APPEALS
                                                                          HOUSTON, TEXAS
                                                                        7/15/2015 9:37:56 AM
                                                                       CHRISTOPHER PRINE
                                                                                      CLERK

                         No. 01-14-01030-CV
_____________________________________________________________
                               IN THE                  FILED IN
                                                    1st COURT OF APPEALS
                                                        HOUSTON, TEXAS
                        COURT OF APPEALS            7/15/2015 9:37:56 AM
                                                    CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
                                                            Clerk
                             FOR THE

           FIRST SUPREME JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                          HOUSTON, TEXAS
   _____________________________________________________________
                      TARRIS WOODS, Appellant
                                    v.
     SANDRA T. KENNER AND CHARLES E. TWYMON, JR., Appellees
 _________________________________________________________________
                    On Appeal from the Probate Court
                       of Galveston County, Texas
                         Cause No. PR-0075144
_________________________________________________________________

                       BRIEF FOR APPELLEES,
              Sandra T. Kenner and Charles E. Twymon, Jr.
_________________________________________________________________

                                    Thomas W McQuage
                                    State Bar No. 13849400
                                    PO Box 16894
                                    Galveston, Texas 77552
                                    (409) 762-1104
                                    (409) 762-4005 (FAX)
                                    mcquage@swbell.net
                                    ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES

                   ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED
                                      TABLE OF CONTENTS
                                                                                                    PAGE
LIST OF AUTHORITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  i

STATEMENT OF THE CASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

ISSUES ON APPEAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

REGARDING APPELLANT'S FIRST ISSUE:
Charles E. Twymon, Jr. properly appeared through counsel

REGARDING APPELLANT'S SECOND AND THIRD ISSUES:
Sufficient evidence supporting the probate of a copy of the Decedent’s Will

REGARDING APPELLANT'S FOURTH ISSUE:
Whether a lawyer’s appearance for Sandra Kenner in the previous
heirship proceeding does or can affect this case

GENERAL FACT STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

REGARDING APPELLEE'S FIRST ISSUE
(Charles E. Twymon, Jr.‘s appearance through counsel). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

REGARDING APPELLANT'S SECOND
AND THIRD ISSUES
(Evidence supporting the probate of a copy of the Decedent’s Will) . . . . . . . . . . . 6

REGARDING APPELLANT'S FOURTH ISSUE
I. Appellant’s reliance on materials outside the record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
II. No reversible error shown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

                                                      -i-
CONCLUSION AND PRAYER FOR RELIEF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CERTIFICATE OF WORD COUNT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

                                                  -i-
                                          LIST OF AUTHORITIES

CASES                                                                                                  PAGE
Dixon v. Sanders, 01-10-00814-CV (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.],
May 19, 2011) (mem. op.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

In re Capps, 154 S.W.3d 242 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2005, no pet.) . . . . . . . . . 8

In re Estate of Caples, 683 S.W.2d 741 (Tex. App.--Corpus
Christi 1984, writ ref'd n.r.e.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

In re Estate of Glover, 744 S.W.2d 939 (Tex.1988) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

In re Estate of Perez, 324 S.W.3d 257 (Tex. App.-El Paso 2010, no writ) . . . . . . 7

Kunstoplast of Am., Inc. v. Formosa Plastics Corp., 937 S.W.2d 455
(Tex. 1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Mingo v. Mingo, 507 S .W.2d 310 (Tex. Civ. App.-San Antonio 1974,
writ ref'd n.r.e.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8

Till v. Thomas, 10 S.W.3d 730 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, no pet.) . . 9

STATUTES
Tex. Estates Code, §32.001(d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

RULES
Tex. R. App. P. 44.1(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Tex. R. Civ. P. 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Tex. R. Civ. P. 176.5(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

                                                           -ii-
                         No. 01-14-01030-CV
_________________________________________________________________
                               IN THE

                             COURT OF APPEALS

                                   FOR THE

             FIRST SUPREME JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                           HOUSTON, TEXAS
 _________________________________________________________________
                       TARRIS WOODS, Appellant
                                     v.
     SANDRA T. KENNER AND CHARLES E. TWYMON, JR., Appellees
 _________________________________________________________________
                    On Appeal from the Probate Court
                        of Galveston County, Texas
                          Cause No. PR-0075144
_________________________________________________________________
                        BRIEF FOR APPELLEES,
               Sandra T. Kenner and Charles E. Twymon, Jr.
_________________________________________________________________

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

      Sandra T. Kenner and Charles E. Twymon, Jr., Appellees, submit this their

brief on appeal from Probate Court of Galveston County, Texas, the Honorable

Kimberly Sullivan, Judge Presiding, in its Cause No. PR-0075144.

      References are made to the Clerk’s record as “(Cl. R.___),” followed by its

page number, and to the Reporter’s Record by its volume and page number, such as

(2 R.R. ___). The parties are referred to by their surnames, and the “Decedent” as

                                       -1-
such.

                           STATEMENT OF THE CASE

        Mr. Woods’ brief seems to characterize this case as if it were a civil suit

between individual parties. Actually, this is an appeal from an order admitting a copy

of a Will to probate. Mr. Woods’ appendix correctly attached is a copy of the order

probating the Decedent’s Will, as the subject of this appeal

                 STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT

        The appellees have placed a request for oral argument on the cover page of

their brief, only to preserve their right to present argument, and because the Appellant

has done so. Appellees do not believe that the Court should invest its resources in

oral argument in this case for all of the reasons itemized in Tex. R. App. P. 39.1.

                                ISSUES ON APPEAL

REGARDING APPELLANT'S FIRST ISSUE: Charles E. Twymon, Jr. properly

appeared through counsel.

REGARDING REGARDING APPELLANT'S SECOND AND THIRD ISSUES:

Sufficient evidence supporting the probate of a copy of the Decedent’s Will.

REGARDING APPELLANT'S FOURTH ISSUE:

Whether a lawyer’s appearance for Sandra Kenner in the previous heirship

proceeding does or can affect this case.

                                           -2-
                         GENERAL FACT STATEMENT

       Appellees do not challenge the Appellant’s recital of the Decedent's marital

and family history, the date of his death, and the preparation of his Will by attorney

Penny L. Pope. Ms. Pope also testified that the instrument submitted for probate was

a true copy of the Will that she had prepared for the Decedent, and that the original

Will had been prepared with the formalities required to make a valid Will. (2 R.R.

22).

       During Hurricane Ike, the Decedent's Galveston home suffered about six feet

of flooding, so the inside of the house "got wiped out." (2 R. R. 23). The floodwaters

rose to the level of the ceiling fans within the house. (2 R.R. 30). Consequently,

everything in the house was saturated. (2 R.R. 30, 40). Once the residents of

Galveston were permitted to return to their homes, Ms. Kenner brought the Decedent

to Galveston from League City every day for about two weeks, to clean out the

contents of his home. (2 R.R. 30). Everything that had been in the Decedent's house

– including diplomas, certificates and the sorts of papers which parents keep

regarding their children's lives – were all thrown away. (2 R.R. 30). No other

members of the Decedent's family participated in that process. (2 R.R. 39).

       The Decedent did not go through any of the papers before they were discarded.

(2 R.R. 40). “He just sat there.” Everything was saturated, and no papers were

                                         -3-
legible. (2 R.R. 40).

       Ms. Pope and the Decedent were “somewhat” acquainted personally, as well

as in her professional capacity. (2 R.R. 21). Several years after Hurricane Ike in

2008, Ms. Pope and the Decedent saw one another at a restaurant, and the Decedent

indicated that he was thinking about having another Will prepared. (2 R.R. 23, 25).

Although there were some follow-up conversations between the Decedent and Ms.

Pope, no new Will was prepared. (2 R.R. 23).

      Mr. Woods called a nonparty witness, who claimed to be well acquainted with

the Decedent from their 10 year work history together, and who never heard the

Decedent say that he executed another Will, or intended to do so. (2 R.R.41-44). A

portion of the prior testimony of Mr. Twymon, Jr. (the Decedent's son) was read to

the trial court, indicating that he did not know what happened to his father's original

will, and that it was certainly possible that his father wrote another one. (2 R.R.

54-55). Mr. Twymon, Jr., was also asked the question, "Does your father have a

will?", and he answered, "he has a will, but it got washed away in Ike." (2 R.R. 56).

      The Decedent never said anything to Ms. Kenner about destroying his will. (2

R.R. 30). Mr. Woods successfully objected to Mrs. Kenner recounting what the

Decedent had told her about his Will. (2 R.R. 31).

                                          -4-
                              SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

        CharlesTwymon, Jr., appeared at the trial of this in rem matter through

counsel, as Tex. R. Civ. P. 7 expressly authorizes. The trial court heard sufficient

evidence of the likely destruction of the Decedent's Will by Hurricane Ike to

overcome the presumption that the Will had been revoked. Mr. Woods' complaint

about what a lawyer said on behalf of Ms. Kenner at a hearing on a prior heirship

proceeding does not present any error properly based on the record of the proceedings

in this case, nor articulate how the subject of this complaint produced an improper

judgment.

                           ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES

                  REGARDING APPELLANT'S FIRST ISSUE:
              (Charles E. Twymon, Jr.‘s appearance through counsel)

       The absence of Charles E. Twymon, Jr.’s body from the proceedings below is

expressly authorized by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. “Any party to a suit

may appear and prosecute or defend his rights therein, either in person or by an

attorney of the court.” Tex. R. Civ. P. 7 (emphasis added). This rule explains why

corporations or other fictional legal entities can actually participate in the judicial system,

since they are incapable of manifesting a physical persona. See Kunstoplast of Am.,

Inc. v. Formosa Plastics Corp., 937 S.W.2d 455, 456 (Tex. 1996)("Generally a

                                              -5-
corporation may be represented only by a licensed attorney, ... and an individual must

appear in person or by an attorney")(again, emphasis added). Mr. Twymon, Jr.,

prosecuted his rights in this proceeding through an attorney of record. See entire

Reporter’s Record. Had Mr. Woods wanted to insist on Mr. Twymon, Jr.’s presence,

he could have exercised his right under Tex. R. Civ. P. 176.5(a), to serve a subpoena

on Mr. Twymon's attorney of record.

       A probate proceeding is in rem, and this one was brought by two applicants.

See Tex. Estates Code, §32.001(d), Cl. R. 1. Consequently, the notion that the

absence of one of multiple applicants invoking the Probate Court’s in rem jurisdiction

would somehow unravel that jurisdiction seems to be a legal impossibility. Finally,

Mr. Woods’ claim that the Probate Court was obligated to dismiss Mr. Twymon, Jr.’s

probate application for want of prosecution cannot coexist with Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a,

which would have required notice and hearing of the court's intention to dismiss his

case for want of prosecution before any actual dismissal could have occurred.

        REGARDING APPELLANT'S SECOND AND THIRD ISSUES:
       (Evidence supporting the probate of a copy of the Decedent’s Will)

       Mr. Wood’s principally relies on Mingo v. Mingo, 507 S .W.2d 310 (Tex. Civ.

App.-San Antonio 1974, w rit ref'd n.r.e.), as authority for the proposition that Mr.

Twymon, Jr., and Ms. Kenner failed to satisfy their burden to overcome the

                                         -6-
presumption of revocation arising from the disappearance of the original Will. That

case was instructively distinguished in reaching a different result in In re Estate of

Perez, 324 S.W.3d 257 (Tex. App.-El Paso 2010, no writ). There, Mr. Perez's Will was

kept in cedar chest at home, his family had the ability to enter this chest, and his daughters

had taken some of his belongings from the chest, before and after his death. In Mingo v.

Mingo, supra, on the other hand, the Will was kept in a bank safety deposit box with

strict and recorded access, but was absent from the safe deposit box when the

Decedent’s died. This distinction, said the El Paso Court, commanded a different

result. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court's findings

(as this Court must do here), the El Paso Court found that this evidence constituted

more than a scintilla of evidence to support the trial court's judgment that Mrs. Perez

had overcome the presumption of revocation. Id., at 262.

        Here, the Decedent's Will was not kept in a secure location from which it

mysteriously disappeared. This trial court had before it evidence that the Decedent's

Will "got washed away in Ike," along with all the rest of the Decedent's saturated and

illegible papers, and all his other personal belongings. This evidence permitted the

court below to find that Ms. Kenner and Mr. Twymon, Jr., satisfied their burden to

show that the Decedent did not revoke his Will, any more that he deliberately

destroyed everything else he owned.

                                             -7-
      The sufficiency of the evidence to overcome the presumption of revocation is

reviewed by a preponderance of the evidence standard. In re Estate of Glover, 744
S.W.2d 939, 940 (Tex.1988)(disapproving earlier cases requiring that the

presumption be overcome by clear and convincing evidence, apparently including

Mingo v. Mingo, 507 S .W.2d 310 (Tex. Civ. App.-San Antonio 1974, writ ref'd

n.r.e.)). This presumption may be overcome by proof showing circumstances contrary

to revocation. In re Estate of Perez, supra, at 261, In re Capps, 154 S.W.3d 242, 244

(Tex. App.-Texarkana 2005, no pet.).

      When a party challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support a

finding favoring the party who had the burden of proof, that challenge must be

overruled if any probative evidence supports it, considering only the evidence and

inferences which support the finding in the light most favorable to the finding and

disregarding evidence and inferences to the contrary. In re Capps, supra. Factual

sufficiency review requires consideration of all of the evidence and the finding will

be set aside only if the evidence that supports the finding is so weak as to be clearly

wrong and manifestly unjust. In re Estate of Perez, supra, at to 60. Mr. Woods does

not tell us which kind of sufficiency review he seeks, but his prayer for relief is for

remand, implying a request for factual sufficiency review.

      One recurring theme in our jurisprudence concerns rebuttal of the presumption

                                          -8-
of revocation by proof and circumstances suggesting ready access to a testator's

important papers by potentially self-interested family members. See e.g., In re Estate

of Perez, supra, and In re Estate of Caples, 683 S.W.2d 741 (Tex. App.--Corpus

Christi 1984, writ ref'd n.r.e.). The evidence in this case shows that same kind of

ready access to the Decedent's papers, not by some relative with suspicious motives,

but by a natural disaster of motiveless malignancy, which did in fact seize and destroy

all of the Decedent's personal papers and belongings, as well as those of many other

Galvestonians. A more powerful, factually sufficient rebuttal of the presumption of

revocation is difficult to imagine.

               REGARDING APPELLANT'S FOURTH ISSUE:
        (Whether a lawyer’s appearance for Sandra Kenner in the previous
                heirship proceeding does or can affect this case)

I. Appellant’s reliance on materials outside the record

       Mr. Woods’ final issue seeks this Court’s review based on a collection of

written materials appended to his brief. Those materials do not appear in the record

of this case as having presented to the court below. Therefore, this Court’s holding

in Till v. Thomas, 10 S.W.3d 730 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, no pet.),

seems dispositive:

      We cannot consider documents attached to an appellate brief that do not appear

      in the record..... This Court must hear and determine a case on the record as

                                          -9-
      filed, and may not consider documents attached as exhibits to briefs.

Id., at 733 (citation omitted). Another more recent example from this Court is Dixon

v. Sanders, 01-10-00814-CV (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.], May 19, 2011) (mem.

op.), quoting this passage from Till v. Thomas, supra.

II. No reversible error shown

      Tex. R. App. P. 44.1(a) provides:

No judgment may be reversed on appeal on the ground that the trial court made an

error of law unless the court of appeals concludes that the error complained of:

(1) probably caused the rendition of an improper judgment; or

(2) probably prevented the appellant from properly presenting the case to the court

of appeals.

      Mr. Woods’ complaint about whether Ms. Kenner participated in a prior

proceeding to determine the Decedent’s heirship seems to have no logical connection

with the proceedings the subject of this appeal. The Appellant's brief says "the trial

court ruled" that an attorney for Ms. Kenner simply "showed up" at that prior heirship

hearing, but the trial court made no findings of fact about that subject.     (Cl. R.

68-70). The trial court’s findings of fact recite the Decedent’s death, the execution

of a valid Will, and that the Decedent's original Will could not be located after the

exercise of reasonable diligence, but that a true copy of the Will was presented for

                                          -10-
probate. (Cl. R. 68-70). Although the Appellant filed “objections” to the Appellees’

“proposed” findings and conclusions (Cl. R. 64-67), no request for additional findings

or conclusions was made, nor were any proposed additional findings submitted. On

appeal, Mr. Woods says nothing to explain how the matters raised by the appendix to

his brief impair or affect the trial court’s findings or judgment in any way. Therefore,

Mr. Woods has not satisfied his burden to present reversible error.

                          CONCLUSION AND PRAYER

       FOR THE REASONS STATED, Appellees, Sandra T. Kenner and Charles E.

Twymon, Jr., pray that the judgment of the Galveston County Probate Court be

affirmed.

                                                 Respectfully submitted,

                                                 /s/ Thomas W. McQuage
                                                 Thomas W. McQuage
                                                 Post Office Box 16894
                                                 Galveston, Texas 77552-6894
                                                 (409) 762-1104
                                                 (409)762-4005(FAX)
                                                 State Bar No. 13849400
                                                 mcquage@swbell.net
                                                 ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES

                                          -11-
                            CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
            I certify that a true copy of the above was served in accordance with the
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure on the15th day of of July, 2015, upon Douglas T.
Godinich, through the Efile.TXCourts electronic service.

                                                /s/ Thomas W. McQuage

                       CERTIFICATE OF WORD COUNT

      I certify that this brief contains a total of 2781 words.

                                        /s/Thomas W. McQuage

                                         -12-