Court Opinion

ID: 9818826
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:08:36.902924+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:38:27.216707
License: Public Domain

ANNE GARDNER, Justice,
concurring.1
I join in the result but on additional grounds expressly raised by Vicki’s issues in her brief. I would sustain Vicki’s first issue, complaining that the divorce decree does not conform to the mediated settlement agreement (MSA), because the Exhibit B attached to and incorporated into the decree, as well as the language of the decree, substantially differs from the Exhibits A and B attached to and made a part of the MSA. See In re Joyner, 196 S.W.3d 883, 890-91 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2006, pet. denied) (noting that section *5256.602 does not authorize the trial court to substitute its judgment for a mediated settlement agreement).
I would also sustain Vicki’s second issue contending that the MSA contained contingencies that were impossible to perform. When it is impossible to enforce the terms of a mediated settlement agreement, a trial court may not add terms, significantly alter terms, or undermine the intent of the parties in an effort to remedy the problem. See, e.g., Beyers v. Roberts, 199 S.W.3d 354, 362 (TexApp.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2006, pet. denied); In re Nolder, 48 S.W.3d 432, 434-35 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2001, no pet.); In re Ames, 860 S.W.2d 590, 592-93 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 1993, no writ) (reversing decree that added significant and different terms to MSA).
Here, the record reflects the impossibility of ever obtaining the required consents as stated by the MSA and the Exhibits A and B attached thereto, and I would hold that the trial court abused its discretion by attempting to modify the agreement because there was no final, binding agreement between the parties. See Pickell v. Guar. Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 917 S.W.2d 439, 441-42 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1996, no writ) (holding where record reflected that contingency contained in MSA was not met, there was no final, binding agreement on which judgment could be based).

. See Tex.R.App. P. 47.4.