Court Opinion

ID: 9604401
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:21:10.845461+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:35.732816
License: Public Domain

TERRIE LIVINGSTON, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent to the majority opinion because I cannot agree with the characterization of the property in this marital estate by the trial court and affirmed by the majority opinion in this court. In this divorce proceeding, both parties asked the trial court to divide the marital estate and additionally to confirm to each of them their alleged separate property.13 Prior to the trial of this matter, appellant had been represented by two different attorneys. The second attorney was allowed to withdraw on April 1, 2004 with the case set for trial on May 17, 2004. No discovery took place, and although there are indications that the parties might have provided each other with their claimed inventories, no inventory is contained within the clerk’s record.
*130At trial, appellee appeared with counsel, but appellant appeared pro se. Only three witnesses testified at trial: appellee, appellant, and appellant’s sister. Appellee submitted an exhibit that listed the items she was claiming or asking the court to award to her. Ultimately, appellee was awarded all of the property in her possession, and appellant was awarded all of the property in his possession. Appellee was not awarded reimbursement for any of appellant’s withdrawals from appellee’s claimed separate account. Both parties testified that they expended community and separate property funds improving the residence located on the 137-acre tract that was also awarded to appellee. While the final decree granted neither party any type of reimbursement from one to the other, the court did award all of the personal property and realty requested by appellee to her. The trial court awarded the largest asset — the 137-acre tract located in Cooke County, Texas — to appellee and confirmed it as her separate property.
Under the Texas Family Code, there is a presumption that property possessed by either spouse at the dissolution of the marriage is presumed to be community property. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 3.003(a) (Vernon 2004); Barnard v. Barnard, 133 S.W.3d 782, 789 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2004, pet. denied). At divorce, only the community property is subject to a just and right division. Barnard, 133 S.W.3d at 789; Boyd v. Boyd, 67 S.W.3d 398, 406 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2002, no pet.).
Moreover, we know that the party who seeks to assert the separate character of property must prove that character by clear and convincing evidence. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 3.003(b); Barnard, 133 S.W.3d at 789-90. “To overcome the statutory presumption of community property!)] the spouse must trace and clearly identify the property claimed as separate property.” Barnard, 133 S.W.3d at 789-90. When the burden of proof at trial is clear and convincing evidence, on appeal we apply higher standards of legal and factual sufficiency review. In re J.F.C., 96 S.W.3d 256, 265-66 (Tex.2002); In re C.H., 89 S.W.3d 17, 25-26 (Tex.2002); Irvin v. Parker, 139 S.W.3d 703, 707-09 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2004, no pet); Boyd v. Boyd, 131 S.W.3d 605, 611 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2004, no pet.).
The evidence in the case amounts to virtually nothing. Appellee testified that she wanted $67,000 returned to her out of funds that she claims appellant expended out of her separate account. She admits she bought a tractor. But appellee called no other witnesses to the stand and submitted no proof of any claims for reimbursement and no evidence supporting her claim that she owned the 137-acre tract prior to marriage. Appellant testified that they both deposited them pension checks into the account referred to by appellee. Appellant deposited $1,850 per month, and appellee deposited $1,150 per month. He testified “that’s what we lived on ... what we bought and fixed the house with, and all the other repairs that we ran on.” He also testified that he used proceeds from the sale of a home he previously owned in Fort Worth to buy the tractor and a $2,000 stove.
As mentioned above, the parties undertook no discovery and included no inventories in this appellate record. Appellee did not offer any deeds into evidence or testify to their existence or to the property’s legal description. She never even testified to the date when the 137-acre tract was acquired or offered any testimony about how it was acquired. In light of the higher burden of proof at trial — clear and convincing — and the higher standard of review on appeal, I can find no basis for supporting the characterization of the real *131property as appellee’s separate property. “To overcome the statutory presumption of community property, the spouse must trace and clearly identify the property claimed as separate property.” Barnard, 133 S.W.3d at 789-90. Because this was not done, I believe the 137-acre tract should have been classified as community property. I would therefore remand this case to the trial court for another hearing regarding the division of the parties’ property.

. Both parties’ petitions asked the court to divide their marital estates and to confirm their separate property. Additionally, appellant’s motion for new trial specifically challenged the trial court’s characterization of the farm.