Court Opinion

ID: 9775746
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:08:23.426036+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:30.794911
License: Public Domain

BURGESS, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The majority correctly recognizes that agreements incident to divorce are governed by the law of contracts. McGoodwin v. McGoodwin, 671 S.W.2d 880, 882 (Tex.1984). The majority then relies upon McGoodwin to “conclude that there is an implication in child support agreements, such as the one before us, that the money is to be used for the use and benefit of the child and that equity requires this.” McGoodwin was not a child support agreement case. It is a case which merely follows the law of contracts regarding the imposition and enforcement of a vendor’s lien. The majority, having seized the word “equity” out of the McGoodwin case, then recognizes that accepted contract law provides that child support agreements may and should be reformed to reflect the true, bona fide intent of the parties. This is true only if there was a mutual mistake. Cf. Allen v. Allen, 717 S.W.2d 811, 313 (Tex.1986).
Mutual mistake was never pleaded nor proved by Mr. Comeaux. Thus, the interjection of reformation to reflect the true, bona fide intent of the parties is without foundation in the record. If we are going to continue to govern child support agreements under general contract law (and only the supreme court can change this), then the parties were free to contract for any future contingency, including a court-ordered change of conservatorship. The trial court correctly applied contract law. Therefore, we should affirm the judgment. Because the majority does not, I respectfully dissent.