Court Opinion

ID: 9818776
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:06:23.142779+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:22:23.007112
License: Public Domain

SUE WALKER, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In a bench trial, both Appellant The Office of the Attorney General of Texas (The OAG) and Appellee Tony B. (Father) sought confirmation of the child support arrearage owed by Father.9 After a final trial, the trial court signed an order that “IT IS ORDERED that [Father] owes [Mother] $0 in child support arrears.” The OAG perfected this appeal.
The OAG’s sole issue is, “Did the evidence show as a matter of law that [Father] owes more than $0 in arrears?” The OAG’s brief sets forth the standard of review that it urges this court to apply— abuse of discretion — and explains that “[a] trial court abuses its discretion as to factual matters when its decision on a factual issue is contrary to the only decision that it could reasonably have reached.” In family law cases, the abuse of discretion standard of review overlaps with the traditional sufficiency standard of review; thus, legal and factual insufficiency are not inde*415pendent reversible grounds of error but are relevant factors in assessing whether the trial court abused its discretion. Neyland v. Raymond, 324 S.W.3d 646, 649 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2010, no pet.); Boyd v. Boyd, 131 S.W.3d 605, 610 (Tex.App.Fort Worth 2004, no pet.). To determine whether there has been an abuse of discretion because the evidence is legally or factually insufficient to support the trial court’s decision, we engage in a two-pronged inquiry: (1) did the trial court have sufficient evidence upon which to exercise its discretion, and (2) did the trial court err in its application of that discretion? Boyd, 131 S.W.3d at 610. Thus, The OAG’s briefing squarely places before us the issue of whether the trial court abused its discretion (erred in its application of its discretion) by determining that Father owed $0 in arrears when the evidence showed as a matter of law that Father owed more than $0 in arrears. See Tex.R.App. P. 38.1(f) (stating that the statement of an issue will be treated as covering every subsidiary question that is fairly included).
The relief prayed for by The OAG on appeal is a new trial. Contrary to the Majority Opinion’s holding, a point in a motion for new trial is not a prerequisite to a complaint on appeal in either a jury or a nonjury case, except in limited circumstances that are not applicable here. See Tex.R. Civ. P. 324(a), (b). And in a nonju-ry case, a complaint regarding the sufficiency of the evidence may be made for the first time on appeal. See Tex.R.App. P. 33.1(d). Despite these procedural rules authorizing The OAG to seek a new trial based on an issue not raised in a motion for new trial and to raise a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence for the first time on appeal, the Majority Opinion would require The OAG to make a “request, objection, or motion presented by [T]he OAG to the trial court regarding its initial letter ruling.” The Majority Opinion cites no on-point authority for the proposition that an objection to a trial court’s informal letter ruling is a prerequisite to raise the issue presented by The OAG in this appeal. The Majority Opinion likewise cites no on-point authority for the proposition that the general preservation rule controls over the specific rules exempting The OAG from raising its issue in a motion for new trial and authorizing The OAG to raise its complaint for the first time on appeal. Compare Tex.R.App. P. 33.1(a), with Tex.R. Civ. P. 324(a), (b), and, Tex.R.App. P. 33.1(d). I would hold that The OAG’s issue is properly before this court and would address the merits of The OAG’s complaint. Because the Majority Opinion does not, I am forced to dissent.

. The OAG claimed that the total arrearage owed by Father was $57,519.66; Father claimed that the total arrearage he owed, after he was credited for his social security disability payments that were made to D.B., was $36,859.52.