Texas Divorce Attorney Blog

Court of Appeals Finds Trial Court’s Division of $3 Million in Business Assets Improper

Published on: July 31, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

Property division in a Texas divorce can be complicated when there is a business involved. In a recent case, a former husband challenged a property division that divided assets belonging to his business entities.

According to the appeals court, the husband formed two businesses before the marriage. He said he purchased property, including rental houses in Florida and vacant lots in Texas, to be used by the businesses with money he brought when he moved from Puerto Rico. The wife worked at one or more of the husband’s businesses during the marriage.

The husband and both businesses bought and sold multiple commercial vehicles and trailers while the parties were married.

Wife Awarded Oncologist Husband’s Patent Rights and Stock Distributions Post-Divorce

Published on: July 29, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Certain assets, especially stocks or assets related to a business, may be held in the name of just one spouse, even if they are community property. In a Texas divorce, a court may impose a constructive trust requiring the spouse to transfer property to the other spouse. Tex. Fam Code 9.011 provides that receipt by one spouse of certain installment or lump-sum payments that were awarded to the other spouse in a divorce decree gives rise to a fiduciary obligation and imposes a constructive trust on the property.

In a recent case, a former husband challenged the divorce decree that imposed a constructive trust on future payments to him as stockholder in a corporation, arguing that part of the payments should be considered his separate property.

The husband was an oncologist who was involved in the development of a drug to treat breast cancer. A corporation owned the patent rights for the drug and the husband acquired stocks equaling 30.33% ownership of the corporation with community funds.

Court Finds Fraud Based on Husband’s Transfers of Funds to Adult Children in Texas High Net Worth Divorce

Published on: July 22, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

In a Texas divorce, “special community property” is community property that is under the sole management, control, and disposition of one spouse. Tex. Fam. Code § 3.102(a). Although special community property is under the sole management, control, and disposition of one spouse, disposition of that property must be fair to the other spouse.

When a spouse shows the other spouse disposed of community property without their consent or knowledge, there is a presumption of constructive fraud. The other spouse then has the burden of showing the disposition was fair. The court considers the relative size of the property to the total community estate, the adequacy of the rest of the estate, and the relationship of the parties involved in the disposition. In a recent case, a husband challenged the divorce decree that stated he had committed fraud on the community estate.

The parties had two children together. The husband’s two children from a previous relationship were adults by the time of the divorce. Each party alleged constructive and actual fraud on the community estate by the other.

Texas Divorce Involving Potentially Conflicting Tax Provisions in Agreement

Published on: July 15, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Although not always an issue in a Texas divorce, tax matters can become a significant issue, especially in high net worth divorces or divorces involving the division of a business. A Texas appeals court recently decided a second appeal in a case involving a mediated settlement agreement (“MSA”) with potentially conflicting provisions related to the parties’ taxes.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the parties’ MSA was divided into two parts. Part I was what the parties referred to as the “boilerplate” section and Part II included specific provisions addressing the children and the property division.

Federal tax liabilities were addressed in two provisions, one in each part. The provision in Part I, identified by the appeals court as the “indemnity term,” provided that the parties would equally share any income tax refund or federal tax liabilities from their taxes through 2019, with each holding the other harmless from half of the tax liabilities. The relevant section under Part II, identified by the appeals court as the “IRS regulations term,” stated, “Income Taxes due for 2018 and 2019: According to IRS rules and regulations.”

Texas Appeals Court Affirms Appointment of Receiver for Collection of Divorce Judgment

Published on: July 8, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

Sometimes a party to a Texas divorce may have difficulty collecting what has been awarded to them. Pursuant to the Texas turnover statute, a judgment creditor may ask the court to assist them in reaching the judgment debtor’s non-exempt property. The court is authorized to take a number of actions, including appointing a receiver. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.002. Appointment of a receiver is considered an “extraordinary remedy” and should not occur if there is a lesser remedy available. Gilbreath v. Horan. Although a receiver may be appointed in a divorce case, the turnover statute is not limited to divorce cases. In a recent case, a former wife requested a receiver to satisfy a judgment against her former husband following his divorce from his second wife.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the former husband remarried after the parties’ divorce in 2011. He and his second wife divorced in 2018. The first wife argued the property division in the husband’s second divorce constituted a fraudulent transfer to the second wife to avoid debts he owed the first wife.

The parties divorced in Arkansas in 2011. The husband was ordered to pay $250,223 to a business and $8,000 to the first wife for attorney’s fees. According to the first wife, she sought garnishment against multiple banks in February 2018 and was awarded $70,000 in one of those actions, partly based on her sole ownership of the business.

Acceptance-of-Benefits Doctrine May Preclude Appeal in Texas Divorce

Published on: June 30, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

A former spouse may want to appeal their Texas divorce decree, but in some cases, actions taken after the divorce decree is entered can preclude a party from appealing. In a recent case, a former wife was barred from challenging certain aspects of the divorce decree by the acceptance of benefits doctrine.

The wife filed for divorce in January 2018. The court rendered judgment in late December 2023 and signed the decree the following January. The wife appealed, arguing the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence, in finding that a condominium was the husband’s separate property, and in awarding the husband an equalization payment.

Acceptance-of-Benefits Doctrine

Texas Appeals Court Reverses Wife’s Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Judgment Against Husband

Published on: June 30, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Sometimes parties to a Texas divorce can get embroiled in litigation beyond standard divorce claims. A spouse may file a tort claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) in a Texas divorce case. To succeed on an IIED claim in Texas, a plaintiff has to show intentional or reckless conduct that was extreme and outrageous and caused emotional distress that was severe. Hersh v. Tatum. The Supreme Court of Texas has stated that IIED is intended to allow recovery in unusual circumstances where the victim does not have another remedy. Moser v. Roberts. In a recent case, a wife pursued an intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) claim against the husband, as well as a separate lawsuit against his alleged affair partner, who had been an employee of their business.

The parties owned a plastic recycling company. The wife petitioned for divorce based on adultery in 2019 and made a claim for IIED against the husband.

IIED Claim

The jury awarded the wife $1.5 million for past and future physical pain and mental anguish pursuant to her IIED claim. The husband ultimately appealed.

Texas Supreme Court Says Courts Must Consider Child’s Expenses Along with Child Support in Spousal Support Analysis

Published on: June 30, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

The Texas Family Code sets out the circumstances under which Texas spousal maintenance may be ordered. The court may order maintenance to a spouse only if they will lack sufficient property after the divorce to provide for their minimum reasonable needs. The spouse must also meet one of three conditions, either: (A) being unable to earn sufficient income to meet their minimum reasonable needs because of an incapacitating disability; (B) having been married for at least 10 years and lacking the ability to earn sufficient income; or (C) being the custodian of a child of the marriage who has a disability and requires substantial care and supervision that prevents the spouse from earning sufficient income. Tex. Fam. Code § 8.051. It is generally within the court’s discretion to determine a spouse’s “minimum reasonable needs.”

The Texas Supreme Court recently considered the nature of evidence required to support a spousal maintenance award.

The wife stopped working outside the home to become their primary caregiver to the parties’ triplets. One of them was a “medically fragile child” who needed extensive medical treatment.

Texas Home Confirmed Wife’s Separate Property Despite Deed Granting Interest to Husband

Published on: June 30, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

Property characterization can be a significant area of contention in Texas divorces, particularly in high net worth divorces or those in which one party entered the marriage with significantly more assets. Texas law presumes that property possessed by either spouse during or on dissolution is community property. That presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence the property is separate. Tex. Fam. Code § 3.003. Property conveyed by one spouse to the other is generally presumed to be a gift. Clear and convincing evidence the conveying spouse did not intend to gift the property is needed to rebut the gift presumption. A former husband recently challenged characterization of the marital residence as the wife’s separate property despite execution of a general warranty deed granting him an undivided one-half interest.

The parties got married in 2001 and the wife petitioned for divorce in 2021. The trial court found the marital home was the wife’s separate property. According to the appeals court’s opinion, she bought it two years before the marriage and refinanced it in 2003. She also signed a general warranty deed that granted the husband an undivided half interest. The court found the wife did not intend to gift the property to the husband and provided an alternate reason for executing the warranty deed. The court also found refinancing had not changed the property’s character. The trial court awarded the wife conditional appellate attorney’s fees if the husband appealed to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of Texas and the wife “substantially prevail[ed].]”

The husband appealed the home’s characterization and the conditional appellate attorney’s fees award.

Texas Appeals Court Affirms Order for Partition and Sale of Property after Divorce

Published on: June 30, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Ideally, after a Texas divorce, the parties will cooperate and take any actions needed to sell or transfer property and resolve outstanding issues, but that does not always happen. A Texas appeals court recently considered a case in which a former wife alleged the former husband was preventing the sale of jointly-owned property.

Divorce Case

The parties divorced in March 2020. According to the appeals court’s opinion, the final divorce decree found that a particular piece of real property was community property and awarded each party 50% as their separate property, leaving them tenants in common. The decree did not address sale or partition of the property.

Second Lawsuit

A couple of months after the decree was signed, the former wife filed suit against the former husband, seeking an order for the sale of the property and partition of the proceeds. She also requested attorney’s fees, expenses, and interest. This lawsuit was ultimately consolidated into the divorce case. The court held a bench trial and signed an order finding the parties were co-tenants and that the property was not subject to partition in kind. The order required the property be listed by June 1, 2022 and that the parties to take all necessary steps and execute any necessary documents to facilitate the sale. The court also ordered that any proceeds after payment of any encumbrances on the property be split equally between the parties. It did not address the wife’s request for fees, expenses, and interest.