{"id":2795,"date":"2024-01-07T16:57:17","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T22:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/?p=2795"},"modified":"2024-01-09T09:04:30","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T15:04:30","slug":"texas-appeals-court-concludes-build-provision-in-divorce-decree-not-ambiguous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/texas-appeals-court-concludes-build-provision-in-divorce-decree-not-ambiguous\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Appeals Court Concludes “Build Provision” in Divorce Decree Not Ambiguous"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Texas divorce decree provision that was agreed upon by the parties is construed according to contract principles.\u00a0 In interpreting the contract, the court considers the entire agreement.\u00a0 Words are given their plain meaning unless there is an indication the parties intended something else.\u00a0 A contract is not ambiguous if it can be interpreted with a definite legal meaning.\u00a0 It is ambiguous if it is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation.\u00a0 Generally, a court may only consider outside evidence to interpret an ambiguous contract.\u00a0 A husband recently challenged<\/a> a trial court\u2019s denial of his petition for enforcement of the property division in his divorce decree.<\/p>\n

The parties\u2019 2017 divorce decree included agreed property-division provisions that awarded the wife a 2.6 acre lot \u201cas her sole and separate property.\u201d The decree divested the husband of all right, title, interest and claim to the lot.\u00a0 It also included a conditional provision that the wife \u201cbegin the process of building\u201d a home on the lot, with the property reverting back to the husband if she failed to comply.\u00a0 The decree did not include a time by which the wife had to comply nor did it define what was meant by \u201cbegin\u201d or \u201cthe process of building.\u201d The wife was prohibited from selling the lot for commercial purposes and was required to give the husband a first right of purchase option.<\/p>\n

The wife did not complete building a house on the lot and the husband filed a petition for enforcement.\u00a0 He alleged that the wife had not begun \u201cthe process of building a permanent, fixed home structure\u201d on the lot. He asked the court to order her to execute a general warranty deed.<\/p>\n

The trial court denied the petition after a hearing and the husband appealed. The husband argued on appeal that the decree was ambiguous and that the trial court erred in not clarifying it and enforcing the clarified decree.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Texas divorce decree provision that was agreed upon by the parties is construed according to contract principles.\u00a0 In interpreting the contract, the court considers the entire agreement.\u00a0 Words are given their plain meaning unless there is an indication the parties intended something else.\u00a0 A contract is not ambiguous if it can be interpreted with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-divorce","category-property"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Appeals Court Concludes "Build Provision" in Divorce Decree Not Ambiguous — Texas Divorce Attorney Blog — January 7, 2024<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Texas divorce decree provision that was agreed upon by the parties is construed according to 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