Chacon v. Chacon

• Citation: 222 S.W.3d 909
• Decision Date: 26 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. 08-06-00056-CV.,08-06-00056-CV.
• Parties: Sergio A. CHACON, Appellant, v. Katherine W. CHACON, Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas

222 S.W.3d 909

Sergio A. CHACON, Appellant, v. Katherine W. CHACON, Appellee.

No. 08-06-00056-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

April 26, 2007.

Mark T. Davis, El Paso, for Appellant.

Gary A. Aboud and John P. Mobbs, Attorney At Law, El Paso, for Appellee.

Before CHEW, C.J., McCLURE, and CARR, JJ.

OPINION

KENNETH R. CARR, Justice.

This is an appeal from a final decree of divorce. Appellant Sergio Chacon raises three issues for review. Finding no error, we affirm the trial court's judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellant Sergio Chacon (hereinafter "Sergio"), and Appellee Katherine Chacon ("Katherine"), were married May 31, 1986. Katherine filed for divorce in El Paso on September 9, 2004. The parties appeared before Associate Judge Robyne Bramblett on March 11, 2005. At the conclusion of the hearing, the associate judge announced her recommendations on the record in open court. Although the record does not contain a copy of Judge Bramblett's written recommendations, it does indicate they were signed, and the parties notified, on March 14, 2005.¹

The associate judge granted the divorce "on the grounds of fault, as pled in the amended petition." The property division awarded each party his or her personal possessions, automobiles, and household furniture, as they had agreed before the hearing. The court ordered that the couple's El Paso home be listed for sale immediately. The proceeds were to be split evenly, subject to Sergio's $15,000 reimbursement claim for the down-payment funds his family had contributed before the couple were married ("the down payment"). Katherine received her retirement account with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, minus Sergio's community interest. The court also awarded Katherine $26,000 out of Sergio's interest in the retirement account, as reimbursement for money the IRS had garnished from her salary, related to Sergio's two failed business ventures ("the IRS debt"). The court made Sergio solely responsible for the tax liability and ordered him to reimburse Katherine for any money the IRS continued to draw out of her paycheck. In addition, Sergio was ordered to pay $2,700 in credit card debt incurred for his attorney's fees and court costs after he was arrested in Arizona for DWI in 2004. The associate judge ordered Katherine to pay the couple's remaining credit card debt.

On March 16, 2005, Sergio filed an appeal from the associate judge's order, pursuant to Texas Family Code section 201.015. He challenged the associate judge's recommendations as to: (1) the division of community property; (2) the division of community liabilities; and (3) the award of attorney's fees.²

The final divorce decree dissolved the marriage on the ground of cruelty. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 6.002. Sergio received 47 percent of the net proceeds from the sale of their house, subject to a reimbursement claim for the IRS debt in Katherine's favor. He received all the personal property in his possession or subject to his sole control at the time of the divorce. He was also awarded a 47 percent interest in Katherine's retirement account, which the court once again made subject to repayment of the IRS debt. Katherine was awarded the remaining 53 percent of the house proceeds and her retirement account, as well as all her personal property. The court also ordered her to pay all of the couple's credit card debt. The decree does not refer to Sergio's reimbursement claim for the down payment.³

Sergio raises three issues. First, he contends that the referring court lacked jurisdiction to consider the divorce grounds and property character of the down payment, because these issues were beyond the scope of the issues raised in his appeal from the associate judge. In Issue Nos. Two and Three, he challenges the referring court's property division. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm.

DISCUSSION

In Issue No. One, Sergio argues that the referring court exceeded its jurisdiction by altering the associate judge's recommendations on issues he did not specifically raise on appeal. First, Sergio contends that the referring court did not have jurisdiction to grant a divorce on the basis of cruelty. Second, he contends that the referring court did not have jurisdiction to re-characterize the down payment as community property.

Sergio's jurisdictional argument is based entirely on the language of section 201.015(b) of the Texas Family Code, which he asks us to treat as a jurisdictional limit on the referring court. This subsection states:

An appeal to the referring court must be in writing specifying the findings and conclusions of the associate judge to which the party objects. The appeal is limited to the specified findings and conclusions.

Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 201.015(b).

Our primary goal when construing a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the legislature's intent. Marcus Cable Assocs., L.P. v. Krohn, 90 S.W.3d 697, 706 (Tex.2002). We begin by construing statutes as written and, if possible, ascertain intent from the statutory language. Id. In addition, we must always consider a statute as a whole and attempt to give effect to all provisions. Id.; see also Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 311.021.

We are unaware of any case law holding that section 201.015(b) is a limit on the referring court's jurisdiction, and Sergio has cited us to no such authority. In 1998, this Court held that section 201.015(f) (requiring the referring court to hold a de novo hearing within thirty days of the date a party appeals an associate judge's decision) was not a limit on the referring court's jurisdiction. Harrell v. Harrell, 986 S.W.2d 629, 631 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1998, no pet.) (citing State ex rel. Latty v. Owens, 907 S.W.2d 484 (Tex.1995)); see also Santikos v. Santikos, 920 S.W.2d 731, 733-34 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, writ denied).

Other provisions in Chapter 201 of the Texas Family Code are also instructive on the relationship between associate judges and their referring courts. An associate judge's orders or recommendations have only temporary effect, pending appeal to a referring court. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 201.013(a). In cases where there is no appeal to the referring court, the findings and recommendations of the associate judge will only become the order of the referring court when the referring court signs an order conforming to the associate judge's report. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 201.013(b). In section 201.007, the legislature has not given associate judges the power to render judgment outside the context of an agreed order or default. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 201.007. Perhaps most significantly, section 201.014 gives the referring court the power to adopt, modify, or reject the associate judge's report, in cases where there is no appeal from the associate judge's proposed order or recommendation. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 201.014. We believe it is highly improbable that the legislature intended to give the referring court plenary power to reject all of an associate judge's report when no appeal is filed, but only limited power to modify such a report when an appeal is filed.

In light of these provisions, we hold that section 201.015(b) is intended to limit the appealing party's ability to raise issues he has not specifically appealed in the de novo hearing. It is not a limit on the referring court's jurisdiction.

Moreover, even if we were to assume arguendo that section 201.015(b) is a limit on the referring court's jurisdiction, the facts of this case do not support Sergio's position. First, his contention that the referring court exceeded its jurisdiction by granting divorce on cruelty grounds is based on the premise that the final divorce decree differed from the associate judge's recommendations. This is not the case. The associate judge recommended that the divorce be granted "on the grounds of fault, as pled in the amended petition." The final divorce decree identified cruelty as the basis for the divorce.⁴ Cruelty is a "fault" ground for divorce. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 6.002. The referring court did not alter the recommendation on the grounds for the divorce, it simply identified the fault ground which was supported by the evidence.

Second, Sergio contends that his appeal was limited to the division of community property and liabilities. Therefore, he contends, the referring court did not have jurisdiction to re-characterize the down payment as community property.⁵ Prior to the hearing, Sergio filed a claim for reimbursement to his separate estate for the down payment. Sergio's father, Anistacio Chacon, Jr., testified that he gave his son a check for $15,000 shortly before the couple were married. The couple used the money as a down payment on their home. Sergio testified the check was made out to the title company and that he never deposited it in his own account. The associate judge recommended that Sergio be reimbursed for the down payment when the couple sold their house. Since there is no reference to $15,000 or to a down payment in the final divorce decree, we infer that the referring court treated the funds as community property and included them in the division. See Garcia v. Garcia, 170 S.W.3d 644, 648 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2005, no pet.).

Sergio's appeal to the referring court included the "division of community property" and the "division of community liabilities." The referring court holds a de novo hearing on issues appealed from an associate judge. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 201.015(c). A trial de novo is a new and independent action on those issues. In re E.M., 54 S.W.3d 849, 852 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2001, no pet.) (citing Attorney General v. Orr, 989 S.W.2d 464, 467 (Tex. App.-Austin 1999, no pet.)). A just and right division of the community estate begins with the characterization of assets as separate or community property. See Cooper v. Cooper, 513 S.W.2d 229, 232 (Tex.Civ.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1974, no writ); see also Allen v. Allen, 704...