Gonzales v. Delgado
| Decision Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | 01-21-00217-CV |
| Parties | BRENDA GONZALES, Appellant v. GERALD DELGADO AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS, Appellees |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
BRENDA GONZALES, Appellant
v.
GERALD DELGADO AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS, Appellees
No. 01-21-00217-CV
Court of Appeals of Texas, First District
September 1, 2022
On Appeal from the 246th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 1999-42218
Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Countiss and Farris.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
JULIE COUNTISS, JUSTICE
Appellant, Brenda Gonzales, challenges the trial court's February 7, 2021 Confirmation of Judgment, Foreclosure of Lien and Release of Bank Lien, entered after a bench trial, in the suit to determine arrearages filed by appellee, Gerald Delgado. In four issues, Gonzales contends that the trial court erred in excluding
certain evidence and only awarding her a $20,539.04 "cumulative money judgment for child support arrearages" and not any medical support arrearages.
We affirm.
Background
Gonzales and Delgado are the parents of G.D., born in 1992, B.D., born in 1993, and J.G.,[1] born in 1996 (collectively, "the children"). On October 12, 1999, the trial court signed an Agreed Order Establishing the Parent-Child Relationship which required Delgado to pay $560 as his child support obligation each month beginning on November 1, 1999 (the "1999 agreed order").[2] The 1999 agreed order also required Delgado to obtain and maintain health insurance for the children within fifteen days of the entry of the 1999 agreed order. And it granted Gonzales a $5,000 judgment against Delgado for "retroactive child support."
On January 3, 2013, after Gonzales and Delgado participated in a negotiation conference with the Office of the Attorney General of Texas ("OAG"), the trial court signed an Agreed Child Support Review Order ordering Delgado to pay $246 as his child support obligation each month beginning on January 1, 2013 (the "2013 agreed order"). The 2013 agreed order also required Gonzales to obtain and maintain health
insurance for J.G., who was not yet eighteen years old. And it granted Gonzales a $35,164.81 judgment against Delgado for "all unpaid child support and any balance owed on previously confirmed child support arrearages or retroactive support judgments." The 2013 agreed order stated that Gonzales "d[id] not request medical reimbursement" from Delgado. (Emphasis omitted.)
In 2016, Gonzales filed a First Amended Motion for Enforcement of Child Support Order, asserting that Delgado's "total arrearages at the time of filing [was] $35,494.13." Gonzales requested "confirmation of all arrearages and rendition of judgment plus interest on arrearages." On May 24, 2016, the trial court signed an Order for Enforcement of Child Support Order, awarding Gonzales a $36,286.21 judgment against Delgado for "previously confirmed child support arrearages and unconfirmed child support" (the "2016 order").
On September 29, 2020, Delgado filed a Suit to Determine Arrearages, in which he alleged that the children were over eighteen years old. According to Delgado, on October 21, 1999, the trial court signed the 1999 agreed order obligating Delgado to make child support payments and awarding Gonzales a $5,000 "judgment for retroactive child support." On January 1, 2013, the trial court signed the 2013 agreed order, "confirming child support arrearage[s] in the amount of $35,164.81." That order stated that it "include[d] all unpaid child support and any balance owed on previously confirmed child support arrearages or retroactive
support judgments" and "[t]he judgment for th[at] amount [was] a cumulative judgment." (Emphasis and internal quotations omitted.) On May 24, 2016, the trial court signed the 2016 order, stating that the court "f[ound] and confirm[ed] that the balance owed by . . . Delgado on previously confirmed child support arrearages and unconfirmed child support [was] $36,286.21" and the "[j]udgment for th[at] amount [was] cumulative." (Emphasis and internal quotations omitted.)
Delgado also alleged that the total amount of child support arrearages that he owed as of September 21, 2020 was $20,954.32, but Gonzales had "filed a fraudulent lien against [Delgado's] personal property in an amount in excess of $68,000 . . . with the inten[t] to defraud [Delgado] out of [about] $49,000." Although Delgado "made [Gonzales] aware of the incorrect amount of the lien and provided supporting documentation [as to] the accurate amount of the lien," Gonzales "refuse[d] to release . . . th[e] portion of the lien that [was] in dispute." Delgado requested that the trial court "render an order to determine the amount of arrearages [he owed] and discharg[e] the excess money from the lien."
Gonzales answered, generally denying the allegations in Delgado's Suit to Determine Arrearages and seeking affirmative relief from the trial court. As to her request for affirmative relief, Gonzales alleged that the trial court's 1999 agreed order required Delgado to pay $560 each month as his child support obligation. Delgado was also required to provide health insurance for the children and pay
fifty-percent of unreimbursed medical expenses for the children. And the 1999 agreed order awarded Gonzales a $5,000 judgment against Delgado for "retroactive child support."
Gonzales further alleged that on January 3, 2013, after a "negotiation conference" between Gonzales, Delgado, and the OAG, the trial court signed the 2013 agreed order, which ordered Delgado to pay $246 each month as his child support obligation and ordered Gonzales to provide health insurance for J.G., who was not yet eighteen years old. According to Gonzales, the parties agreed "to an arrearage[s] amount for child support," although they did not "properly calculate interest." And Gonzales alleged that the arrearages amount in the 2013 agreed order did not include Delgado's "unpaid obligation to provide health insurance for the children." On May 24, 2016, the trial court signed the 2016 order.
According to Gonzales, Delgado "fail[ed] to pay the total amount of child support and medical support . . . due," and because of this, on September 17, 2020, Gonzales "issued Notices of Child Support Lien pursuant to Texas Family Code [section] 157.312." Further, on September 18, 2020, Gonzales "issued a Notice of Application for Judicial Writ of Withholding pursuant to Texas Family Code [section] 158.301." Gonzales requested that the trial court determine the amount of arrearages owed by Delgado.
In response to Gonzales's request for affirmative relief, Delgado answered, generally denying the allegations in Gonzales's request for affirmative relief and asserting certain affirmative defenses.
The OAG filed a petition in intervention, requesting that the trial court "confirm and enter judgment for all support arrearages" in the amount of $21,026.75 as of October 18, 2020.
At trial, Delgado testified that he has three children with Gonzales, who are now in their twenties. Each month he receives a letter from the OAG that tells him how much he owes in "back child support" to Gonzales. Delgado then sends a payment to the OAG. The letter he receives from the OAG tells him how much he owes in child support arrearages. Before filing his Suit to Determine Arrearages, the last letter from the OAG that Delgado saw stated that he owed about $20,000 for "back child support."
According to Delgado, in 1999, the trial court signed the 1999 agreed order,[3]in which Delgado agreed to pay $560 each month as his child support obligation for the children.[4] The 1999 agreed order also granted Gonzales a $5,000 judgment against Delgado for "retroactive child support." And it required that Delgado
maintain health insurance for the children. Under the 1999 agreed order, Gonzales and Delgado agreed to split unreimbursed medical expenses for the children.
On November 1, 1999, Delgado began paying $560 as his child support obligation. Delgado also provided health insurance for the children. At the time, Delgado was working for American Eagle Wheel Corporation ("American Eagle") as a sales representative and his health-insurance payments were "take[n] . . . out of [his] [pay]check" by his employer. Delgado paid for the children's health insurance even before the 1999 agreed order was signed. According to Delgado, he "always" had health insurance for the children; he provided health insurance for the children as required. The 1999 agreed order did not require Delgado to "provide cash medical support" to Gonzales.
During Delgado's testimony, the trial court admitted into evidence copies of two of Delgado's "paycheck stubs" from 1999. One of the paycheck stubs lists a "[p]ay [d]ate" as "11/26/1999." It also lists certain deductions including "Guardian Pr[e]tax," which Delgado testified was the cost of health insurance for the children that had been deducted from Delgado's paychecks. According to Delgado, "Guardian" was the name of the health insurance. The second paycheck stub lists a "[p]ay date" of "11/18/1999," and lists a "Guardian [P]retax" deduction of $398.32 from appellant's "[g]ross [p]ay." $398.32 was deducted from Delgado's paycheck for health insurance for the children.
The trial court also admitted into evidence a copy of a letter dated August 26, 1999, stating: "As a commissioned sales[person], your health insurance premiums are deducted from your commission check once a month." Delgado testified that he received the August 26, 1999 letter from his employer, American Eagle, about health insurance. And the letter provided "evidence [of] the amounts that [he] paid" for health insurance for himself and his children. Delgado agreed that the letter did not state which of his family members were covered by health insurance through Delgado's employer.
Delgado also testified that at the time of trial, he owned his own company and had been self-employed for about ten years. He stopped working at American Eagle around 2007. After that, he...
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