Happy Independence Day! Late last week, the Texas Supreme Court issued a number of opinions relating to family law. We'll give a brief summary of the outcomes below.
In the first case, In re Marriage of I.C., a woman blew her chance at a $5,000,000 lump-sum payout upon entry of divorce. She and her husband had signed a premarital agreement providing that she would receive $5,000,000 if the two of them were to divorce.
In the first case, In re Marriage of I.C., a woman blew her chance at a $5,000,000 lump-sum payout upon entry of divorce. She and her husband had signed a premarital agreement providing that she would receive $5,000,000 if the two of them were to divorce.
Unfortunately for the wife, or ex-wife, the agreement also had a forfeiture clause; these are not uncommon. So, when the wife challenged the agreement in court, she triggered this forfeiture clause and lost her contractual right to the $5,000,000 payment.
Dalton v. Dalton, involves the application for enforcement in Texas of previous family court orders from another jurisdiction. In its decision, the Supreme Court of Texas held that wage withholding cannot be used to support spousal-support judgments in Texas. The Court also stated that the trial court didn't have the authority to assign to the wife additional interests in the Husband's retirement accounts for his spousal support arrearages.
For those interested in the full story, we'll link to the opinion in Bradshaw v. Bradshaw. At issue in this case was the divorce court's division of the family's home. In the divorce proceedings, the trial court had divided the home 80% to the wife and 20% to the husband. The Supreme Court of Texas, in a plurality opinion, held that it was not just and right, as a matter of law, for the trial court to award an interest in the family home to the husband when the husband had used that family home to commit crimes against that family.
Dalton v. Dalton, involves the application for enforcement in Texas of previous family court orders from another jurisdiction. In its decision, the Supreme Court of Texas held that wage withholding cannot be used to support spousal-support judgments in Texas. The Court also stated that the trial court didn't have the authority to assign to the wife additional interests in the Husband's retirement accounts for his spousal support arrearages.
For those interested in the full story, we'll link to the opinion in Bradshaw v. Bradshaw. At issue in this case was the divorce court's division of the family's home. In the divorce proceedings, the trial court had divided the home 80% to the wife and 20% to the husband. The Supreme Court of Texas, in a plurality opinion, held that it was not just and right, as a matter of law, for the trial court to award an interest in the family home to the husband when the husband had used that family home to commit crimes against that family.
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