DeGroot v. DeGroot
Texas Court of Appeals
260 S.W.3d 658 (2008)
- Written by Whitney Kamerzel , JD
Facts
Katherine DeGroot (plaintiff) and Richard DeGroot (defendant) were married. Katherine filed for a divorce and submitted an agreement that she and Richard had reached to distribute their community property between them. The trial court granted the divorce, accepted the DeGroots’ agreement as valid and binding, and entered the final divorce decree on July 19, 2006. The deadline to file a motion to modify or for a new trial was 30 days later, on August 18, 2006. Richard mailed a motion to clarify on August 18, 2006, and the motion was filed on August 23, 2006. This motion asked the court to clarify the original order and allocate a few extra thousand dollars of debt out of $138,717 of total debt to Katherine. The trial court signed a new divorce decree on January 24, 2007, that substantially altered the property division stated in the court’s original order. Katherine appealed, arguing the trial court’s jurisdiction to amend the original order had expired and that because the new order substantially altered the property division, it exceeded the trial court’s authority to clarify a final divorce decree.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lang, J.)
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