Opinion
05-24-00018-CV
04-22-2024
DONALD S. MILES, Appellant v. VEDA SMITH MILES, Appellee
On Appeal from the 401st Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 401-51206-2022
ORDER
MARICELA BREEDLOVE JUSTICE.
This is an appeal from a final decree of divorce. In the judgment, the trial court awarded to appellee as her separate property eleven North Carolina properties. Appellant seeks to have the property deeds included in the reporter's record. By order dated April 10, 2024, we denied appellant's motion to add property deeds to the reporter's record which, at that time, had not been filed. Before the Court is appellant's April 15, 2024 motion for reconsideration of that order.
The properties are identified in the judgment by parcel numbers. In his motion to reconsider, Appellant states that, at trial, his attorney "provided copies of Husband's Trial Court Exhibits in a notebook to Judge Flint, Wife, Court Reporter, and later her marked copy of Trial Court Exhibits notebook used at trial to Husband." The reporter's record reflects the notebook was provided to the trial court and appellee who represented herself at trial. Appellant states that the deeds were located in Tab 14 (Exhibit R14) of the notebook. Respondent's Exhibit 14 was not separately admitted at trial. We also note that the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law reflect that it considered the property deeds. Conclusion of Law number 7 provides: "Wife established her rights to the North Carolina real estate as her separate property by clear and convincing evidence, including (a) her claim of gift from her parents, (b) delivery of the deeds in close proximity to the beginning of the marriage, (c) the recitation of nominal consideration common to such transactions, and (d) the apparent acknowledgement by Husband of her superior rights to such property if he received one-half of the marital home's proceeds of sale."
Because the record reflects the deeds were before the trial court and that the trial court considered them in making its ruling, we GRANT appellant's motion and ORDER Official Court Reporter Charla Reamy to file, within twenty days of the date of this order, a supplemental reporter's record containing the property deeds, which, based on appellant's representation, were contained in Respondent's Exhibit/Tab 14. Appellant's opening brief will be due thirty days after the supplemental reporter's record is filed.
We DIRECT the Clerk of this Court to send a copy of this order to the Honorable George Flint, Presiding Judge of the 401st Judicial District Court; Ms. Reamy; and, all parties.