Bart Debrock v. Marlies Debrock ( 2021 )

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-21-00308-CV
Bart Debrock, Appellant
v.
Marlies Debrock, Appellee
FROM THE 155TH DISTRICT COURT OF FAYETTE COUNTY
NO. 2018V-036, THE HONORABLE JEFF R. STEINHAUSER, JUDGE PRESIDING
ORDER
PER CURIAM
Appellant Bart Debrock has filed a motion for emergency relief seeking to stay
two provisions of the trial court’s August 12, 2021 temporary orders pending appeal, which were
issued after Bart filed his notice of appeal of the trial court’s final decree of divorce. 1 See
Tex. Fam. Code § 6.709(l). To preserve the status quo while the Court considers the motion for
emergency relief, pending further order of this Court, we temporarily order that the following
two provisions of the August 12, 2021 temporary orders are stayed: (1) the trial court’s order that
Bart pay appellee Marlies Debrock temporary spousal support in the amount of $3,500 per
month, and (2) the trial court’s order that Bart pay “reasonable interim attorney’s fees and
expenses” before the conclusion of the appeal to Marlies’s attorneys Joe D. Milner, in the
amount of $4,500 (due and payable on August 31, 2021); Mary Gunn, in the amount of $2,500
1 Because the parties share the same last name, we refer to them by their first names.
(due and payable on August 31, 2021); and Gracie W. Shepherd, in the amount of $9,500 (due
and payable on August 16, 2021). The Court notes that Bart has not superseded the final divorce
decree, and thus, he is currently required to pay spousal maintenance in the amount of $3,500 per
month, beginning April 1, 2021, for a period of seven years. The Court requests that the parties
file supplemental briefing on or before October 25, 2021, to inform the Court how the non-
superseded spousal-maintenance payment relates to the temporary spousal support awarded in
the temporary orders.
It is ordered on October 14, 2021.
Before Chief Justice Byrne, Justices Triana and Kelly