Thomas Lee Stewart v. Elector Jane Stewart

In The
Court of Appeals
Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont
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NO. 09-18-00142-CV
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THOMAS LEE STEWART, Appellant
V.
ELECTOR JANE STEWART, Appellee
__________________________________________________________________
On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 3
Montgomery County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 14-09-09876
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
In this appeal arising from a divorce proceeding, appellant Thomas Lee
Stewart (“Thomas”) challenges the trial court’s final decree of divorce awarding
spousal maintenance to Elector Jane Stewart (“Jane”). Thomas contends that Jane
failed to produce sufficient evidence showing that she was entitled to an award of
spousal maintenance under section 8.051 of the Texas Family Code. See Tex. Fam.
Code Ann. § 8.051 (West Supp. 2017). We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
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BACKGROUND
After approximately fourteen years of marriage, Thomas filed for divorce.
Jane filed a counter-petition for divorce on several grounds, including adultery, and
she requested a disproportionate share of the community property, spousal
maintenance, and attorney’s fees. Prior to trial, the parties entered into a mediated
settlement agreement, in which Thomas temporarily agreed to pay Jane $1875 per
month in spousal maintenance.
During trial, Jane testified about her health conditions, explaining that she has
deteriorated discs in her neck and lower back, vertigo, high blood pressure, type one
diabetes, depression, psoriasis, arthritis in her back and hands, and tremors in her
right hand. Jane testified that she takes multiple medications to treat her conditions.
Jane explained that she had neck surgery in 1996, and she had surgery on her lower
back in 1985 and 2006. According to Jane, she will not be able to afford health
insurance after the trial court grants the divorce.
Jane testified that she is sixty-four years old and has not worked in nearly
twenty years, and she does not have any retirement accounts. Jane testified that she
stopped working outside the home when she had neck surgery in 1996. Jane
explained that she could not return to work as a bank teller because her back and
neck prevent her from being able to stand for long periods, and pain and spasms in
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her sciatic nerve prevent her from sitting for long periods. Jane also explained that
her arthritis and tremors in her right hand limit her ability to write, and she can only
sit at a computer for approximately fifteen minutes due to her neck problems. The
trial court admitted medical records from Dr. Lee Pollack, the neurologist who treats
Jane for her back and neck problems, and Pollack’s records document some of Jane’s
medical conditions and symptoms, as well as her medications and MRI results.
According to Jane, she never applied for disability because she was married,
and Thomas provided for her needs. Jane explained that she did not know what she
would do if the trial court denied her request for spousal maintenance because she
did not have any other source of income. According to Jane, her medical conditions
are incapacitating and affect her ability to work. Jane testified that she did not
provide a medical opinion concerning her work limitations because she was unable
to afford the doctor’s fee. Jane testified that she wanted the trial court to award her
approximately $2000 per month in spousal maintenance for an indefinite period of
time.
Thomas testified that he believes that Jane has the ability to get a job, and that
he should not have to support Jane after the divorce. According to Thomas, he has
difficulty paying his own bills, and he cannot afford to pay spousal maintenance.
After hearing the parties testify, the trial court noted that Jane’s claim for spousal
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maintenance was based upon Jane having an incapacitating physical or mental
disability, and was not based upon Jane lacking the ability to provide for her basic
needs. The trial court also noted that expert testimony is not necessary to prove
disability, and the trial court took the matter of Jane’s incapacity under advisement.
In the final decree, the trial court found that Jane lacks sufficient property,
including separate property, to provide for her minimum reasonable needs and has
been married to Thomas for more than ten years. The trial court found that Jane lacks
the ability to earn sufficient income to provide for her minimum needs, and that Jane
had not exercised diligence in developing the necessary skills to provide for her
reasonable needs during the separation. The trial court further found that Jane is
unable to earn sufficient income to provide for her reasonable needs because of an
incapacitating physical disability. The trial court ordered Thomas to pay Jane $1200
per month for sixty consecutive months or until certain events occur.
Thomas filed a motion for new trial, arguing that the evidence is legally and
factually insufficient to support the trial court’s judgment. Thomas complained,
among other issues, that the evidence is insufficient to support the trial court’s
finding that Jane is eligible for spousal maintenance in the sum of $1200 per month.
After conducting a hearing, the trial court denied Thomas’s motion for new trial.
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The trial court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law. Concerning spousal
maintenance, the trial court found:
[Jane] is 64 years old. She worked periodically as a bank teller
until 1996 when physical ailments prevented her from working. She has
not been employed since that time. [Jane] suffers from neck, back and
nerve pain. She is diabetic, has high blood pressure, bone deterioration
in her neck and back, has hand tremors, psoriasis, depression, and acid
reflux all for which she takes medication. At trial she presented as
physically and emotionally frail. 2014 medical records confirm some
of the conditions described by [Jane]. An August 2014 MRI report
not[ed] abnormalities in the brain and brainstem.
The trial court found that Jane’s ability to provide for her minimum reasonable
needs is substantially diminished because of depression and physical disabilities.
The trial court further found that Jane is unable to earn sufficient income to provide
for her minimum reasonable needs due to incapacitating physical disabilities. The
trial court concluded that Jane qualifies for spousal maintenance.
ANALYSIS
In one issue on appeal, Thomas contends that Jane failed to produce sufficient
evidence showing that she was entitled to an award of spousal maintenance under
section 8.051 of the Texas Family Code. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 8.051.
According to Thomas, Jane failed to show that she was unable to earn sufficient
income to provide for her minimum reasonable needs because of an incapacitating
physical or mental disability. See id. § 8.051(2)(A). Thomas maintains that although
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Jane testified that she suffers from health conditions, Jane produced no medical
evidence or expert testimony showing that she has an incapacitating disability.
Thomas argues that Jane’s testimony that she could drive, bathe, make her own
meals, and attend church directly contradicted Jane’s claim that her health conditions
amounted to a disability that was incapacitating.
We review the trial court’s award of spousal maintenance under an abuse of
discretion standard. Roberts v. Roberts, 531 S.W.3d 224, 227 (Tex. App.—San
Antonio 2017, pet. denied). A trial court abuses its discretion when its assessment
of spousal maintenance is arbitrary or unreasonable. Id. Under the abuse of
discretion standard, the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence are not
independent grounds for asserting error; rather, they are relevant facts in assessing
whether the trial court abused its discretion. Diaz v. Diaz, 350 S.W.3d 251, 254 (Tex.
App.—San Antonio 2011, pet. denied). A trial court’s findings of fact are reviewable
for legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence by the same standards that are
applied in reviewing evidence supporting a jury’s answer. Catalina v. Blasdel, 881
S.W.2d 295, 297 (Tex. 1994).
The trial court may exercise its discretion and award spousal maintenance if
the spouse seeking maintenance will lack sufficient property, including the spouse’s
separate property, on dissolution of the marriage to provide for the spouse’s
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minimum reasonable needs, and if the spouse is unable to earn sufficient income to
provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs due to an incapacitating
physical or mental disability. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 8.051(2)(A). While the
testimony of a spouse seeking spousal maintenance alone may support a finding of
disability, this testimony must still be sufficient and probative to establish that a
disability exists and that the disability prevents the spouse from obtaining gainful
employment. Roberts, 531 S.W.3d at 230. The spouse’s evidence must rise above a
mere assertion that unsubstantiated symptoms collectively amount to an
incapacitating disability. Id. Because the spouse is not required to present medical
evidence to prove her disability, the trial court may reasonably infer incapacity from
circumstantial evidence or the competent testimony of a lay witness. Pickens v.
Pickens, 62 S.W.3d 212, 215-16 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2001, pet. denied).
In this case, Jane relies on her own testimony and Dr. Pollack’s medical
records to support the trial court’s finding that Jane has incapacitating physical
disabilities. Jane testified that she was unable to work because her back and neck
conditions prevent her from being able to stand or sit for long periods of time, her
neck problems limit the amount of time that she can sit at a computer, and her
arthritis and tremors limit her ability to write. Pollack’s medical records support
Jane’s testimony that her medical conditions are incapacitating. In October 2014,
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Pollack noted that Jane presented with the following diagnoses: vertigo;
osteoarthritis of her ankle and foot; spinal stenosis in her lumbar region; arthrodesis
C5-6; and tremor on her right side. Pollack noted that Jane’s past medical history
includes moderate to severe left C8 foraminal stenosis at C7-T1; mild to moderate
right C7 neural foraminal stenosis at C6-7; and status post C5-6 anterior interbody
fusion with good postoperative appearance. Pollack further noted that Jane’s
activities of daily living and sleep were moderately impacted, she continued to see
another doctor for her rheumatic condition, and she was taking numerous
medications.
Pollack’s medical records include medical test results from August 2014,
which show an abnormal MRI of the brain, and an MRI of the cervical spine
indicating moderate loss of disc height at C3-C4 and C4-C5, mild concentric
degenerative disc bulging, moderate left foraminal stenosis at C4-C5, and a mild
amount of spinal stenosis. Pollack’s records also include a nerve conduction study
from May 2013, which noted a history of diabetes and a L5-S1 “fusion/screw” in
2006, and concluded that Jane has chronic active L5 radiculopathy on the left and
high amplitude fibrillation denervation of the left lower extremity.
We conclude that Jane presented sufficient and probative evidence to establish
disabilities that prevent her from obtaining gainful employment. See Roberts, 531
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S.W.3d at 230-31. We further conclude that because the evidence is sufficient to
support the trial court’s finding that Jane is unable to earn sufficient income to
provide for her minimum reasonable needs due to incapacitating physical
disabilities, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by awarding Jane spousal
maintenance. Accordingly, we overrule issue one. Having concluded that the
evidence is sufficient to support the trial court’s judgment, we need not consider
Thomas’s other arguments as they would not result in greater relief. See Tex. R.
App. P. 47.1.
AFFIRMED.
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STEVE McKEITHEN
Chief Justice
Submitted on May 8, 2018
Opinion Delivered May 24, 2018
Before McKeithen, C.J., Kreger and Horton, JJ.
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