The Dallas Court of Appeals recently held that contempt is not available to enforce contractual spousal support absent decretal language in the divorce decree along with a reference to Chapter 8 of the Texas Family Code and its requirements. Here, the parties entered into an agreement for spousal maintenance. The final divorce decree, however, simply
contempt
Trial court’s reach exceeds its grasp
By Byron Henry on
Posted in Mandamus, Opinions & Judgments
The Dallas Court of Appeals recently held that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to issue a show-cause order for a non-party to appear if the party is outside the subpoena power of the court. Here, after one unsuccessful mediation, the parties attempted another mediation during trial with the trial court’s blessing. The trial court determined…