(Download) "Lee Roy Belz and Herbert W. Belz v. Barbara Louise Belz" by Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Lee Roy Belz and Herbert W. Belz v. Barbara Louise Belz
- Author : Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
- Release Date : January 13, 1984
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 72 KB
Description
This is an appeal from a division of the community estate in a divorce action and from a joint and several judgment rendered against the appellants, who were also defendants in a consolidated case of conspiracy to defraud. Lee Roy Belz sued his wife, Barbara, for divorce. Barbara filed a cross action against Lee Roy for divorce, and in her petition alleged fraud on her community interest in the marital estate by Lee Roy for which she sought $50,000 actual damages plus exemplary damages of $150,000. She also brought separate suits against Lee Roys brother, Herbert Belz, and Charlene Hagstrom, alleging that they had conspired with Lee Roy to defraud her of her share of the community estate. The conspiracy to defraud suits were consolidated with the divorce action. The case was tried to a jury, which found that Charlene and Herbert Had conspired with Lee Roy to defraud Barbara, but that Barbara had not sustained any damage as a result of the conspiracy. The jury did find for Barbara on four of her issues regarding fraud by Lee Roy and awarded her $17,200 in actual damages and $2,200 in exemplary damages. The jury further awarded Barbara $10,000 in attorneys fees. The trial court subsequently granted the divorce, rendered judgment jointly and severally against Lee Roy, Herbert, and Charlene for the $29,400 in damages awarded to Barbara by the jury for fraud, which included a $10,000 award for attorneys fees, and then divided the community estate based on "evidence of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud amounting to cruelty." The property division included a $39,706 money judgment against Lee Roy in favor of Barbara, the reason for which is not explained in this record. As a result, Barbara received $164,270 in community assets and Lee Roy received $48,994 in community assets without taking into account the $29,400 awarded to Barbara on the fraud claim.