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CourtListener opinion 3099168

Date unknown · US

Extracted case name
pending
Extracted reporter citation
783 S.W.2d 210
Docket / number
10-09-00254-CV
QDRO relevance 5/5Retirement relevance 2/5Family-law relevance 5/5gold label pending
Research-use warning: This page contains machine-draft public annotations generated from public opinion text. The headnote is not Willie-approved gold-label work product and is not legal advice. Verify the full opinion and current law before relying on it.

Machine-draft headnote

Machine-draft public headnote: CourtListener opinion 3099168 is included in the LexyCorpus QDRO sample set as a public CourtListener opinion with relevance to QDRO procedure / domestic relations order issues. The current annotation is conservative: it identifies source provenance, relevance signals, and evidence quotes for attorney/agent retrieval. It is not a Willie-approved legal headnote yet.

Retrieval annotation

Draft retrieval summary: this opinion has QDRO relevance score 5/5, retirement-division score 2/5, and family-law score 5/5. Use the quoted text and full opinion below before relying on the case.

Category: QDRO procedure / domestic relations order issues

Evidence quotes

QDRO

TENTH COURT OF APPEALS No. 10-09-00254-CV IN THE MATTER OF THE MARRIAGE OF KATIE SPAHN AND RODNEY SPAHN From the 13th District Court Navarro County, Texas Trial Court No. 06-15572-CV MEMORANDUM OPINION Rodney Spahn appeals from the entry of a qualified domestic relations order based on an agreed final decree of divorce and of the denial of his motion for nunc pro tunc of the decree of divorce. He complains that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney's fees to his ex-wife, Katie Spahn-Northern, and that the trial court erred by denying his motion for judgment nunc pro tunc to correct the date of the partie

domestic relations order

URT OF APPEALS No. 10-09-00254-CV IN THE MATTER OF THE MARRIAGE OF KATIE SPAHN AND RODNEY SPAHN From the 13th District Court Navarro County, Texas Trial Court No. 06-15572-CV MEMORANDUM OPINION Rodney Spahn appeals from the entry of a qualified domestic relations order based on an agreed final decree of divorce and of the denial of his motion for nunc pro tunc of the decree of divorce. He complains that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney's fees to his ex-wife, Katie Spahn-Northern, and that the trial court erred by denying his motion for judgment nunc pro tunc to correct the date of the partie

Source and provenance

Source type
courtlistener_qdro_opinion_full_text
Permissions posture
public
Generated status
machine draft public v0
Review status
gold label pending
Jurisdiction metadata
US
Deterministic extraction
reporter: 783 S.W.2d 210 · docket: 10-09-00254-CV
Generated at
May 14, 2026

Related public corpus pages

Deterministic links based on shared title/citation terms and QDRO / retirement / family-law retrieval scores.

Clean opinion text

IN THE
 TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

 No. 10-09-00254-CV

 IN THE MATTER OF THE MARRIAGE OF
 KATIE SPAHN
 AND
 RODNEY SPAHN

 From the 13th District Court
 Navarro County, Texas
 Trial Court No. 06-15572-CV

 MEMORANDUM OPINION

 Rodney Spahn appeals from the entry of a qualified domestic relations order

based on an agreed final decree of divorce and of the denial of his motion for nunc pro

tunc of the decree of divorce. He complains that the trial court abused its discretion in

awarding attorney's fees to his ex-wife, Katie Spahn-Northern, and that the trial court

erred by denying his motion for judgment nunc pro tunc to correct the date of the

parties' marriage in the final decree of divorce. Because we find that the trial court

abused its discretion by awarding attorney's fees, we modify the judgment to delete the

award of attorney's fees, and as modified, affirm the judgment of July 1, 2009. We find

that we do not have jurisdiction over Rodney's complaint regarding the denial of his
 motion for judgment nunc pro tunc and dismiss the claim relating to the judgment

signed on September 9, 2009.1

Award of Attorney's Fees

 Rodney complains that the trial court erred by granting Katie attorney's fees

because there was no statutory authority to support the award of attorney's fees and

that there was insufficient evidence presented regarding the reasonableness and

necessity of the fees awarded.

 Section 9.106 of the Family Code has been added to the Family Code and became

effective on September 1, 2009. That section authorizes the award of attorney's fees in

proceedings regarding post-decree qualified domestic relations orders. TEX. FAM. CODE

ANN. § 9.106, added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., ch. 768, § 9, eff. Sept. 1, 2009 (Vernon Supp.

2009). Prior to this time, the only section that granted the authority for the trial court to

award attorney's fees was section 9.014. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 9.014 (Vernon

2007). However, section 9.014 is specifically limited to proceedings under that

subchapter, which does not include the entry of a qualified domestic relations order.

See id.

 The live pleading before the trial court at the time of the order awarding

attorney's fees was a motion to sign qualified domestic relations orders. There was no

request for clarification or enforcement of the divorce decree contained within those

pleadings. Therefore, section 9.014 did not apply. Katie has not provided any other

1There were two separate judgments entered that form the basis of this appeal. The first is entitled
"Order on 1st Amended Motion to Enter QDROs," which was signed on July 1, 2009. The second is
entitled "Order on Motion for Judgment Nunc Pro Tunc," which was signed by the trial court on
September 9, 2009.

In the Matter of the Marriage of Spahn Page 2
 statutory authority to support the award of attorney's fees. We find that the trial court

abused its discretion in awarding attorney's fees to her in this matter. We sustain issue

one.

Judgment Nunc Pro Tunc

 Rodney complains that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a

judgment nunc pro tunc to correct the date of the parties' marriage in the final decree of

divorce. However, with few exceptions, a party may appeal only a final judgment of

the trial court. The denial of a motion to correct a judgment nunc pro tunc is not a final

judgment and not subject to appeal. Shadowbrook Apartments v. Abu-Ahmad, 783 S.W.2d

210, 211 (Tex. 1990). Therefore, the issue regarding any error in the denial of his motion

for a judgment nunc pro tunc is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. We overrule issue

two.

Conclusion

 We find that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney's fees to

Katie Spahn-Northern because there was no statutory authority to support an award of

attorney's fees. We do not have jurisdiction to review the denial of Rodney Spahn's

motion for judgment nunc pro tunc. Therefore, we modify the judgment of the trial

court to delete the award of attorney's fees to Katie Spahn-Northern, and otherwise

affirm the judgment of the trial court signed on July 1, 2009. The appeal of the

judgment signed on September 9, 2009 is dismissed.

 TOM GRAY
 Chief Justice

In the Matter of the Marriage of Spahn Page 3
 Before Chief Justice Gray,
 Justice Reyna, and
 Justice Davis
Modified in part, and as modified, affirmed in part; dismissed in part
Opinion delivered and filed June 16, 2010
[CV06]

In the Matter of the Marriage of Spahn Page 4