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CourtListener opinion 8283464
Date unknown · US
- Extracted case name
- pending
- Extracted reporter citation
- 603 S.W.3d 385
- Docket / number
- pending
Machine-draft headnote
Machine-draft public headnote: CourtListener opinion 8283464 is included in the LexyCorpus QDRO sample set as a public CourtListener opinion with relevance to pension / defined benefit 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 5/5, and family-law score 5/5. Use the quoted text and full opinion below before relying on the case.
Category: pension / defined benefit issues
Evidence quotes
QDRO“the original divorce trial, the trial court sent a letter to the parties dated February 15, 1996, that stated in part, "Victoria is awarded 60% of her retirement benefits with the FDIC or elsewhere and Gregory is awarded 40% of such retirement benefits by Qualified Domestic Relations Order[.]" On April 17, 1996, the trial court signed the "Final Decree of Divorce" which stated that it was "judicially PRONOUNCED AND RENDERED on February 15, 1996." The divorce decree also stated that Victoria was awarded as her "sole and separate property" and Gregory was "divested of all right, title, interest and claim in and to," among other things, 1”
retirement benefits“nal. We agree and dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. II. BACKGROUND After the conclusion of the original divorce trial, the trial court sent a letter to the parties dated February 15, 1996, that stated in part, "Victoria is awarded 60% of her retirement benefits with the FDIC or elsewhere and Gregory is awarded 40% of such retirement benefits by Qualified Domestic Relations Order[.]" On April 17, 1996, the trial court signed the "Final Decree of Divorce" which stated that it was "judicially PRONOUNCED AND RENDERED on February 15, 1996." The divorce decree also stated that Victoria was awarded as her "sole and”
pension“names. 2 [s]ixty percent of any and all sums, whether matured or unmatured, accrued or unaccrued, vested or otherwise, together with all increases thereof, the proceeds therefrom, and any other rights related to any profit-sharing plan, retirement plan, pension plan, employee stock option plan, employee savings plan, accrued unpaid bonuses, or other benefit program existing by reason of [Victoria's] past, present, or future employment, including specifically the following retirement benefits with FDIC: (1) Thrift Savings Plan; and (2) FDIC Savings Plan. The divorce decree also awarded Gregory as his "sole”
401(k)“'s] following retirement benefits with FDIC: (1) Thrift Savings Plan; and (2) FDIC Savings Plan; as more fully set forth in a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. On August 16, 1996, the trial court signed two separate orders dividing Victoria's FDIC 401(k) Savings Plan and her Thrift Savings Plan. Neither the divorce decree nor the two orders mentioned Victoria's FDIC retirement benefits—the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) Pension. 3 On January 27, 2021, Gregory filed his "Petition for Enforcement of Property Division," alleging that Victoria retired from the FDIC in December 2019 and failed”
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: 603 S.W.3d 385
- 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
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
___________________________
No. 02-21-00381-CV
___________________________
GREGORY WAYNE COON, Appellant
V.
VICTORIA JACOBS COON (THOMAS), Appellee
On Appeal from the 233rd District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 233-694810-21
Before Womack, Wallach, and Walker, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Womack
MEMORANDUM OPINION
I. INTRODUCTION
In this appeal involving a 1996 divorce decree, Appellant Gregory Wayne Coon
complains that the trial court erred in granting judgment nunc pro tunc, refusing
enforcement of the divorce decree, and awarding attorney's fees to Appellee Victoria
Jacobs Coon (Thomas). Victoria1 responds that, among other things, this court lacks
jurisdiction because the order Gregory appeals from is not final. We agree and
dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
II. BACKGROUND
After the conclusion of the original divorce trial, the trial court sent a letter to
the parties dated February 15, 1996, that stated in part, "Victoria is awarded 60% of
her retirement benefits with the FDIC or elsewhere and Gregory is awarded 40% of
such retirement benefits by Qualified Domestic Relations Order[.]" On April 17,
1996, the trial court signed the "Final Decree of Divorce" which stated that it was
"judicially PRONOUNCED AND RENDERED on February 15, 1996." The
divorce decree also stated that Victoria was awarded as her "sole and separate
property" and Gregory was "divested of all right, title, interest and claim in and to,"
among other things,
1
Because both parties had the same surname at times relevant to this appeal, we
will refer to them by their first names.
2
[s]ixty percent of any and all sums, whether matured or unmatured,
accrued or unaccrued, vested or otherwise, together with all increases
thereof, the proceeds therefrom, and any other rights related to any
profit-sharing plan, retirement plan, pension plan, employee stock
option plan, employee savings plan, accrued unpaid bonuses, or other
benefit program existing by reason of [Victoria's] past, present, or future
employment, including specifically the following retirement benefits with
FDIC:
(1) Thrift Savings Plan; and
(2) FDIC Savings Plan.
The divorce decree also awarded Gregory as his "sole and separate property" and
divested Victoria "of all right, title, interest and claim in and to"
[f]orty percent of any and all sums, whether matured or unmatured,
accrued or unaccrued, vested or otherwise, together with all increases
thereof, the proceeds therefrom, and any other rights related to any
profit-sharing plan, retirement plan, pension plan, employee stock
option plan, employee savings plan, accrued unpaid bonuses, or other
benefit program existing by reason of [Victoria's] past, present, or future
employment, including specifically [Victoria's] following retirement
benefits with FDIC:
(1) Thrift Savings Plan; and
(2) FDIC Savings Plan;
as more fully set forth in a Qualified Domestic Relations Order.
On August 16, 1996, the trial court signed two separate orders dividing
Victoria's FDIC 401(k) Savings Plan and her Thrift Savings Plan. Neither the divorce
decree nor the two orders mentioned Victoria's FDIC retirement benefits—the
Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) Pension.
3
On January 27, 2021, Gregory filed his "Petition for Enforcement of Property
Division," alleging that Victoria retired from the FDIC in December 2019 and failed
to comply with the divorce decree by paying him 40% of the retirement benefits.2 In
the petition, Gregory requested that the trial court award him "a money judgment,
including prejudgment and postjudgment interest" against Victoria "for the previously
unpaid payments to which [Gregory] is now entitled." In addition to seeking a money
judgment, Gregory sought a clarifying order, if necessary, and a qualified domestic
relations order partitioning 40% of Victoria's pension payments so that payments not
satisfied by the money judgment would be paid directly to him. Finally, he sought
attorney's fees, expenses, and costs.
After Victoria filed her answer, Gregory filed his motion for partial summary
judgment, seeking summary judgment that (1) the divorce decree awarded him 40% of
Victoria's retirement benefits existing at the time of the divorce and (2) Victoria's
FDIC annuity and FERS Benefit Supplement—the FDIC Retirement—existed at the
time of the divorce and were subject to the 60/40 division set out in the divorce
decree. Victoria also filed for summary judgment, stating that she was entitled to
judgment because "[b]oth the rendition and the [divorce] decree are unclear and
ambiguous because they do not explicitly state the date of divorce for when the
retirement accounts were divided and only mention two federal retirement benefits."
2
See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 9.006.
4
Victoria requested that the trial court deny Gregory's enforcement petition because
(1) the divorce decree is "ambiguous as a matter of law," (2) the "enforcement is
insufficient as a matter of law," (3) the divorce decree "cannot be enforced as
provided by federal law," and (4) the "enforcement is not valid as a matter of law[.]"
Alternatively, she requested that the trial court "sign an order specifying the facts that
are established as a matter of law."
After both motions for summary judgment were filed, Victoria filed a motion
for judgment nunc pro tunc or alternative request for clarification of the divorce
decree. In the motion, Victoria alleged,
A clerical error exists in the Final Decree of Divorce; specifically, it
references "future employment" when the rendition did not contain that
language, the rendition was made as of February 15, 1996, which date is
also referenced in the Final Decree of Divorce, and the orders dividing
the FDIC 401k Savings Plan and Thrift Savings Plan both include
February 15, 1996, as the date of divorce. Accordingly, the Court should
correct the clerical error with a judgment nunc pro tunc or, alternatively,
clarify the Final Decree of Divorce to specify the federal retirement
benefits divided and the dates of marriage and divorce from which any
retirement divided by the Court is calculated.
On October 21, 2021, the trial court heard Gregory's motion for partial
summary judgment, Victoria's motion for summary judgment, and Victoria's motion
for judgment nunc pro tunc or alternative request for clarification. At the conclusion
of the hearing, the trial court stated,
As to the summary judgment, the Court is going to deny the summary
judgment request as well as find that there is a need for a clarification
and the nunc pro tunc that is requested, declaring the date of the
5
disposition is as of February 16th - - 15th, 1996, is proper in this matter
and grant that nunc pro tunc as well.
Having denied the summary judgment, granting the nunc pro
tunc, the Court also finds there's a need for - - was a need for [Victoria]
in this matter to hire counsel and grants the attorney's fees requested in
the amount of $15,392.50.
On the same date, the trial court signed an order entitled "Order on Victoria
Jacobs Thomas's Traditional Motion for Summary Judgment." The order states:
Court finds good cause exists to grant the Motion for Judgment
Nunc Pro Tunc or Alternative Clarification.
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Judgment Nunc Pro Tunc
or Alternative Clarification is granted, and the paragraph on page 26,
paragraph (d), is corrected and clarified as follows:
VICTORIA JACOBS COON, Petitioner, is awarded the
following as Petitioner's sole and separate property, and GREGORY
WAYNE COON, Respondent, is divested of all right, title, interest, and
claim in and to such property:
(d) Sixty percent of any and all sums, whether matured or
unmatured, accrued or unaccrued, vested or otherwise, together
with all increases thereof, the proceeds therefrom, and any other
rights related to any profit-sharing plan, retirement plan, pension
plan, employee stock option plan, employee savings plan, accrued
unpaid bonuses, or other benefit program existing by reason of
Petitioner's employment as of February 15, 1996, including
specifically the following retirement benefits with FDIC:
(1) Thrift Savings Plan;
(2) FDIC Savings Plan; and
(3) FERS Pension[.]
IT IS ORDERED that the paragraph on page 27, paragraph (c), is
corrected and clarified as follows:
GREGORY WAYNE COON, Respondent, is awarded the
following as Respondent's sole and separate property, and VICTORIA
6
WAYNE COON, Petitioner, is hereby divested of all right, title, interest,
and claim in and to such property:
(c) Forty percent of any and all sums, whether matured or
unmatured, accrued or unaccrued, vested or otherwise, together
with all increases thereof, the proceeds therefrom, and any other
right related to any profit-sharing plan, retirement plan, pension
plan, employee stock option plan, employee savings plan, accrued
unpaid bonuses, or other benefit program existing by reason of
Petitioner's employment as of February 15, 1996:
(1) Thrift Savings Plan;
(2) FDIC Savings Plan; and
(3) FERS Pension
as more fully set forth in a Qualified Domestic Relations Order.
The FERS Pension shall be divided pursuant to a Court Order
Acceptable for Processing. . . .
The court finds that Respondent, VICTORIA JACOBS
THOMAS, has incurred $15,392.50 as attorney's fees, which were
necessary in this suit. It is ORDERED that Respondent, VICTORIA
JACOBS THOMAS, be and is hereby awarded judgment against
Petitioner, GREGORY WAYNE COON, in the amount of $15,392.50,
for reasonable and necessary legal services rendered to Respondent,
which judgment is awarded against Petitioner, plus post judgment
interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum, for which execution
shall issue.
Gregory filed his notice of appeal from this order.
In his three issues, Gregory contends that (1) the judgment nunc pro tunc
worked a substantive rather than clerical revision to the divorce decree "and did so
outside the plenary jurisdiction of the trial court"; (2) Texas case law requires that a
final judgment be enforced literally, even if it results in the award of separate property
to the other spouse; and (3) attorney's fees are not available in motions for nunc pro
tunc. Among the arguments raised in her responsive brief, Victoria states that this
court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal because Gregory's petition for enforcement
7
has not been ruled on and the order granting the motion for judgment nunc pro tunc
is not a final order because "[n]o nunc pro tunc final decree of divorce has ever been
signed replacing the original final decree of divorce." In his reply brief, Gregory
responds that "though not best practice," the order entered is sufficient to constitute
a final order nunc pro tunc because it contains "unambiguously decretal language
stating that the decree is ‘corrected and clarified as follows.'" He does not respond to
the argument that his petition for enforcement is not addressed in the order from
which he appeals.
III. DISCUSSION
Whether a court has jurisdiction is a question of law, which we review de novo.
See Bonsmara Nat. Beef Co. v. Hart of Tex. Cattle Feeders, LLC, 603 S.W.3d 385, 390 (Tex.
2020) (citing CMH Homes v. Perez, 340 S.W.3d 444, 447 (Tex. 2011)). Generally, this
court has jurisdiction only over final judgments and interlocutory orders from which
an appeal is expressly authorized by statute. Id.; see Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann.
§§ 51.012, 51.014(a); Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001); see also
Tex. R. Civ. P. 301 ("Only one final judgment shall be rendered in any cause except
where it is otherwise specially provided by law."). Because no statute authorizes an
interlocutory appeal in this case, we look at whether the trial court's order is final for
appellate purposes.
8
An order will be final for appellate purposes if its states with "unmistakable
clarity" that it is intended as a final judgment as to all claims and all parties. Lehmann,
39 S.W.3d at 192–93. As we explained in Wright v. Payne,
"[A]n order or judgment is not final for purposes of appeal unless it
actually disposes of every pending claim and party or unless it clearly and
unequivocally states that it" does. [Lehmann, 39 S.W.3d] at 205; see also In
re Elizondo, 544 S.W.3d 824, 827–28 (Tex. 2018) (orig. proceeding)
(quoting same). If the order's finality language is clear and unequivocal,
we do not examine the record. Elizondo, 544 S.W.3d at 828, 829.
However, if the order's language is ambiguous, we do examine the
record to determine finality. See Pope-Nixon v. Howard, No. 05-18-01215-
CV, 2019 WL 911745, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Feb. 25, 2019, no pet.)
(mem. op.) (citing Elizondo, 544 S.W.3d at 827–28).
No. 02-19-00147-CV, 2019 WL 6003243, at *2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Nov. 14,
2019, no pet.) (mem. op.). Here, the trial court's order contains no express language
of finality. See Johnson v. Glenview Auto Fund, LLC, No. 02-20-00369-CV, 2021 WL
3557078, at *3 (Tex. App—Fort Worth Aug. 12, 2021, no pet.) (mem. op.) (citing
examples of finality language).
A judgment lacking clear finality language must actually dispose of all parties
and all issues to be final. Lehmann, 39 S.W.3d at 195. As noted above, when
necessary, we review the record to make this determination. Id. at 205–06. Here, the
trial court's order does not address Gregory's petition for enforcement of property
division. In that petition, Gregory sought a money judgment, attorney's fees,
expenses, and costs. In addition, he "specifically request[ed] that the Court enter a
qualified domestic relations order partitioning to [him] the 40% of payments under
9
[Victoria's] FERS pension, so that payments not satisfied by the money judgment . . .
are paid directly from the FERS administration to [him]."
As Victoria summarizes in her brief,
Gregory claims in his petition that Victoria has retired, that she has
received retirement benefits, and that she has not paid Gregory his forty-
percent share. Although Victoria was never ordered to make those
payments herself, Gregory is still entitled to forty percent of Victoria's
retirement benefits through the date of divorce, February 15, 1996.
Gregory requested a money judgment for the unpaid amounts. If the
trial court determines that Victoria was ordered to pay a portion of what
she received to Gregory, then it could still order a money judgment.
[Record citations deleted]
We agree. No order disposes of the issues set out in the petition for enforcement of
property division. See id. at 195. Therefore, even if the order being appealed from is
sufficient for purposes of a clarification order or nunc pro tunc order,3 it does not
dispose of all issues. Therefore, the order is not final, and this appeal must be
dismissed. See Khademazad v. Khademazad, No. 05-19-00124-CV, 2019 WL 2865283, at
*2 (Tex. App.—Dallas July 3, 2019, no pet.) (mem. op.) (appeal dismissed for want of
3
While Victoria also contends that the order is not final because no nunc pro
tunc final decree of divorce has been signed, we need not address this alternative
argument. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.1; Tex. R. Civ. P. 306a(6), 316; Ellison v. Panhandle &
S. F. Ry. Co., 306 S.W.2d 909, 910–11 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 1957, no writ)
(explaining procedure for entering nunc pro tunc judgment); see also Lung v. Varga,
400 S.W.2d 1, 3 (Tex. App.—Austin 1966, no writ) (dismissing an appeal for want of
jurisdiction because a "purported nunc pro tunc entry of judgment" failed to show the
reason for its entry and its entry in lieu of a former judgment); but see Scott v. Lowe,
No. 05-94-000678-CV, 1995 WL 379319, at *4 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 30, 1995, no
writ) (not designated for publication) (stating that it was not necessary for an order
nunc pro tunc to contain the completeness and certainty of a final judgment because
it merely clarified the final summary judgment).
10
jurisdiction where order appealed did not finally resolve all claims asserted in petition
and counter-petition for enforcement of divorce decree).
IV. CONCLUSION
Because the order from which Gregory attempts to appeal is neither a final
judgment nor an appealable interlocutory order, we dismiss the appeal for want of
jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f).
/s/ Dana Womack
Dana Womack
Justice
Delivered: October 13, 2022
11