## Facts

- Belinda Ann Joyner filed for divorce from Thomas Stephen Joyner in May 2001.
- The parties executed a mediated settlement agreement (MSA) on April 7, 2003 resolving most property, conservatorship, and child support issues concerning their minor son.
- A July 2, 2003 “final hearing” addressed remaining disputes limited to a few items of personal property.
- At the July 2 hearing, the trial court orally announced, “your divorce is granted.”
- On July 3, 2003, Thomas purchased a lottery ticket that won $2,080,000.
- In May 2004, Belinda sought a final trial setting, asserting no final judgment had been rendered and the parties remained married when the lottery winnings were acquired.
- On June 28, 2004, the trial court signed a written final decree stating the divorce had been judicially pronounced and rendered on July 2, 2003.
- Belinda appealed, contending the written decree date controlled finality and property characterization.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court’s July 2, 2003 oral statement “your divorce is granted,” in the context of a binding MSA, constituted an oral rendition of a final judgment terminating the marriage.
2. Whether the absence of a contemporaneous written decree or an express oral ruling on every component (divorce, property division, conservatorship/support) prevented final judgment on July 2, 2003.
3. Whether the lottery winnings acquired on July 3, 2003 were community property or Thomas’s separate property based on the date of rendition.

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed the divorce decree.
- The trial court rendered judgment on July 2, 2003 through its oral pronouncement granting the divorce.
- The marriage terminated on July 2, 2003 for purposes of property characterization.
- The lottery winnings acquired on July 3, 2003 were Thomas’s separate property, not subject to division as community property.

## Legal Principles

- A trial court renders judgment when it officially announces its decision in open court (or by written memorandum); the later written judgment generally memorializes, and may evidence, an earlier rendition.
- A statutorily compliant mediated settlement agreement in a divorce/parent-child dispute is immediately binding and irrevocable and entitles the parties to judgment on its terms.
- When rendition precedes the signing of the written decree, the date of rendition controls termination of the marital community and thus whether property acquired thereafter is separate or community property.

## Conclusion

The court held that the trial judge’s in-court pronouncement granting the divorce—given the binding mediated settlement agreement and the posture of the final hearing—constituted a final rendition on July 2, 2003, so lottery winnings obtained the next day were acquired after termination of the marital community and belonged solely to the husband as separate property.


In re Marriage of Joyner, 196 S.W.3d 883 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2006, no pet.)