## Facts

- Patricia Hoppe and Robert Hoppe were married.
- During the marriage, Robert borrowed money from Inwood National Bank of Dallas (the bank), evidenced by a promissory note executed by Robert (and a business associate).
- Robert personally guaranteed repayment and provided the bank with personal financial statements that listed assets described as community property of Robert and Patricia.
- Patricia did not sign the promissory note or any guaranty.
- Robert later defaulted on the loan.
- Patricia and Robert divorced. The divorce decree divided the community estate and assigned the bank debt to Robert, directing that it be paid from Robert’s share of the community property.
- Robert subsequently filed bankruptcy, and his personal liability to the bank was discharged.
- The bank then sued Patricia, seeking to recover the unpaid balance of the note by reaching property awarded to her in the divorce.
- The trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment for Patricia, and the bank appealed.

## Issues

1. Can a bank recover on a promissory note from a spouse who did not sign the note or guaranty, or reach property awarded to that spouse after divorce, based on the claim that the obligation was a community debt incurred during marriage?
2. Do the divorce decree’s allocation of the debt to the signing spouse and the signing spouse’s later bankruptcy discharge create or expand the bank’s ability to collect from the non-signing spouse or her property?

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed the take-nothing judgment for Patricia.
- Because Patricia did not sign the promissory note (and was not otherwise shown to be a guarantor or party to the instrument), the bank could not obtain a judgment against her “on the note.”
- The bank’s community-debt theory did not, by itself, make Patricia personally liable on the instrument or permit collection from property awarded to her after divorce on this record.
- The divorce decree’s assignment of the debt to Robert governed rights between the spouses and did not create new contractual liability to the bank against Patricia.
- Robert’s bankruptcy discharge eliminated his personal liability but did not transfer the obligation to Patricia or create liability where none previously existed.

## Legal Principles

- A person is not liable on a promissory note in a suit on the instrument unless the person is a party to the note (such as a maker) or is otherwise bound by a recognized agreement (such as a guaranty).
- Characterizing an obligation incurred during marriage as a “community debt” does not automatically impose personal liability on the non-signing spouse in a suit brought solely to enforce the note.
- A divorce decree allocating marital debts determines obligations between former spouses; it does not create new rights for a third-party creditor against a spouse who never agreed to the debt.
- A bankruptcy discharge extinguishes the debtor’s personal liability; it does not create or enlarge a creditor’s rights against a non-debtor who never signed the instrument.
- To reach specific property in the hands of the non-signing spouse, a creditor must establish a valid legal basis beyond mere enforcement of the note against a nonparty to it.

## Conclusion

In *Inwood National Bank of Dallas v. Hoppe*, the court held that the bank could not recover on a promissory note from a former wife who never signed the note or a guaranty, and the bank could not use the divorce decree’s debt allocation or the husband’s later bankruptcy discharge to create liability against her or the property awarded to her in the divorce.


Inwood National Bank of Dallas v. Hoppe, 596 S.W.2d 183 (1980)