## Facts

- Husband and wife married in 1961 and separated in 1986; three children lived with the wife at trial.
- Husband, a physician, operated a medical practice that generated community income.
- Evidence showed the husband repeatedly withdrew cash receipts from the practice without accounting to the wife and did not report those withdrawals for tax purposes.
- Husband admitted multiple extramarital affairs and spending community funds in connection with those relationships.
- Wife alleged the husband’s concealed withdrawals and non-community spending constituted fraud on the community that reduced her share of the community estate.
- After a bench trial, the divorce decree awarded the wife $30,000 in actual damages and $5,000 in exemplary damages for fraud on the community.
- Although findings of fact and conclusions of law were requested, none were included in the appellate record.

## Issues

1. Whether legally and factually sufficient evidence supported the $30,000 actual-damages award for fraud on the community estate.
2. Whether the $5,000 exemplary-damages award was proper given the challenge to the underlying actual damages.

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed the divorce decree’s awards.
- In the absence of filed findings, the court presumed all necessary findings supporting the judgment that were consistent with the evidence.
- The evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support a finding that the husband committed fraud on the community by secretly diverting community funds and spending them for non-community purposes.
- The evidence supported the trial court’s determination of $30,000 in actual damages without requiring exact tracing of each diverted dollar.
- Because the actual-damages award for fraud was upheld, the exemplary-damages award was also upheld.

## Legal Principles

- Spouses owe one another fiduciary duties in the management of community property; the managing spouse’s control is constrained by duties of fairness and loyalty.
- A managing spouse’s unfair disposition or depletion of community assets for non-community purposes may constitute constructive fraud on the community, and a presumption of fraud may arise from such conduct.
- In a bench trial without filed findings of fact, an appellate court implies all findings necessary to support the judgment if supported by the record, and reviews sufficiency challenges in that posture.
- A trial court may determine damages for fraud on the community based on reasonable inferences from the evidence; precise, dollar-for-dollar proof is not required when the record supports a reasonable estimate.
- Exemplary damages may be awarded where fraud is found and actual damages are awarded, subject to the trial court’s discretion based on the nature of the misconduct.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed awards of actual and exemplary damages where the managing spouse breached fiduciary duties by secretly withdrawing and misusing community funds, and the record supported implied findings of fraud and a reasonable damages estimate.


Mazique v. Mazique, 742 S.W.2d 805 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1987)