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Purnell v. 1000 Main, LLC, 14-25-00622-CV, September 29, 2026. On appeal from 189th District Court, Harris County, Texas Synopsis A timely summer vacation designation under Eleventh Administrative Judicial Region Rule 14(b) protects the attorney in charge from trial during the designated week—even when the trial setting predates the designation. Because counsel did not agree to… Read more: CROSSOVER: Timely Summer Vacation Designation Overrides an Earlier Trial Setting—and Makes Denial of a Continuance an Abuse of Discretion

Azhar v. Choudhri, 24-0939, September 25, 2026. On appeal from Court of Appeals for the 1st District of Texas Synopsis A foreign divorce judgment obtained without service, meaningful notice, or an opportunity to be heard cannot receive comity in Texas because recognition would contravene Texas public policy protecting fundamental notice rights. Publication is inadequate when… Read more: Foreign-Judgment Comity Requires Notice | Azhar v. Choudhri (2026)

Ridgway v. Frolova, 03-25-00050-CV, September 24, 2026. On appeal from 53rd District Court of Travis County Synopsis Proportional tracing based on assumed withdrawals from each spouse’s separate-property funds in a commingled account did not compel a finding that the marital residence was partly separate property. Because the trial court could find that the tracing evidence… Read more: Community-Property Presumption and Proportional Tracing | Ridgway v. Frolova (2026)

Moreno Construction Co., Inc. v. Baker, 04-25-00293-CV, September 23, 2026. On appeal from 456th District Court, Guadalupe County, Texas Synopsis A trial court may reduce a requested attorney’s-fee award, but the resulting figure must remain anchored to legally and factually sufficient evidence under the lodestar method. Because the record did not support the reduction of… Read more: CROSSOVER: Trial Courts Cannot Arbitrarily Slash a Supported Lodestar: Moreno Construction Offers a Fee-Proof Roadmap for Texas Family Litigators

In the Matter of the Marriage of Claire Noel Callahan and Matthew John Lewis and in the Interest of A.C.C., a Child, 06-25-00104-CV, September 21, 2026. On appeal from 467th District Court, Denton County, Texas Synopsis Texas Family Code § 45.004(a)(1) authorizes a trial court to change a child’s surname when the change is in… Read more: Section 45.004 Best-Interest Child Name Change | Callahan v. Lewis (2026)

In re Dennis D. Spurling, 14-26-00955-CV, September 18, 2026. On appeal from 387th District Court, Fort Bend County, Texas Synopsis A motion pending for less than two months ordinarily does not establish an unreasonable delay sufficient to warrant mandamus relief. Absent case-specific circumstances requiring a more expeditious ruling, the court of appeals will not compel… Read more: Mandamus Delay: Two-Month Wait Is Not Unreasonable | In re Spurling (2026)

In the Matter of the Marriage of Amanda Kay Davis and Jeffrey Ryan Davis, 05-25-00826-CV, September 18, 2026. On appeal from 439th Judicial District Court, Rockwall County, Texas Synopsis A spouse’s enforceable contractual right to purchase real property, acquired before marriage, fixes the property’s separate character under the inception-of-title doctrine—even if the deed and purchase-money… Read more: Inception-of-Title for Premarital Purchase Contracts | In re Marriage of Davis (2026)

FourSite Capital, LLC d/b/a FourSite Energy v. Eckard Land & Acquisition, L.L.C. and Eckard Exploration & Production, L.L.C., 05-25-01705-CV, September 18, 2026. On appeal from 471st Judicial District Court, Collin County, Texas Synopsis A temporary injunction entered against a party over whom the trial court lacks personal jurisdiction is void. Although the appellate court may… Read more: CROSSOVER: No Personal Jurisdiction, No Temporary Injunction: Dallas Court Voids Interim Restraints Against a Nonresident

Tran v. Overby, 01-23-00971-CV, September 18, 2026. On appeal from 310th District Court, Harris County, Texas Synopsis A respondent’s pleaded request for attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs to prepare and defend a divorce case is an independent claim for affirmative relief that survives the petitioner’s nonsuit under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 162. In Tran… Read more: Attorney’s Fees Survive Nonsuit in Divorce Cases | Tran v. Overby (2026)

In re April Renee McDowell, 08-26-00326-CV, September 15, 2026. On appeal from 112th Judicial District Court, Pecos County, Texas Synopsis Rule 680 means what it says. An ex parte TRO is void unless it expires by its own terms within the time fixed in the order, not exceeding 14 days, and absent consent the court… Read more: Rule 680 Limits TRO Extensions | In re McDowell (2026)

In re Bagley, 12-26-00267-CV, September 16, 2026. On appeal from 354th Judicial District Court of Rains County, Texas Synopsis When a court of appeals reverses and remands a divorce decree’s property division, the entire division is undone, including deed-execution requirements and later enforcement orders built on that division. In In re Bagley, the Tyler Court… Read more: Reversal Nullifies Property Division Enforcement Order | In re Bagley (2026)

Webb v. State, 10-25-00160-CR, September 17, 2026. On appeal from 18th District Court of Johnson County, Texas Synopsis Texas Rule of Evidence 901(a) sets a low threshold for authentication. In Webb v. State, the Tenth Court held that a video and Facebook photographs were admissible where a witness identified the depicted persons through personal familiarity… Read more: CROSSOVER: Rule 901 Lets Texas Litigants Authenticate Video and Social-Media Photos Through Identifying Witnesses Without Proving No Alteration