Fillingim v. Fillingim, 332 S.W.3d 361

Rita Lackey Fillingim Pearson and Willis Dan Fillingim married in 1970; Dan's parents deeded mineral rights to Dan during the marriage, which the couple jointly leased.
They divorced in 1981; the divorce decree divided the community estate into two schedules and included residuary clauses granting each party a one-half interest in all other property.
Dan did not participate in the 1981 hearing or obtain counsel; no specific division of the mineral deeds was stated in the decree.
After the divorce, Rita and Dan received royalties from the mineral rights; Dan later claimed the royalties and sought to have the mineral rights declared as his separate property in 2006.
The trial court found the mineral deeds were gifts to Dan’s parents and thus Dan’s separate property; the court of appeals initially reversed but later held the minerals were not within the decree’s division.
The Texas Supreme Court held the trial court lacked jurisdiction to alter the decree and that the mineral rights were community property included in the residuary division.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court had jurisdiction to modify the divorce decree to partition the mineral rights	Fillingim argued the decree could be clarified or modified to reflect the mineral rights as separate property.	Fillingim argued the mineral rights were his separate property as gifts from his parents and not divided by the decree.	No; court lacked jurisdiction to amend the decree.
Whether the mineral rights were community property at the 1981 decree and thus included by residuary clause	Mineral rights were not clearly excluded from the estate; residuary language included them as property of the parties.	Mineral rights were Dan’s separate property as gifts and not part of the community estate.	Mineral rights were community property; residuary clauses included and divided them.

Reiss v. Reiss, 118 S.W.3d 439 (Tex.2003) (court may characterize community property even if incorrectly)
Baxter v. Ruddle, 794 S.W.2d 761 (Tex. 1990) (final divorce decree bars relitigation of property division)
Eggemeyer v. Eggemeyer, 554 S.W.2d 137 (Tex. 1977) (estate of the parties = community property; separate property limits apply)
Tarver v. Tarver, 394 S.W.2d 780 (Tex.1965) (presumption of community property during marriage can be rebutted by proof of separate property)
Buys v. Buys, 924 S.W.2d 369 (Tex.1996) (residuary clauses can include property not expressly divided)
Shanks v. Treadway, 110 S.W.3d 444 (Tex.2003) (final, unambiguous divorce decree bars relitigation)