James Allen Letersky v. Anne Cumming Letersky

Appellant, James Allen Letersky, currently stationed in England with the United States Air Force, filed a divorce action in Taylor County on November 2, 1989, seeking to dissolve his marriage with appellee, Anne Cumming Letersky, a citizen of Great Britain currently residing in Scotland, and to obtain custody of their two minor children. However, appellee had initiated proceedings in Scotland on December 16, 1988, and the Scottish court had awarded her temporary custody of the children. The trial court granted appellee's special appearance pursuant to TEX.R.CIV.P. 120a. Appellant appeals, complaining in four points of error that the trial court erred in granting appellee's special appearance because appellee's personal letter and correspondence from her Scottish counsel to the court clerk constituted a general appearance which conferred jurisdiction on the court. We affirm. Upon being served in Scotland, appellee wrote a letter to the Taylor County District Clerk on November 16, 1989. In this letter, she informed the clerk that a divorce proceeding was pending in a Scottish court; that the Scottish court had already awarded her temporary custody of the minor children; that she and the children had minimal contacts with Texas; and that she was instructing her lawyer in Scotland to contact the court. The next day, her Scottish attorney sent the district clerk a copy of the divorce action pending in Scotland. On April 10, 1990, appellee's Texas counsel filed a special appearance on her behalf pursuant to Rule 120a. After conducting a hearing, the trial court granted the special appearance and dismissed the cause.