Texas Supreme Court
Raoul Hagen, Petitioner v. Doris J. Hagen, Respondent
May 1, 200952 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 698
Summary
The Texas Supreme Court held that the trial court's order merely clarified the 1976 divorce decree, which unambiguously divided only military retirement pay, and did not modify the decree; therefore the order was not barred by res judicata and the trial court judgment was affirmed. The Court distinguished the decree from cases that expressly included VA disability benefits. Justice Brister dissented, arguing that the decree should be treated as dividing VA disability pay and that the majority should overrule Berry.