Section 41.0115(a), CPRC, requires before a trial court may grant a net-worth discovery order upon motion of a party, it must notify the defendant and hold a hearing on the motion. This is precisely what the trial court in In re Madera Residential, LLC and Madera Residential, Ltd. (No. 02-24-00423-CV; October 21, 2024) failed to do. Accordingly, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals, in an opinion by Justice Wallach, conditionally granted Defendants’ petition for writ of mandamus and instructed the trial court to hold the required hearing.
Although the trial court initially set a hearing on Plaintiff’s motion, the hearing never took place. Instead, the trial court asked Plaintiff to refine its motion and come back for another go at it. Plaintiff filed a revised motion the next day, together with a proposed order. Several weeks passed. Plaintiff then sent a letter to the trial court request a ruling on the motion and entry of its proposed order. Defendants filed an objection to the proposed order a few days later, but the trial court signed the order without the statutorily required notice and hearing (although Defendants pointed out the necessity of doing so). As this discovery error was incurable, the court found that Defendants had no adequate remedy on appeal.
