New Trial for Not Receiving Notice of Divorce Decree

In Turner v. Ward, 910 S.W.2d 500 (Tex. App. - El Paso 1994, no writ), the court held that the trial court abused its discretion by not granting the wife a new trial on the basis that she had never received notice that the trial court had granted the divorce decree. Turner, 910 S.W.2d at 505. When a party has answered in a divorce case, he or she is entitled to notice of trial pursuant to Rule 245 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Id. A trial court's failure to comply with the rules of notice in a contested case deprives a party of the constitutional right to be present at the hearing, to voice his objections in an appropriate manner, and results in a violation of fundamental due process. Platt v. Platt, 991 S.W.2d 481, 483 (Tex. App. - Tyler 1999, no pet.).