Rockwall County, Texas – A Texas appellate court has upheld a divorce ruling from Rockwall County, agreeing with the trial court’s conclusions that were based on hidden income, digital payment records, and evidence of domestic abuse.
In a heated dispute between Aaron Clark and Larissa Clark, the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas said that the lower court was within its rights when it imposed child support and split up the couple’s property.
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According to inForney, the main point of the appeal was how much child support should be. The trial court instructed the husband to pay $1,840 a month. This amount was based on the fact that his net monthly income was more than $9,200. The man disagreed with that decision, saying that he had been out of work since March 2023 and that there was no reason to believe he had that much income.
The appeal court disagreed, saying that evidence found during the divorce case showed otherwise. Even though the husband didn’t properly follow the rules for discovery, the wife was able to get Cash App records that showed more over $159,000 was deposited over the course of around 14 months.
The husband said he was a day trader who just shifted money between accounts, but the trial judge found his explanation lacking credibility. The court, on the other hand, acknowledged evidence that the deposits were money made from an organization that sold furniture.
The appeals court also agreed with the wife’s unfair partition of the community estate. The ruling was backed up by evidence that the husband was abusive and violent against his family, including actions that were caught on tape. The record also showed that he took away and wasted a lot of money from the community, including more than $200,000 from a retirement plan. Meanwhile, the wife had covered mortgage payments for years and agreed to take responsibility for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid tax debt.
Another factor weighing against the husband was his decision to represent himself after his attorney withdrew. Legal observers note that self-representation can be especially risky in complex family law cases, where credibility determinations and findings of violence or financial misconduct are difficult to overturn on appeal.
The husband also fought against rules about visitation, but the case was thrown out because the child turned 18 in February 2025. In the end, the appellate court decided that the evidence was strong enough and that the Rockwall County court did not misuse its discretion. This meant that the initial divorce verdict stood.
