John R. Ray IV and Rochelle L. Ray - Page 12

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              This Final Decree of Divorce is stipulated to represent                 
              a merger of a mediation agreement between the parties.                  
              To the extent there exist any differences between the                   
              mediation agreement and this Final Decree of Divorce,                   
              this Final Decree of Divorce shall control in all                       
              instances.                                                              
              The parties used the terms “mediation” and “arbitration”                
         interchangeably when referring to the March 13 arbitration.  For             
         example, the memorandum that Mr. Ray’s divorce counsel prepared in           
         advance of the March 13 arbitration was labeled “Mediation                   
         Memorandum” rather than “Arbitration Memorandum”.  Although the              
         arbitration agreement was not labeled as the “mediation                      
         agreement”, both parties intended it as such.                                
              Merger, with respect to the law of contracts under Texas law,           
         refers to the extinguishment of one contract by its absorption               
         into another contract and is largely a matter of the intention of            
         the parties.  Smith v. Smith, 794 S.W.2d 823, 827-828 (Tex. App.             
         1990).  Before one contract is merged into another, the last                 
         contract must be between the same parties as the first, must                 
         embrace the same subject matter, and must have been so intended by           
         the parties.  Id. at 828.                                                    
              When an agreement is incorporated into a divorce decree, the            
         decree is a consent judgment.  McGuire v. McGuire, 4 S.W.3d 382,             
         386 (Tex. App. 1999); Rivera v. Office of Attorney General, 960              
         S.W.2d 280, 283 (Tex. App. 1997).  Once the court approves the               
         agreement and makes it a part of the judgment, the agreement is no           







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