Ex-Wife Doesn’t Get Second Day In Court To Argue Fraud After Tennessee Divorce

Tennessee law case summary on fraud in divorce law from the Court of Appeals.

Lisa Denise Church v. Shannon Wayne Brown – Tennessee divorce fraud

In 2008, the plaintiff and defendant in this fraud case were divorced in Cumberland County, Tennessee.  They executed a marital dissolution agreement to divide the property, and the agreement specified that the wife would be divested of any interest in the husband’s company.

In 2010, the wife returned to the divorce court and asked to re-open the case.  She alleged that she had been led to believe that the business had no value, but later learned that it had a value of $800,000.  The divorce court denied that motion, and the Tennessee Court of Appeals later affirmed.

She then filed a civil lawsuit against the husband, making the allegations of fraud.  The trial court granted summary judgment, on the grounds that the case was barred under the doctrine of res judicata.  The wife then filed another appeal with the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s dismissal, but on a slightly different legal theory.  The appeals court noted that res judicata didn’t apply because the civil complaint raised an issue not addressed in the divorce case, namely, common-law fraud.

The appeals court then turned to the related doctrine of collateral estoppel.  That doctrine prevents a party from re-litigating an issue that has previously been litigated in an earlier suit between the same parties.

The court looked at the earlier case and agreed with the lower court that the same questions of fraud were considered and decided by the divorce court in the earlier litigation.  Therefore, the wife was barred from re-litigating that issue, which was fatal to her claim.

The wife got some consolation from the appeals court on the issue of whether the appeal was frivolous.  Even though the appeals court affirmed, it held that her argument was not totally devoid of merit.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court.

No. E2014-00942-COA-R3-CSV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 23, 2015).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Tennessee Divorce Laws.