Ex-Husband Found In Civil Contempt For Failing to Pay $88K in Alimony

Tennessee case summary on alimony enforcement after divorce.

Patricia Gay Patterson Lattimore v. James S. Lattimore, Jr.

The husband and wife in this Williamson County, Tennessee, case were divorced in 1994, at which time the trial court approved their marital dissolution agreement.  The agreement called for the husband to pay $3,500 per month in alimony until 1996, at which time the amount would increase to $4,000.  This was to be paid to the wife until her death or remarriage.

In 2009, the wife brought a petition for criminal contempt.  She alleged that one monthly payment had been missed, and that the husband had failed to maintain medical insurance.  The husband argued that he was unable to make the payments because his health had declined.

The trial court, Judge Michael W. Binkley, found that the husband had not payed alimony since April 2009 and that the failure was willful.    The husband was sentenced to ten days’ incarceration.

The husband brought a first appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, which reversed some of the charges, although the sentence was not affected.

In 2014, the wife brought a second petition, this one for civil contempt, alleging that there was a new arrearage.  She alleged that 22 payments were missing, for a total of $88,000.  The husband was ordered to report to jail to serve the first sentence, and the trial court held a hearing on the second petition.  The trial court held that the husband had failed to pay, but that the failure was not willful.  The trial court therefore denied the petition, and this time the wife brought an appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  After discussing the other issues, the appeals court noted that the failure must be willful in order to constitute contempt.  However, the court also noted that the level of willfulness is not the same as would be required in a criminal case.  In a case of civil contempt, the test is whether the conduct was intentional or voluntary, as opposed to accidental or inadvertent.

In the context of a failure to pay, the issue boils down to whether the person has an ability to pay.  The appeals court examined all of the evidence, which included correspondence between the parties going back several years.  Specifically, the husband admitted that he had transferred certain funds to his new wife.  There was also evidence that new cars had recently been purchased.

The appeals court also noted that the husband had expenses greater than his claimed income.

After reviewing all of the evidence, the appeals court concluded that the evidence preponderated against the lower court’s findings.  Therefore, the Court of Appeals held that the test of willfulness had been met.  For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court and remanded the case.  It also granted the wife her attorney’s fees on appeal.

No. M2018-00557-COA-R3-CV  (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 12, 2019).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see The Tennessee Divorce Process: How Divorces Work Start to Finish.