Tennessee Divorce Stands Despite Ex-Wife’s Cold Feet About Agreement
Tennessee law case summary on settlements in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.
Angela Denise Jones v. Mark Allen Jones – Tennessee divorce and trying to back out
The husband and wife were married in 1995 and had four children, three of whom were living at the time of their 2011 divorce. The wife filed for divorce based on irreconcilable difference and inappropriate marital conduct.
While the divorce was pending, the husband entered into a settlement agreement with Nissan, his former employer, for back pay and damages. That settlement agreement included a confidentiality agreement. About four months after the settlement with Nissan, the husband, wife, and their attorneys met and executed a marital dissolution agreement.
In that agreement, the parties agreed that there was no equity in the family home, and that the husband assumed all of the related debt. The wife was to receive a one-time payment of $56,000 as settlement of all claims. Neither party was to receive alimony, and the husband was not to pay child support, but the husband was to be responsible for most expenses. The trial court found this agreement to be fair for both the parties and the children, granted the divorce, and incorporated the agreement into the final decree.
Shortly thereafter, the wife received the $56,000 and signed a quit claim deed to the family home. After doing so, she filed a motion with the court to amend the judgment. She alleged that she did not fully understand the agreement, and thought that the settlement with Nissan was somehow not included.
The trial court denied this motion, and ordered her to pay the husband’s attorney fees in defending against it. Dissatisfied with this outcome, the wife appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. On appeal, she made various arguments. She argued that the property division was not fair and equitable, and because her former lawyer had allegedly given her bad advice about the settlement with Nissan. She also argued, contrary to what she had agreed previously, that there actually was equity in the marital home.
The Court of Appeals reviewed the case on an abuse of discretion standard, and concluded that the trial court had committed no error. The trial court had found that the agreement was fair and equitable at the time it originally approved it. A marital termination agreement is a contract, and general rules of contract construction apply. The trial court was not required to have a formal hearing before approving it, and the Court of Appeals found nothing wrong with the procedure that had been followed.
The Court of Appeals also pointed out that the wife knew about the settlement with Nissan. It also pointed out that the parties had engaged in discovery, and she had initially agreed that there was no equity in the home. Even assuming that her conclusion was wrong, a party is not entitled to re-open a judgment based on facts that the party could have learned. And even assuming that she had received bad legal advice, a mistake of law is not grounds to re-open a judgment.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals held that there had been no abuse of discretion, and that the trial court should be affirmed. The Court went on to hold that the appeal had been frivolous, and that the husband was entitled to his costs and attorney fees.
No. M2012-02558-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 24, 2013).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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