TN Wife Can’t Be Held In Contempt For Falling Behind on Home Equity Loan

Tennessee case summary on divorce agreement enforcement.

The husband and wife in this Tennessee case were divorced in 2012 after they entered into a marital dissolution agreement and parenting plan. Under the decree, the wife was to receive the marital home in Brentwood, and she agreed to pay all indebtedness and hold the husband harmless.

In 2014, the husband asked the court to hold the wife in contempt, and alleged that the equity line of credit was delinquent and due in full. As a result, the husband paid a portion of the debt. The wife answered, and also asked the court to modify the original decree.

The trial court found the wife in civil contempt, but declined to find her in criminal contempt, since it found that the wife was unable to cure the default. The husband was given a judgment in the amount of $2,010, the amount he had paid on the line of credit. Finally, the court ordered the property sold and granted the husband his attorney’s fees. The wife then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

On appeal, the court focused on whether the wife’s conduct had been willful, since this is one of the elements of civil contempt. In this case, the trial court had made a finding that the wife’s conduct did not rise to the level of criminal contempt, because she had no ability to make the back payments. The appeals court held that this meant that the wife’s conduct was not willful for purposes of civil contempt. For that reason, it set aside the contempt finding.

The appeals court then turned to the issue of whether the trial court could order the sale of the house. The trial court had based its ruling on equitable principles, and had found that the husband had no other remedy available. But the Court of Appeals disagreed with this ruling. It found that the proper course of action would have been for the husband to bring a breach of contract action, and that this would have been the proper remedy. For that reason, it also set aside the sale of the house.

Since the wife prevailed on appeal, the Court of Appeals also set aside the award of attorney’s fees to the husband.

No. M2014-02302-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 21, 2016).

See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Property Division in Tennessee Divorce.