Wife Entitled to Attorney’s Fees Even If Violation Unintentional

Tennessee case summary on attorney’s fees for enforcement after divorce.

Samuel Lee Bachelor, Jr. v. Aja Michele Bachelor n/k/a Aja Michele Burrell

The husband and wife in this Shelby County, Tennessee, case were married in Puerto Rico in 2010.  They had no children and separated in 2017.  They entered into a marital dissolution agreement, and this was incorporated into their 2019 divorce decree.

The wife was awarded half of the value of the husband’s retirement account, and had provisions related to health insurance, which had previously been covered by the husband’s employer.  The husband was also ordered to maintain a life insurance policy naming the wife as the beneficiary and provide proof of coverage to the wife on an annual basis.

Later that year, the wife filed a motion for contempt on the grounds that the husband had failed to procure the insurance policy and provide proof of coverage.  She also alleged that he failed to provide documentation required regarding the pension plan.  She also asked for attorney’s fees of $3,500.

The trial court, Judge James F. Russell, denied the motion for contempt.  While the court found that there had been no compliance, the failure to provide the documents in a timely manner was not willful or intentional.  The wife then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

On appeal, the wife pointed to a provision of the marital termination agreement that called for attorney’s fees for any breach or noncompliance.  She argued that this provision controlled, regardless of the husband’s intent.

The appeals court agreed.  It called the contract provision regarding attorney fees to be clear and unambiguous, since it called for an award of fees to the “non-defaulting” party.  The wife hadn’t defaulted on the agreement in any way, so she was entitled to her fees.

The wife also asked for her fees for the appeal.  The court cited an earlier case holding that if the agreement is valid and enforceable, then it included the attorney’s fees on appeal as well.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s order and remanded the case.  On remand, the lower court was ordered to compute the amount of the wife’s attorney fees for the appeal.

No. W2020-00516-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 21,  2021).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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