Court’s Lien Against Property Not Void for Lack of Jurisdiction

The father in this Williamson County, Tennessee case was a California resident, and filed a petition to domesticate and modify a California child-custody decree, as the children lived in Tennessee with the mother.  As part of the proceeding, the Tennessee court issued an injunction prohibiting the father from transferring real property he owned in Nashville.  The final decree was issued modifying the parenting plan.  Both the mother and guardian ad litem were awarded judgments against the father.  No appeal was filed.

A few months later, one of the properties was foreclosed, and the condo association filed an interpleader action, asking permission to pay the resulting funds into the court.  The mother and guardian ad litem then asked to release the funds to them in partial satisfaction of their judgments.  At this point, the father argued that the earlier order granting the lien was void as a matter of law, as was the order granting the interpleader motion.  The trial court disagreed and released the funds.  The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

A judgment is void if the court lacked jurisdiction, or if it was wholly outside of the pleadings.  But as the appeals court pointed out, a judgment is not void merely because it may have been erroneous.

The appeals court pointed out that the father initiated the underlying case, and the court had personal jurisdiction over the parties. 

The father argued that the lien order was void because the court lacked proper statutory authority.  But the appeals court pointed out that errors rendering a judgment void must be apparent from the face of the judgment.  If additional proof is required, then the judgment is merely voidable, and not void.

In this case, the appeals court noted that the father’s argument required additional proof.  Therefore, the judgment was merely voidable, and not void.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals held that the lower court acted properly.  It did, however, decline the mother’s request for attorney’s fees on appeal.  The lower court’s judgment was therefore affirmed.

No. M2022-01712-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan 6, 2025).

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

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee and our video, How is child custody determined in Tennessee?