Marital Debts are Joint if Incurred During the Marriage in TN Divorce
Tennessee law case summary on marital debt in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.
Chris Eric Strickland v. Pennye Danielle Strickland – bankruptcy and divorce in Tennessee
This is a case regarding bankruptcy proceedings that took place prior to divorce, raising the question of the status of the remaining debts as either marital or separate property.
The wife, Pennye Danielle Strickland, and the husband, Chris Eric Strickland, were married in May 2003. In August 2008, after five years of marriage, the father filed for divorce. The case continued over the next three and a half years. During that time, the wife filed for bankruptcy, and all of her debts were erased, before the divorce was granted in 2012. The court found that as a result, the husband was left with all of the unsecured debts from the marriage, which included a loan for the husband’s car, mortgage payments and several credit card payments. The lower court held that the wife’s debts were marital debts, thereby reducing the amount of marital assets she was entitled to receive. The wife appealed this ruling.
On appeal, the wife argued that her debts that were discharged should not have been considered marital debts. By holding them as marital debts, her share of the marital estate was unfairly reduced and indirectly, she was held liable a second time, for the debts. She also argued that the debts are “separate” debts, but she provided no legal support for this claim.
The appeals court agreed with the trial court. According to the law, marital debts are all debts incurred by either spouse during the course of the marriage, prior to the date of the final divorce hearing. The wife’s debts were incurred during the marriage. Although the wife’s debts were wiped out when she filed for bankruptcy, there was still marital debt left that became the husband’s responsibility. These, however, are still marital debts. The wife gave no legal source for her claim that since her debts were discharged, the remaining debts became the husband’s alone. Therefore, the court upheld the lower court’s finding that these debts were marital in nature and the responsibility of both the husband and the wife.
No. M2012-00603-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 21, 2012).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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