Both Parties Entitled to Attorney Fees in Drawn Out Divorce

The parties in this Williamson County, Tennessee, case were married in 1988 and divorced in 2013.  They entered into a marital dissolution agreement (MDA) under which the wife would receive transitional alimony until 70.  The home was to be sold and split evenly.  The MDA also provided for attorney’s fees to the successful party in proceedings to enforce the agreement.

In 2020, the wife filed a petition for contempt, in which she alleged that the husband hadn’t paid her half of the proceeds of the house sale, as well as child support.  The husband admitted that he owed money, but the parties couldn’t agree to the amount.

In 2021, the husband tendered payment of over $380,000, and the wife filed a voluntary dismissal of the contempt petition.  But the wife didn’t acknowledge that this was the full amount owed.  Therefore, the husband brought a declaratory judgment petition to determine the amount.

The husband scheduled the deposition of the wife, but she failed to show.  Therefore, he filed the first of several motions for sanctions.  The court ordered her to appear, and when she didn’t, the husband filed for default and summary judgment.  The wife filed a counterclaim at this time, asking for the proceeds of the house sale.

Eventually, the wife appeared for her deposition.  Based upon her testimony, the husband filed a motion to suspend alimony on the grounds that the wife was cohabitating.

Eventually, the parties agreed that the husband owed an additional $5700.  It also held that the husband was entitled to attorney’s fees of over $50,000.  Ultimately, the husband was awarded a judgment for $47,000.  After some more proceedings in the trial court, the wife appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The wife argued that she was the successful party in both the declaratory judgment action and the petition to modify alimony.  Therefore, she asserted that she was entitled to attorney’s fees.  She also argued that she should not have been ordered to pay attorney’s fees as a discovery sanction.

The appeals court first determined whether the declaratory judgment action was appropriate for attorney’s fees.  Under the MDA, fees were available only for “legal proceedings to enforce” the MDA.

But the appeals court noted that a petition for declaratory judgment is not done to enforce, but merely to proclaim the rights of the litigants.  For this reason, attorney’s fees were not available for that action.

The court then turned to the alimony modification petition.  On this point, it agreed that the wife was the successful party.  Under a recent Tennessee Supreme Court case, a party can be found to be a successful party, even though the other party voluntarily dismissed the case.  Therefore, the Court of Appeals held that the wife was entitled to her attorney’s fees in defending this action.  It reversed the lower court’s ruling to the contrary and remanded the case.

Finally, the Court of Appeals turned to the discovery sanctions imposed against the wife.  It held that the lower court had acted within its discretion, and affirmed this portion of the lower court’s decision.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part.

No. M2024-00029-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 23, 2025).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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

To learn more, see Property Division in Tennessee Divorce and view our video Is Tennessee a 50 50 divorce state?