Guzman v. Alvares

• Decision Date: 11 July 2006
• Citation: 205 S.W.3d 375
• Parties: Himelda Fuentes GUZMAN v. Salvador Guzman ALVARES.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

205 S.W.3d 375

Himelda Fuentes GUZMAN v. Salvador Guzman ALVARES.

Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Nashville.

May 5, 2006 Session. Heard at Chattanooga.¹

July 11, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Edward Paul Silva, Franklin, Tennessee, and John D. Kitch, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant-defendant, Salvador Guzman Alvares.

Robert Alden Anderson, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee-plaintiff, Himelda Fuentes Guzman.

OPINION

JANICE M. HOLDER, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM M. BARKER, C.J., and E. RILEY ANDERSON, ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., and CORNELIA A. CLARK, JJ., joined.

We granted review in this divorce action to determine whether the parties entered into a bigamous marriage and, if so, whether the doctrine of marriage by estoppel applies. The wife also contests the trial court's computation of child support. We conclude that the parties entered into a void, bigamous marriage to which the doctrine of marriage by estoppel does not apply. We, however, are unable to ascertain from the record the basis for the trial court's computation of child support. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

On April 4, 1982, the plaintiff, Himelda Fuentes Guzman ("Ms. Guzman"), and Lorenzo Leon Covarrubias ("Mr. Covarrubias") married in a civil ceremony in Jalisco, Mexico. Pursuant to Mexican law, their participation in the civil ceremony created a legal marriage. In accordance with the custom of members of the Catholic Church in Mexico, Ms. Guzman and Mr. Covarrubias also planned to participate in a church ceremony, which was scheduled for a later date. Following the civil ceremony but before the church ceremony, Ms. Guzman and Mr. Covarrubias engaged in an argument that resulted in their separation. They never lived together as husband and wife.

Mr. Covarrubias filed for divorce on September 24, 1985. Upon receiving notice of the action to terminate the marriage, Ms. Guzman went to the court in Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico, where court personnel informed her that her marriage would be annulled. On April 2, 1986, the Court of First Justice in Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico, granted the divorce. In accordance with the law in Jalisco, Mexico, the divorce matter was referred for automatic review to the Supreme Court of Jalisco. On March 6, 1987, the Supreme Court of Jalisco entered a final decree that included an order prohibiting Ms. Guzman from remarrying for two years after the issuance of the decree. Court documents regarding the divorce were mailed to Ms. Guzman at an address she had vacated. As a result, Ms. Guzman did not receive copies of the order of divorce or the final decree.

In the meantime, Ms. Guzman met the defendant, Salvador Guzman Alvares² ("Mr. Alvares"), and they began a relationship. Ms. Guzman and Mr. Alvares were married on August 2, 1986, four months after the Court of First Justice granted Mr. Covarrubias' divorce petition and more than seven months before the Supreme Court of Jalisco rendered its decree. The parties participated in both a civil and church ceremony in Jalisco. Ms. Guzman signed various documents indicating that she had not been married previously and that no impediments to her marriage to Mr. Alvares existed. Ms. Guzman also indicated that she was "single" on the parties' marriage certificate.

Mr. Alvares and Ms. Guzman subsequently moved from Mexico to Tennessee where Mr. Alvares became a successful entrepreneur and businessman. He, along with other members of his family, have operated a variety of businesses including Mexican restaurants, farming operations, a radio station, and real estate investments through a collection of corporations and partnerships referred to as the "Guzman Group."

Ms. Guzman primarily served as a homemaker and mother to the parties' four children and assisted with the restaurants on occasion. She does not speak English well and only completed the sixth grade in Mexico. She received some training as a chef while in Mexico, but she has never been employed in that occupation.

Ms. Guzman filed for divorce in March 1995 in Tennessee and indicated in her complaint that she had not been married previously. This divorce action was resolved through an "Agreed Order of Reconciliation" in which the trial court decreed that "the parties may resume living together as husband and wife." In the years following the reconciliation, the parties celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary in Mexico, and their fourth child was born. In 2000, Mr. Alvares and Ms. Guzman purchased new wedding rings and had them blessed by a priest.

In September 2002, Ms. Guzman again filed for divorce from Mr. Alvares alleging adultery, inappropriate marital conduct, and irreconcilable differences. Ms. Guzman indicated in the complaint that she had not been married previously. Mr. Alvares filed an answer and counterclaim for annulment based upon Ms. Guzman's prior subsisting marriage and attached a copy of the decree of divorce between Ms. Guzman and Mr. Covarrubias issued by the Supreme Court of Jalisco.

Ms. Guzman maintained she was unaware of the circumstances surrounding her divorce to Mr. Covarrubias until Mr. Alvares filed the counterclaim. Ms. Guzman amended her complaint to reflect her prior marriage. At trial, Ms. Guzman testified that Mr. Alvares was aware of her prior marriage and instructed her to indicate that she had not been married previously on the document that the parties signed prior to their marriage. Mr. Alvares denied Ms. Guzman's contention.

The trial court found that although evidence was presented indicating that Mr. Alvares was aware of Ms. Guzman's prior marriage, the proof did not establish that either party knew that Ms. Guzman's prior marriage subsisted at the time of their wedding. The trial court declared a marriage by estoppel, granted Ms. Guzman a divorce on the ground of adultery, divided the parties' marital estate, and ordered Mr. Alvares to pay child support.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment except with respect to the trial court's division of the marital estate. We granted review.

ANALYSIS

A. Marriage by Estoppel

Except as restricted by constitutional provisions, the inception, duration, status, conditions, and termination of a marriage in Tennessee are subject to state legislative power and control. Crawford v. Crawford, 198 Tenn. 9, 277 S.W.2d 389, 391 (1955); see Martin v. Coleman, 19 S.W.3d 757, 760 (Tenn.2000). Commonlaw marriages are not recognized in Tennessee. Martin, 19 S.W.3d at 760. Our state's legislature also prohibits bigamous marriages. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-3-102 (2005) ("A second marriage cannot be contracted before the dissolution of the first."). Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-3-306 (2005) further provides that "[n]o marriage shall be valid, whether consummated by ceremony or otherwise, if the marriage is prohibited in this state."

Mr. Alvares maintains the parties' marriage should be annulled because Ms. Guzman's divorce from Mr. Covarrubias had not been finalized when the parties were married and that, as a result, the parties entered into a bigamous marriage. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-4-119 (1996);³ see also Emmit v. Emmit, 174 S.W.3d 248, 252 (Tenn.Ct.App.2005) (holding that a trial court may annul a bigamous marriage). To protect the institution of marriage in Tennessee, regularly solemnized marriages are presumed to be valid. Aghili v. Saadatnejadi, 958 S.W.2d 784, 789 (Tenn.Ct. App.1997). Furthermore, in cases involving a subsequent marriage, courts presume that the previous marriage ended in divorce. Emmit, 174 S.W.3d at 252. These presumptions are not conclusive and may be rebutted. See id.; Duggan v. Ogle, 25 Tenn.App. 467, 159 S.W.2d 834, 838 (1941). As the party challenging the validity of the marriage, Mr. Alvares bears the burden of rebutting the presumptions by providing "cogent and convincing" evidence that the marriage between him and Ms. Guzman is invalid. See Aghili, 958 S.W.2d at 789.

At trial, Mr. Alvares presented a copy of the decree of divorce between Ms. Guzman and Mr. Covarrubias issued by the Supreme Court of Jalisco on March 6, 1987, more than seven months after Mr. Alvares and Ms. Guzman were married. Both Javier Leon, an attorney in Mexico who testified as an expert witness for Ms. Guzman, and Salvador Villa Curiel, an attorney and family law professor in Mexico who testified as an expert witness for Mr. Alvares, stated that the divorce was not final until the Supreme Court of Jalisco rendered its decree.⁴ Therefore, Mr. Alvares has established that when he and Ms. Guzman married, Ms. Guzman's divorce from Mr. Covarrubias was not final and she was still legally married to Mr. Covarrubias.

Furthermore, there is no evidence indicating that the parties entered into a lawful marriage after Ms. Guzman's divorce from Mr. Covarrubias was final. Neither the Order of Reconciliation nor the parties' participation in a ceremony during which a priest blessed their wedding rings created a legally binding marriage. Accordingly, Mr. Alvares has rebutted the presumption that the parties' marriage was valid and has presented evidence sufficient to establish that their marriage was bigamous.

We next examine whether a marriage in this case can be created by estoppel. In a case of marriage by estoppel, the marriage is presumed to be valid even though it is not technically lawful. Crawford, 277 S.W.2d at 391. Marriage by estoppel is invoked "to prevent fraud as well as to preserve the rights of innocent third persons who would be adversely affected by the conduct of the parties." Id. This doctrine is applicable only in exceptional circumstances. Martin, 19 S.W.3d at 760.

When one of the parties to the purported marriage seeks to invoke the doctrine of marriage by estoppel in a case against the other party to the marriage, this Court has...