Lattimore v. Lattimore
Decision Date | 12 April 2019 |
Docket Number | No. M2018-00557-COA-R3-CV,M2018-00557-COA-R3-CV |
Parties | PATRICIA GAY PATTERSON LATTIMORE v. JAMES S. LATTIMORE, JR. |
Court | Tennessee Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Williamson County
This appeal arises from a post-divorce proceeding wherein the wife filed a petition requesting that the trial court hold the husband in civil contempt due to his noncompliance with the alimony provision in the parties' marital dissolution agreement ("MDA") and enter a judgment in favor of the wife representing the alimony arrearage and statutory interest. Following a bench trial, the trial court dismissed the wife's petition without entering a monetary judgment against the husband, upon finding that although the husband had violated the alimony provision of the MDA, his failure to pay was not willful. The trial court also denied the wife's request for attorney's fees. Having determined that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's finding, we conclude that the husband's failure to comply with the alimony provision was willful. Upon further determination that the trial court erred in dismissing the wife's petition for civil contempt and a monetary award, we reverse.
THOMAS R. FRIERSON, II, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which ANDY D. BENNETT and RICHARD H. DINKINS, JJ., joined.
David W. Garrett and Jacob T. Thorington, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, Patricia Gay Patterson Lattimore.
Angela Hoover, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellee, James S. Lattimore, Jr.
OPINIONThe parties, James S. Lattimore, Jr. ("Husband") and Patricia Gay Patterson Lattimore ("Wife"), were divorced on September 6, 1994, in the Williamson County Circuit Court ("trial court"). In the divorce decree, the trial court approved and incorporated the parties' MDA. As relevant to the current appeal, the MDA provides as follows:
(Paragraph numbering omitted.)
In a previous post-divorce action, Wife filed a "Petition for Criminal Contempt" in the trial court on June 5, 2009, alleging that Husband had failed to comply with the MDA due to one missed alimony payment in May 2009, failed to provide medical insurance for Wife, and failed to provide documentation of the required life insurance policy identifying Wife as the beneficiary. Wife requested that Husband be (1) held in criminal contempt; (2) ordered to reimburse her $4,000.00 for the May 2009 alimony payment, in addition to any further arrearage to accumulate prior to the final hearing; (3) ordered to reimburse her for medical insurance payments; and (4) ordered to provide evidence that he had maintained the life insurance policy. Husband filed an answer, denying that he willfully failed to comply with the MDA's provisions. According to Husband, he was unable to make his alimony payments to Wife because his health had declined, he was unable to work on a full-time basis, and he had retired. Husband further denied that he had failed to provide medical insurance for Wife or that he was required to maintain a life insurance policy with Wife as beneficiary.
Following a bench trial conducted on January 12, 2012, the trial court found that Husband had not paid alimony to Wife since April 2009 and that his failure to pay was willful. The trial court also determined that Husband had "purposely transferred majorassets into the name of his current wife, Joan Carol (Joey) Lattimore, in an attempt to avoid paying his alimony and other financial obligations as required by the [MDA]."1 The trial court ultimately found Husband guilty of one count of criminal contempt for failure to provide proof of the life insurance policy, thirty-three counts of criminal contempt due to his failure to pay alimony as required by the MDA, and thirty-six counts of criminal contempt for Husband's failure to provide Wife's medical insurance.
In this prior action, the trial court sentenced Husband on August 17, 2012, to ten days' incarceration for failing to pay alimony, ten days' incarceration for failing to provide medical insurance for Wife, and ten days' incarceration for failing to maintain a life insurance policy with Wife designated as the beneficiary. The aforementioned sentences were to be served consecutively for a total of thirty days. The trial court also entered a monetary judgment in favor of Wife, representing Husband's unpaid arrearages and statutory interest that had accumulated through August 16, 2012. Determining that by the time of trial Husband had failed to pay thirty-three monthly alimony payments, the trial court granted a judgment against Husband in the amount of $132,000.00 plus statutory interest. Additionally, upon its finding that Husband had failed to provide Wife with medical insurance or reimburse Wife for the thirty-six premium payments she had made, the trial court entered a judgment in favor of Wife for $6,120.00 plus statutory interest. The trial court further awarded to Wife her reasonable attorney's fees in the cause. Husband subsequently filed a motion for new trial, which was denied by the trial court.
Husband appealed the trial court's judgment to this Court. On appeal, this Court reversed all but three counts of contempt upon a determination that Husband was only provided with notice of three counts of criminal contempt-one count for failure to pay alimony, one count for failure to provide medical insurance for Wife, and one count for failure to provide documentation to Wife evincing the requisite life insurance policy. See Lattimore v. Lattimore, No. M2012-02674-COA-R3-CV, 2013 WL 5773418, at *4-5 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 24, 2013), perm. app. denied but designated not for citation (Tenn. Apr. 11, 2014) ("Lattimore I").2 This Court affirmed the trial court's judgment as to the counts of criminal contempt, determining that sufficient evidence supported the trial court's findings beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at *6. Regarding the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court explained:
Id. This Court further awarded to Wife her attorney's fees incurred during the appeal. Id. at *7.
Wife commenced the instant action by filing a "Petition for Civil Contempt and for Judgment" on June 19, 2014, alleging that...
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