Shackleford v. Shackleford

• Decision Date: 26 November 1980
• Citation: 611 S.W.2d 598
• Parties: Ruby SHACKLEFORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Claude Willard SHACKLEFORD, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

Page 598

611 S.W.2d 598

Ruby SHACKLEFORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Claude Willard SHACKLEFORD, Defendant-Appellee.

Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Middle Section.

Nov. 26, 1980 Certiorari Denied by Supreme Court Feb. 23, 1981.

F. Dulin Kelly, Hendersonville, for plaintiff-appellant.

Harry McNutt, W. H. Stephenson, II, Nashville, for defendant-appellee.

OPINION

CANTRELL, Judge.

This appeal involves a question of the equitable division of the parties marital estate where the wife was awarded a divorce on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. In addition, the appellant raises an issue of the payment of attorney's fees where she is not awarded any liquid assets as her share of the property.

The plaintiff and defendant were married in 1946 and raised two children. Defendant was engaged in the automobile business in one capacity or another for several years and in 1959 owned a Buick agency in Madison, Tennessee. The business at that time was failing and the defendant suffered from a mental breakdown; consequently, he sold the agency and went off to Savannah, Tennessee for two years to operate a restaurant. During this period of time the appellant, Mrs. Shackleford, opened a clothing store in Gallatin, Tennessee and supported herself and her two children from the income derived from that business. For a substantial period of time she was the primary support for the family. During the 1960's the financial fortunes of the parties took a turn for the better and they began to accumulate property. By the time of the divorce they had a total estate of approximately $392,000.00. After operating for ten years Mrs. Shackleford closed her store and began taking care of the parties' rental property in Gallatin called the Jones Building. The parties had also acquired eight house trailers and the land on which they were located which were operated as rental property. For approximately two years prior to the divorce Mrs. Shackleford had managed this property as well. Now, because of her age and physical condition, she is unable to get gainful employment.

Mr. Shackleford acquired a sixty percent interest in a liquor store in Gallatin in 1968. His share of the profit for each year has always been greater than $20,000.00 and has been as high as $30,000.00. Other major assets owned by the parties at the time of the divorce include a farm in Trousdale County having a value of $150,000.00 and the home of the parties valued at $62,500.00, with a $15,000.00 mortgage.

The Trial Court awarded Mrs. Shackleford a divorce on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment, divided the property and ordered each party to pay his or her attorney's fee. The Court's Memorandum Opinion outlined the division of the property:

"The testimony showed that the plaintiff had worked and helped accumulate all of the properties which they now own and that she is entitled to a substantial portion of said property. The Court hereby awards to the plaintiff in fee simple the title to the home property where the parties live, the value of which is Sixty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($62,500.00), subject to a mortgage of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) which the plaintiff must assume, household goods and furnishings of a market value of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00), one cub lawn mower, Seven Hundred Dollars ($700.00), a metal shed, One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), her jewelry, Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00), and the automobile which she is now driving, Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00).

The parties jointly own a farm in Trousdale County, Tennessee, valued at One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00). It is the opinion of the Court that the plaintiff is entitled to one-half of this value, and it is therefore ordered that the farm be sold and the proceeds divided equally between the parties. The remaining property consisting of the Jones Building, lots on Bledsoe, Locust, Ross, Winchester, and Foster Streets be vested in the defendant, the house trailers, the camper, the notes receivable, the defendant's interest in the Gallatin Liquor Store, the farm equipment, the automobile which he is now driving, the gun collection, and the lawn mower be vested in the defendant."

The value of the property, real and personal, given to Mrs. Shackleford, less the mortgage on the home, amounted to approximately $144,200.00; the value of the property given to Mr. Shackleford, less the amount due on a personal note on which he is obligated, amounted to approximately $248,661.00. In addition, Mr. Shackleford got all the property that produced an income, the trailers, the Jones Building, and the liquor store. The income generated from these assets is approximately $50,000.00 per year. Mrs. Shackleford complains of the Court's award and comes to this Court for relief.

There are no hard and fast rules which will guarantee that the parties to a divorce will get a fair share of their property on dissolution...