Hardin v. Hardin

979 S.W.2d 314, 1998 Tenn. App. LEXIS 331
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 19, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 979 S.W.2d 314 (Hardin v. Hardin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hardin v. Hardin, 979 S.W.2d 314, 1998 Tenn. App. LEXIS 331 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

FARMER, Judge.

Defendant Terry Ray Hardin (the Husband) appeals the final decree of divorce entered by the trial court which dissolved the parties’ marriage, distributed their real and personal property, awarded custody of the parties’ two minor sons to PlaintiffiAppellee Catherine Teresa Hardin (the Wife), and ordered the Husband to pay child support. On appeal, the Husband challenges only the trial court’s decision to award custody of the parties’ younger son, Michael, to the Wife and the trial court’s distribution of the equity in the marital home. We affirm.

The parties, both thirty-five years of age, had been married seventeen years at the time of trial. At trial, the Husband acknowledged that he had experienced “a lot of emotional problems,” that he currently was under the care of a psychiatrist, and that he was taking medication to treat his depression. The Husband also acknowledged that the Wife was the primary caretaker of the parties’ two sons and that the Wife was the primary breadwinner throughout the parties’ marriage. Although the Husband downplayed the Wife’s contributions to the home and to the marriage, the Husband admitted that, toward the end of the marriage, he had become a “couch potato.” The Wife was primarily responsible for transporting the parties’ sons to sporting events and practices, for taking them to the pediatrician, dentist, and eye doctor when needed, and for doing the family’s Christmas shopping. When questioned about these contributions, the Husband explained that these duties were “usually the woman’s position” and that he “let” the Wife “buy most of the Christmases.” The Husband admitted that he never had taken the children to their pediatrician and that he had attended only one parent-teacher conference over the years. The Husband explained that he missed many of Michael’s fall baseball games because he had “a little difficulty remembering ... certain things.”

■ The Wife had worked at Blount Memorial Hospital as a medical secretary for the past eight years and was earning in excess of $20,000 per year at the time of trial. In contrast, the Husband was earning about $13,000 as a sales clerk at an auto parts store, although he had an associate’s degree in mechanical engineering and admitted to being underemployed. The Husband also admitted that, during the last four or five years of the parties’ marriage, he did not always deposit his paycheck into the parties’ joint cheeking account, although the Wife did deposit her paycheck into this account. The Wife handled the family’s finances and paid the family’s bills from this cheeking account.

The parties had owned their marital home for approximately eight years. The home originally was built for about $55,000 [316]*316with the Husband’s separate funds, which were a gift from his grandfather. When the house was completed, it was appraised for $83,300. Shortly after moving in, the parties made various improvements to the property, such as paving the driveway, erecting sidewalks, building a deck, and planting flower beds. As with the original construction, the improvements, which cost approximately $10,000, were purchased with the Husband’s separate funds. The Husband acknowledged that both his and the Wife’s names appeared on the deed to the marital home. The Husband also acknowledged that the Wife helped with the construction of the home by assisting the Husband’s grandfather, purchasing supplies when needed, painting, and hanging wallpaper. Despite this testimony, the Husband insisted that the marital home was his separate property and that the Wife was entitled to only one-half of the home’s appreciation. At the time of trial, the home was worth $114,500 and was unencumbered.

On appeal, the Husband first contends that the trial court, based on an incorrect interpretation of Williamson v. Williamson, No. 03A01-9602-DR-00073, 1996 WL 555234 (TennApp. Oct.l, 1996), erred when it equally divided the equity in the marital home. In Williamson, the husband’s parents deeded the marital home to the husband and wife as tenants by the entirety approximately two years prior to the parties’ divorce. Williamson, 1996 WL 555234, at *1. Despite this evidence, the trial court found that the home was a gift to the husband alone and, accordingly, awarded the home to the husband. Id. This court reversed, reasoning:

[T]he gift was to “both spouses during the course of the marriage”. Unless a deed is ambiguous, the intention of the grantor is to be determined from the four corners of his deed, Bennett v. Langham, 214 Tenn. 674, 383 S.W.2d 16 (1964). The record establishes no basis to construe the deed as its clear terms establish a conveyance of the home to both parties. Taking into account relevant circumstances set forth in T.C.A. § 36-4-121, ... we find that as a matter of equity, this marital property should be equally divided between the parties.

Id.; see also McClellan v. McClellan, 873 S.W.2d 350, 351 (Tenn.App.1993) (holding that trial court properly classified marital residence as marital property where husband made $20,000 down payment from separate funds acquired through inheritance but agreed to have marital residence titled in both spouses’ names); Barnhill v. Barnhill, 826 S.W.2d 443, 452 (Tenn.App. 1991) (holding that, where spouse acquired real property with separate funds but registered property in names of both spouses as joint tenants, presumption arose that spouse made gift to marital estate).

In equally dividing the equity in the marital home in the present case, the trial court, specifically relying on Williamson, reasoned:

[In Williamson the] Court of Appeals ... said, “No, it was a joint gift and divide the property equally.” ....
... I’m bound by the Williamson case, I believe. You may be able to get a clearer definition of that once I’ve announced my decision. Even though, ... I don’t necessarily think it’s equitable I think I’m bound by that case.
The Court finds that it’s joint marital property. And I will make a finding that all of the money came from Mr. Hardin. And as far as all of the sweat and equity and things building the thing I think as far as their contribution they contributed each to the other. In fact, even if there wasn’t sweat equity put in it as much by her she contributed her part as the time that she was a proper homemaker and housewife during that period of time. Like I said, I don’t necessarily agree with the result that I’m going to give but I think I’m bound by the law to do this. I find the house as joint marital property.

The trial court proceeded to distribute the marital home by granting the Wife a $55,000 judgment lien against the property and by awarding the Husband the remaining $60,-000. This distribution, in effect, divided the property equally because the trial court also ordered the Husband to pay the parties’ Visa credit card balance in the amount of $5,000.

Contrary to the trial court’s interpretation, we do not view Williamson as requiring an equal division of the equity in the [317]*317marital home. Rather, we interpret Williamson

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979 S.W.2d 314, 1998 Tenn. App. LEXIS 331, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hardin-v-hardin-tennctapp-1998.