Watson v. Watson

309 S.W.3d 483, 2009 Tenn. App. LEXIS 906, 2009 WL 1464132
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedAugust 6, 2009
DocketW2007-02735-COA-R3-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by80 cases

This text of 309 S.W.3d 483 (Watson v. Watson) 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
Watson v. Watson, 309 S.W.3d 483, 2009 Tenn. App. LEXIS 906, 2009 WL 1464132 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

HOLLY M. KIRBY, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which ALAN E. HIGHERS, P.J., W.S, and J. STEVEN STAFFORD, J., joined.

This is the second appeal in this divorce case. The husband is a lawyer and the wife was a homemaker during most of the marriage. After the divorce trial, the trial court divided the marital estate, awarded the wife transitional alimony, and ordered each party to pay his or her own attorney’s fees. The wife appealed and the husband cross-appealed. In the first appeal, the appellate court reversed the trial court’s valuation of two marital assets, stock and a corporation, and remanded for the trial court to re-value those assets. In addition, the trial court’s decision regarding the husband’s alleged dissipation of marital assets was reversed, and that issue was remanded to the trial court for reconsideration as well. The issues raised on alimony and attorney’s fees were not addressed in the first appeal. On remand, the trial court found a debt owed by the corporation to the husband was uncollectible and determined that the value of the corporation was zero. The trial court adjusted the valuation of the wife’s interest in the stock and engaged in a detailed analysis of the husband’s alleged dissipation of marital assets, finding no dissipation. On remand, the wife sought an award of alimony in futuro. The trial court declined to award alimony in futuro but awarded the wife an additional year of transitional alimony. Finally, the trial court declined the wife’s request for her attorney’s fees. Both parties now appeal. We affirm the trial court’s finding that the husband did not engage in dissipation, affirm the trial court’s increased property award to the wife, reflecting her interest in the stock, reverse the trial court’s finding that the value of the corporation is zero, and remand to the trial court for valuation of the corporation and division of that asset, modify the trial court’s award of alimony by awarding the wife alimony in futuro when the transitional alimony ends, affirm the trial court’s refusal to award the wife her [488]*488attorney’s fees, and order the award of post-judgment interest on the wife’s increased property award from the stock, dating from the date of the judgment on remand.

Facts and PROCEDURAL History

This is the second appeal in the divorce of Plaintiff/Appellant Carol Ann Vick Watson (“Wife”) and Defendant/Appellee Frank Lee Watson, Jr. (“Husband”). The facts in this case are more fully set forth in our first opinion. See Watson v. Watson, No. W2004-01014-COA-R3-CV, 2005 WL 1882413 (Tenn.Ct.App. Aug. 9, 2005).

Wife filed the initial complaint for divorce and Husband counterclaimed. At the time of the divorce trial below, Husband was sixty-three years old and Wife was fifty-six years old. Husband is a shareholder with the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkow-itz, earning in the range of $800,000 per year. Wife had been employed as a securities and commodities trader some twenty years earlier, but upon the parties’ agreement quit to stay home and care for the parties’ learning-disabled son. The parties’ marital assets included the marital home, ten units of Vining Sparks IBG stock, and a corporation owned by Husband, Randell Corporation. During the marriage, Husband became romantically involved with a paralegal in his law firm; Wife asserted that Husband’s expenditures related to this relationship were a dissipation of marital assets.

After the trial, the trial court filed its findings of fact and conclusions of law on February 17, 2004, and entered the final decree of divorce on March 17, 2004. The trial court, inter alia, divided the marital estate and awarded Wife transitional alimony in the amount of $6,000 per month for the first three years and $3,000 per month for the next three years. Each party was ordered to pay his or her own attorney’s fees. Wife appealed the trial court’s decision and Husband cross-appealed.

In the first appeal, the trial court’s valuation of a marital asset, Randell Corporation,1 was reversed, and the issue was remanded. Id. at *14. Specifically, the trial court was asked to consider on remand the value of a receivable asset of Husband in the form of a debt owed by Randell Corporation to Husband. Id. In the first appeal, it was noted that the report of the special master appointed by the trial court to make a recommendation on Randell Corporation showed a negative asset value for Randell Corporation of approximately negative $119,000. Id. at *9. The negative value was predicated on Randell Corporation’s indebtedness to Husband in the amount of approximately $419,000; however, the trial court did not include the receivable as an asset of Husband. Id. This was found erroneous and reconsideration was directed on remand.

The trial court’s valuation of another marital asset, Vining Sparks IBG stock was also reversed. Id. at *14. In determining the net value of the stock, the trial court deducted the tax consequences of a sale of the stock, despite Husband’s testimony that he did not intend to sell the stock but would instead borrow the money to pay Wife for her interest in it. Id. at *10.

The trial court’s decision relating to Husband’s alleged dissipation of marital property was reversed on appeal as well. Id. at *14. After the divorce trial, the trial [489]*489court determined that any dissipation of marital assets by Husband would not be considered in the distribution of the marital estate, noting that during the time period in which Husband allegedly dissipated marital funds, he provided monies to Wife that exceeded the amount allegedly dissipated. Id. at *12. The appellate court interpreted this as indicating that the dissipated marital funds would not be considered because of the monies Husband provided to Wife during the separation. This reasoning was found to be erroneous, and the issue was remanded for the trial court to analyze Husband’s alleged dissipation in accordance with this Court’s opinion in Ward v. Ward, No. W2001-01078-COA-R3-CV, 2002 WL 31845229 (Tenn.Ct.App. Dec. 19, 2002). Watson, 2005 WL 1882413, at *14. Finally, because the case had been remanded for reconsideration of issues affecting the distribution of marital property, the appellate court declined to address issues relating to the alimony award to Wife or the trial court’s refusal to award her attorney’s fees. Id.

On November 6, 2007, the trial court entered its findings and order on remand. The trial court recognized the $419,000 loan to Randell as a receivable of Husband, but determined that Randell was unable to pay Husband the $419,000 it owed him. It found that selling Randell’s assets to satisfy its indebtedness to Husband would cost more than $300,000 in taxes, closing costs, and real estate brokerage fees. This meant that, upon liquidation, Randell would have a negative value, and there would be no money to pay Husband. In light of this finding, the trial court reaffirmed its prior determination that the value of Randell was zero and that Randell was unable to pay Husband the $419,000 debt. As to the Vining Sparks IBG stock, the trial court adjusted its valuation of one-half of the stock from a net value of $38,500 to $51,500. This new value included the $13,000 that the trial court had previously deducted as a tax consequence of selling one-half of the units of stock.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
309 S.W.3d 483, 2009 Tenn. App. LEXIS 906, 2009 WL 1464132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/watson-v-watson-tennctapp-2009.