Tennessee case abstract on property division classification and transmutation in divorce.
Wanda Sue Binkley v. Allen Dale Binkley
Enterprise Property, Even when Reward to Spouse, Transmuted to Marital Property
The husband and spouse on this Montgomery County, Tennessee, case had been married in 1986. The spouse filed for divorce in 2017, and the case went to trial earlier than Choose Ted A. Crozier late that yr. After a post-trial movement, the spouse appealed to the Tennessee Courtroom of Appeals. She argued that the decrease court docket had erred in classifying industrial property as marital.
There have been two adjoining parcels that had been conveyed to the spouse by her mom in 2002. In accordance with the spouse, solely one of many parcels was bought. The opposite one, she alleged, was given as a present. After receiving the property, the spouse operated her cosmetology enterprise there. The husband argued that the acquisition worth, $25,000, was for each parcels, and that neither of them was a present. He additionally alleged that marital property had been used for the maintenance of the properties.
The appeals court docket started its overview of the case by noting that one of many parcels was conveyed by guarantee deed, with a purchase order worth of $25,000 listed. The alleged reward was, nonetheless, conveyed by give up declare deed, and acknowledged that the consideration was $0.
The husband identified that there was a mortgage secured by each properties for the acquisition cash. Nevertheless, the appeals court docket held that this issue alone didn’t assist the declare that the property was marital.
The appeals court docket held that the completely different therapy of the 2 parcels made clear that one in every of them was a present.
This didn’t finish the case, nonetheless, for the reason that appeals court docket subsequent turned to the difficulty of transmutation. The husband argued that comingled funds had been used over time to keep up the property and pay taxes. The spouse testified that enterprise revenue from her enterprise was used, however the appeals court docket identified that she failed to supply data exhibiting this. Due to this fact, the appeals court docket agreed with the decrease court docket that the property was marital, on the grounds of transmutation.
For these causes, the Courtroom of Appeals affirmed the decrease court docket’s ruling and taxed the prices of enchantment towards the spouse.
No. M2018-02251-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 22, 2020).
See authentic opinion for precise language. Authorized citations omitted.
To be taught extra, see Transmutation in Tennessee Property Division Divorce Law.
