Property registered in the name of the husband is deemed to be marital
Tennessee case summary on property classification in divorce.
Property held to be marital, even though titled in name of husband.
Kathleen Nell Snapp v. Timothy Alva Snapp
The parties in this Sullivan County, Tennessee, case divorced after over two decades of marriage. The husband owned property where he lived in his mobile home prior to the marriage. During the marriage a house was built on the property. The main issue in this case was whether or not the property belonged to the husband as separate property.
The court ruled that the property belonged to the couple. The court found that the wife’s planning and work on her house had contributed to its value and appreciation. The court also noted that both parties had used their marital credit cards to make many of the improvements. The court awarded the wife a 50% interest in the property and the husband appealed.
It was also noted that separate property can become marital by the doctrine of transformation. The use of the property for marital purposes is a key factor in determining whether transmutation occurred. In this case, the parties had used the property as their residence for over twenty years, so this factor strongly favored transmutation.In this case, the wife had also made contributions to the maintenance of the property, another factor that favored a finding of transmutation. Since the parties used their credit cards to fund the property, this factor also favored transmutation.
The only factor that was contrary was the fact that the property was titled in the name of the husband and his father.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that the property had transmuted. The Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that the property had transmuted.
