Property Husband Purchased Day After Wedding Remains Separate
Tennessee case summary on property division in divorce.
Property bought by husband the day after wedding remains separate property.
David E. Tate v. Felicia M. Tate
The husband and wife in this Rutherford County case were married in 2020. The husband bought property the day after their wedding. They lived there throughout the short marriage. The wife did not sign the promissory note for the property, nor did she have any other obligations.
Shortly after making the purchase, the husband sold off his other property, paid off the loan, and deposited the balance into his separate bank account.
Before the marriage, the wife owned another property which she sold after the marriage. She deposited the proceeds in her separate account.
Less that two years after the marriage, the husband filed divorce.
The husband testified that he had made small contributions to the value of the property but that most of it was due to market forces.
The court ruled that the property belonged to the husband. I
n addition, the court noted that marriages of short duration are appropriate in these cases. It is also appropriate to return the parties to the position they would be in if the marriage had not occurred. The appeals court addressed a procedural question before tackling the classification of the marital home. The court relied on this fact to agree with the lower court that the property was separate when acquired. The wife, however, argued that the asset had become marital because of commingling. The appeals court, however, was quick to note that both parties continued to maintain separate bank accounts. Overall, the evidence was not overwhelming against the lower court’s ruling. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
They also assessed the wife’s costs of appeal.No. M2022-01438-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. Legal citations omitted. Legal citations have been omitted.
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