James Robert (Bo) Hobbs v. Nora Estelle Hobbs, Teresa Windle, and Don Holland
This case involves the conversion of personal property. For several years, the plaintiff son stored various types of equipment in a pole barn located on his mother’s property. The mother decided to sell her property and, in preparation for the sale, she hired the defendant scrap dealer to clear out the pole barn and sell its contents. The scrap dealer cleared out the pole barn and sold the son’s equipment for a total of $657. After the son learned of this, he sued his mother and the scrap dealer, claiming that they converted his property and asserting that the property was worth $22,000 if purchased new. After a trial, the trial court held that the mother and the scrap dealer had converted the son’s equipment, but awarded him $657 in damages, the salvage value of the property. The plaintiff now appeals. We affirm, finding that the son failed to submit proof of the actual value of the property at the time of the conversion. |
Dyer | Court of Appeals | |
Genuine Auto Parts Company v. Convenient Car Care, Inc., Dan Babb Enterprises, Inc., and Dan Babb, Individually
This is a collection action. The defendant corporation owned an automotive repair shop. In order to obtain a line of credit to purchase automobile parts from the plaintiff auto parts supply company, the sole shareholder of the defendant corporation signed a personal guaranty. After the corporation had incurred about $20,000 on its line of credit, the plaintiff supply company filed this lawsuit against the corporation and the individual shareholder to recover that debt. The shareholder argued that, before the debt was incurred, he sold the business to a third party and canceled his personal guaranty on the debt of the corporation. The trial court rejected that argument and entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff against both the corporation and the shareholder. The shareholder now appeals. We affirm, concluding that holding the shareholder liable for the debt of the corporation is appropriate under these circumstances, regardless of whether his personal guaranty remained intact. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Estate of Levesta Measles, Deceased
This is a claim against an estate for personal services rendered to the decedent. The decedent's stepson and his wife provided personal services to the decedent for several years prior to her death. The decedent died intestate, leaving no issue. The decedent's nephew was appointed as administrator of the decedent's estate. The stepson and his wife filed claims against the estate on the theory of implied or quasi contract, seeking reimbursement for the expenses incurred in providing the personal services for the decedent. The decedent's estate filed an exception to those claims. After a hearing, the trial court granted a portion of the stepson's and his wife's claims for personal services, finding that an implied contract existed with the decedent as to those items. The estate now appeals. We reverse, finding that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's finding of an implied contract between the decedent and the claimants that the claimants would be paid for their services at the time the services were rendered. |
Warren | Court of Appeals | |
Estate of Charles Thomas McCraw, Deceased v. Joan Likins
This case involves codicils to a will. The decedent died testate. His will included one typed codicil and two handwritten codicils. The typed codicil, pursuant to a marital dissolution agreement, granted the decedent’s former spouse a life estate in his real property with the remainder to their children, and devised all of the personal property to the children as well. The decedent later handwrote two codicils addressing the disposition of certain personal property and debts. After his death, the devisee under the handwritten codicils intervened in the probate proceedings to enforce the codicils. The trial court ruled that the handwritten codicil addressing the personal property violated the marital dissolution agreement and was therefore invalid. It held that the codicil addressing the debt did not violate the marital dissolution agreement and that the estate should pay for the debt, as set forth in the codicil. Other matters remained outstanding, and the trial court, under Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure 54.02, made the order final. Because the outstanding matters could render this Court’s ruling moot, we find that the order was improvidently made final and dismiss the appeal. |
Fayette | Court of Appeals | |
Knoxville Community Development Corporation v. Emanuel Bailey
This case involves a dispute over compensation for property taken by eminent domain. The Knoxville Community Development Corporation insisted that the property was worth only $19,500 and deposited that amount into the court. The landowner claimed it was worth much more. Following a trial, the jury found the fair market value of the property to be $25,700. The landowner appeals, contending that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that they could consider the tax assessment figures in their valuation of the property. We agree, and we reverse the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
Mary Elizabeth Jackson v. Samuel William Bownas, et al.
Blount County -In this boundary dispute between two lot owners in adjacent subdivisions, the trial court relied on an old fence line to establish the boundary and award plaintiff damages for trespass. Given that the deeds and surveys were inconclusive, it is appropriate to look to the most reliable monumentation to establish the line. We affirm. |
Blount | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee ex rel. Debra Mardis v. David Mardis
The Juvenile Court reduced the monthly amount of child support the father was obligated to pay from $345 to $130. The State of Tennessee, acting under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, appealed the trial court's determination. The State argues that the court should have either maintained the father's support obligation at the presumptive level of $345 or deviated downward from the guidelines in accordance with the method enunciated by this court in the case of Casteel v. Casteel. Although the trial court impermissibly used the mother's income as a factor in calculating support, father was entitled to a downward deviation, and the amount awarded was within guiding legal principles. Accordingly, we affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
James Saffles, et al. v. Roger Watson, et al.
The Chancery Court granted Rule 11 sanctions against James Saffles and Connie Saffles (“Plaintiffs”)1 based upon their actions and the resulting delay that occurred after the filing by Roger Watson and Tammy Watson (“Defendants”) of a motion seeking Rule 11 sanctions. We hold that the imposition of Rule 11 sanctions on the grounds relied on by the Chancery Court was error, vacate the grant of Rule 11 sanctions, and remand for a reconsideration of Defendants’ motion for Rule 11 sanctions and a determination of whether the imposition of Rule 11 sanctions is proper based on the grounds raised in the Rule 11 motion. |
Monroe | Court of Appeals | |
Lesley LaPointe Walker v. Kenneth Wayne Walker
Appellant was held in criminal contempt of court for failure to pay alimony. We affirm the action of the trial court and find the appeal to be frivolous. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Cheryl Smith Graves v. Richard C. Graves, Sr.
The sole issue on this appeal is whether the trial court erred in holding that Cheryl Smith Graves ("Wife") is not entitled to post-judgment interest on alimony due her under her judgment of divorce from Richard C. Graves, Sr. ("Husband"), which judgment was entered December 3, 2001, nunc pro tunc August 24, 2001. The trial court premised its judgment on its finding that "[Wife] ha[d] been obstructive in the conclusion of this matter." We hold that Wife is entitled to interest on all alimony payments to the extent that those payments were not timely made. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the trial court. |
Cocke | Court of Appeals | |
Dale Anthony Scott, et al. v. Marion Yarbro, et al.
This appeal involves the ownership of a parcel of real property held by tenants-in-common. After reviewing the trial court’s order and the record, we have determined that the trial court’s order does not constitute a final judgment. Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and the case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. |
Decatur | Court of Appeals | |
Vernon McBride, Jr., et al. v. Barbara Kate Sumrow
This is a will construction case. The decedent died testate in May 2002. In his will, he left certain properties in trust for the benefit of his spouse during her lifetime. The will detailed how the properties were to be distributed in the event his spouse predeceased him. The will did not state how the remainder interest in the properties was to be distributed in the event his spouse survived him. The decedent was survived by his spouse. The co-executors filed a declaratory judgment action to interpret the will. The trial court ruled that the decedent died partially intestate, with the remainder interest in the specific properties passing through the laws of intestate succession. The co-executors of the trust appealed, arguing that the there was an error in the drafting of the will and that the decedent would have wanted the properties to be distributed in the same manner, regardless of whether his spouse predeceased him. We affirm, finding that, under these circumstances, the will Ccannot be reformed and the property must pass through the laws of intestate succession. |
Lauderdale | Court of Appeals | |
In Re: Estate of Joe Mack Russell, Deceased
In this appeal, the Plaintiff argues that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing his suit to contest a will and contends that the trial court should have held the case in abeyance instead. Upon motions of the Plaintiff, the trial court had continued trial of the will contest on two prior occasions to times requested by the Plaintiff. Given this finding and further findings that the Plaintiff never requested that the case be held in abeyance and that the Plaintiff neither filed a motion that the case be continued from the date of trial nor notified the trial court beforehand that he would not be present at trial, we affirm the judgment of the trial court and remand. |
Sullivan | Court of Appeals | |
Bernard L. Graff, et al. v. Walnut Place Subdivision Homeowners' Association, Inc.
Two members of a homeowners' association, the governing body of a planned unit development, filed this complaint alleging that the association, a corporation, was in contempt of the court for its refusal to allow the plaintiffs to inspect corporation records. The trial judge declined to find the corporation in contempt. We affirm. |
Jefferson | Court of Appeals | |
In the Matter of D.B. (d.o.b. 6/2/01) State of Tennessee Department of Children's Services v. Ramona Bokan and Aire Thomas Dailey
This case is about termination of parental rights. The father was incarcerated, and the mother lived in a mobile home in abysmal conditions, with no telephone and no transportation. The child was born on the floor of the mobile home and hospitalized shortly thereafter. Due to the poor living conditions, the State took custody of the child. Over the next three years, the mother and father worked with the Department of Children’s Services in an attempt to remedy the conditions that prevented the child’s return. These conditions included alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence. The juvenile court found that the parties continued to engage in physical abuse, and that the mother nevertheless continued to live with the father, creating unsafe living conditions for the child. The juvenile court terminated the parental rights of both parents, finding that the conditions that precluded the child’s safe return to the home still persisted after three years and would likely continue. The mother appealed. We affirm, finding that the evidence supports the juvenile court’s finding of persistent conditions. |
Benton | Court of Appeals | |
Marty Kendall v. Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center
Plaintiff appeals the dismissal of her lawsuit as being time barred. Plaintiff timely filed an action for wrongful discharge of her employment. Summons was issued but never served on Defendant. Plaintiff then took a voluntary dismissal but did not serve, nor attempt to serve, a copy of the notice of voluntary dismissal, the order of dismissal or a copy of the initial complaint on Defendant as required by Tenn. R. Civ. P. 41.01. Plaintiff filed this action to revive her claim of wrongful discharge within one year of the voluntary dismissal of her first action but more than one year after termination of her employment. Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss contending that Plaintiff's claims were time barred, which the trial court granted. Plaintiff appealed. We affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Karen Ann Walton v. William Arthur Tice
Karen Ann Walton ("Mother") and William Arthur Tice ("Father") are the parents of a minor child ("the Child"). Mother and Father never married, but joined in filing a Petition for Legitimation averring that Father was the Child's natural parent. In 1994, the Trial Court entered an order finding the child support guidelines inapplicable due to the extensive amount of co-parenting time the Child spent with each parent. In 2003, Mother filed a petition seeking, in part, to modify Father's child support obligation. The case was tried and the Trial Court entered an order finding inter alia, that Father, although unemployed, "has the ability to earn substantial income in the amount of One Hundred and Sixty-Two Thousand Dollars ($162,000) per year and child support shall be set in the Guidelines amount of Two Thousand and Fifteen Dollars ($2,015.00) per month." Father appeals. We affirm. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
Jennifer Rebecca Spurgeon v. Kevin Brooks Spurgeon
Wife appeals a trial court judgment finding that she is not entitled to rehabilitative alimony, back child support, a portion of the husband's "paid time off" accumulated during the marriage and attorney fees. We reverse the trial judge's ruling that the wife is not entitled to rehabilitative alimony and remand the alimony issue to the trial judge to conduct a hearing to ascertain her need for rehabilitation and the husband's ability to pay. We affirm on all other issues. |
Houston | Court of Appeals | |
Denns R. Shepherd v. Ignacio Fregozo and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
Appellant, a Metropolitan Nashville police officer was seriously injured in an on-duty automobile accident when Defendant's vehicle crashed into the rear of his patrol car. Defendant was uninsured. Metropolitan Nashville was self-insured and did not provide uninsured motorist coverage for its patrol officers. Plaintiff named Nationwide as a defendant in an effort to recover under the uninsured motorist provision of the policy issued to him insuring his personal vehicle. Nationwide defended under a policy exclusion involving non-insured vehicles made available for his regular use. The trial court granted summary judgment to Nationwide, and we affirm the action of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Will Shatford v. Smallbusiness.com, Rex Hammock, and Hammock Publishing, Inc.
This case is about fraud and negligent misrepresentation. In the fall of 2000, the plaintiff employee accepted an offer for employment with the defendant's internet company. Approximately three months after the employee began work, the company became insolvent and closed. The employee sued the defendant owner of the internet company, asserting that the company owner made false statements to him regarding the financial strength of the company. The employee sought damages for breach of contract and for fraud and negligent misrepresentation. The employee received a judgment against the company for contract damages related to the employment contract. The company owner then sought summary judgment on the remaining claims of fraud and negligent misrepresentation. The trial court granted the company owner's motion for summary judgment, finding that the employee could not, as a matter of law, establish that he had relied on the company owner's statements that were the basis for the claims of fraud and negligent misrepresentation. The employee appeals. We reverse, finding that the employee's reasonable or justifiable reliance on the statements was a genuine issue of fact and thus summary judgment was not proper. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Carol Ann Pellett Smith v. William Ashby Smith, Jr.
In this post-divorce proceeding, Wife sought an increase in child support based upon Husband's substantial inheritance from his mother. She also sought relief for Husband's alleged breach of the Marital Dissolution Agreement relative to the disposition of property. She further sought child support based upon imputed income of Husband because of voluntary underemployment. Husband appealed the judgment of the trial court. Wife assigned error as to certain findings by the trial court. We affirm as modified herein the judgment of the trial court. |
Williamson | Court of Appeals | |
Hal Gerber v. Virginia Starr Segal
This is the second appeal in an action to collect attorney’s fees. The plaintiff attorney represented the defendant in her divorce action, which lasted from 1996 to 1999. He billed the defendant approximately $100,000 for his services. Over the course of the divorce action, the defendant paid |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Freddie D. Alley v. McLain's Inc. Lumber and Construction, et al.
This case involves the wrongful cutting of timber on the plaintiff’s property. Freddie D. Alley brought this action against McLain’s Inc. Lumber and Construction, which cut and harvested timber from his property after Defendant Stephen Snodgrass falsely represented to McLain’s that he owned the property and wanted to sell the timber. McLain’s filed a counter-complaint and a third-party complaint against the co-owners of the property, alleging their comparative fault in preparing and executing a contract for sale of the real estate to Mr. Snodgrass. The case was tried to a jury, which found the co-owners partially at fault, Mr. Snodgrass partially at fault, and no fault on the part of McLain’s. The issue presented is whether the trial court erred in failing to set aside the jury verdict and grant a new trial. We hold that based on stipulations prior to trial, there was no material evidence of negligence on the part of the co-owners. We also hold that the jury verdict is inconsistent. Therefore, we reverse the judgment in part, vacate in part and remand for a new trial. |
Hawkins | Court of Appeals | |
Tennessee Insurance Guaranty Association v. Centre Insurance Company
Tennessee Insurance Guaranty Association, a statutory agency created to meet certain obligations of insolvent insurance companies relative to workers' compensation, sued Centre Insurance Company seeking exoneration of certain workers' compensation obligations assumed by the agency upon the insolvency of Commercial Compensation Insurance Company. The trial judge granted summary judgment to Centre, and we affirm the action of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Barbara Johnson, et al. v. Edward Pratt, M.D.
Plaintiff/Patient filed a complaint against Defendant/Doctor alleging medical malpractice for failure to obtain her informed consent before operating. The trial court granted summary judgment to Defendant/Doctor on the basis that Plaintiff/Patient had failed to meet the burden of proof required by T.C.A. §29-26-115 and T.C.A. §29-26-118. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals |
