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Judge, Court of Appeals of Tennessee
In Re Estate of Beverly Louise Ingram
Court of Appeals of Tennessee · 2026-06-29
In the Estate of Beverly Louise Ingram, who died intestate in 2020, her heirs Robert Davidson Jr. and Shuntae Davidson, along with Robert Davidson Sr., litigated the partition and sale of jointly owned real property and the administration of the estate, resulting in a final probate court order that approved administrator fees totaling over $33,000, related attorney fees exceeding $50,000, and other expenses to be paid from the $181,603 net proceeds of the property sale before equal distribution of the remainder. Appellants Robert Sr. and Shuntae Davidson challenged these fee awards on appeal, claiming errors in the approval of administrator invoices, mathematical inconsistencies, unsupported charges, and unrecorded oral objections. The Court of Appeals affirmed the probate court's judgment, holding that all issues were waived because the appellants' brief failed to include specific citations to the record or authorities as required by Tennessee Court of Appeals Rule 6 and Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 27. The court further determined the appeal was frivolous, entitled the administrator to reasonable compensation for defending it, and remanded for the trial court to assess additional fees and damages against the appellants.
family lawpropertyprocedure
In Re Estate of Shawn Edward Sheeks
Court of Appeals of Tennessee · 2026-06-29
In this case, Paul Slate filed a verified claim in probate court against the estate of his late business partner Shawn Sheeks, seeking an accounting and $382,207.48 in damages for allegedly unequal distributions from their jointly owned companies. While that claim was pending, a separate lawsuit in the Davidson County Business Court litigated dissolution of the entities, an accounting, counterclaims for loans and breaches, and asset distribution among Slate, the estate, and Ms. Sheeks, resulting in a final unappealed judgment that allocated proceeds after offsets. The estate then moved for summary judgment in probate court to dismiss the claim on res judicata grounds. The trial court granted the motion, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, reasoning that the probate claim arose from the same parties, transactions, facts, and relief sought (non-proportional disbursements requiring an accounting) that were or could have been resolved in the Business Court action, with no distinct fraud allegation present.
business & regulatorypropertyprocedure
Kaileigh Marie Dunn v. Russell Allen Dunn, III
Court of Appeals of Tennessee · 2026-06-08
In this accelerated appeal under Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B, Russell Allen Dunn, III challenged the trial court's denial of his motion to recuse Judge A. Ensley Hagan, Jr., in a post-divorce proceeding involving Kaileigh Marie Dunn. The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of recusal. The court reasoned that shared membership in the Lebanon Noon Rotary Club between the judge and the appellee (who serves on its board) created no objective appearance of impropriety under the applicable standard, that the appellant's allegation of the appellee's statement claiming favoritism did not demonstrate any actual bias by the judge, and that the motion was untimely because it was filed ten months after the appellant learned of the alleged facts without good cause for the delay.
family lawprocedure
In Re Bravon K.
Court of Appeals of Tennessee · 2026-06-03
The case involved the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services petitioning to terminate Jermale H.’s parental rights to his son Bravon K. (born 2018), after the child entered foster care in 2020 due to parental drug exposure and other concerns; the father’s sister and her husband separately sought to intervene in the proceedings to pursue custody. The Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s termination of the father’s rights on three grounds proven by clear and convincing evidence—abandonment by an incarcerated parent via wanton disregard (based on his 2018 drug and weapons offenses committed while the child was in utero, a 2020 domestic assault, and positive drug tests), substantial noncompliance with the permanency plan requirements, and failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume custody—plus a best-interest finding, while also upholding the denial of the relatives’ motion to intervene. The court rejected the relatives’ procedural challenges to the intervention denial, holding that Rule 24 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure does not mandate an evidentiary hearing or detailed findings for permissive intervention. It further concluded that the father’s pre-incarceration conduct and post-release instability satisfied the statutory grounds, without requiring the trial court to specify every definitional subsection of abandonment.
family lawprocedure
In Re Conservatorship of Leon Aubrey Manners
Court of Appeals of Tennessee · 2026-05-29
The case involved an appeal by Timothy Manners, who petitioned for and obtained appointment as conservator for his 84-year-old father, Leon Aubrey Manners, after presenting evidence of the father's cognitive decline, Parkinson's disease, and inability to manage his affairs safely. The trial court granted the conservatorship, finding clear and convincing evidence that it was needed and in the father's best interest, but exercised its discretion under Tennessee Code Annotated § 34-1-114 to charge the petitioner with his own attorney's fees and expenses plus half the guardian ad litem fees, reasoning that the need was "borderline," the father had opposed the petition, and the petitioner stood to benefit. The Court of Appeals vacated that cost allocation, holding that the trial court had based its ruling on an erroneous assessment of the facts and a misapplication of the governing statute. It remanded with directions to assess all approved guardian ad litem fees, the petitioner's reasonable trial and appellate fees and costs, and the attorney ad litem's appellate fees against the father's property.
family lawprocedure
In Re Laila T.
Court of Appeals of Tennessee · 2026-04-29
In this child custody and support case, the mother appealed the juvenile court’s sanctions against her for repeatedly failing to comply with discovery requests and court orders in long-running litigation with the father over parenting time and child support for their child Laila. The father had served a subpoena for income-related documents to address support issues, and after the mother ignored it and a subsequent motion to compel, the juvenile court ordered production by a deadline and warned of sanctions under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 37.02; when she still did not comply and failed to appear at the sanctions hearing, the court granted the father relief on his petition, held her in contempt for nonpayment of support, and awarded attorney’s fees. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the mother’s persistent noncompliance justified the sanctions and fee award, that she had waived challenges to the fees by not raising them below, and that the fee statement complied with procedural rules allowing unsworn declarations under penalty of perjury.
family lawprocedure