Contemptuous Recovery, Attorney Fees Part 3
“ I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.”
I really want you to recover your fees. So let’s look at Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-103(c) a little closer. The current language of the statute authorizing attorney’s fees in alimony and child support enforcement matters, contains the phrase “in any criminal or civil contempt action…to enforce, alter, change, or modify any decree of alimony, child support, or provision of a permanent parenting plan order….” The prior version did not mention contempt proceedings, criminal or civil. In fact, Tennessee Courts used to consider criminal contempt proceedings beyond the reach of attorney fee recovery.
In Watts v. Watts, 519 S.W.3d 572 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016), the Tennessee Court of Appeals held that an award of attorney fees was not permissible in the context of criminal contempt under Tennessee statutes, authorizing the trial court to award attorney fees upon a finding of civil contempt, but not criminal contempt. In its opinion, the Court of Appeals stated:
We find no statutory authority permitting a party to recover attorney’s fees incurred to prosecute a petition for criminal contempt and Mother does not rely on a contractual provision in seeking to recover her attorney’s fees in the context of the petition for criminal contempt. Therefore, Father is not liable for the attorney’s fees Mother incurred in prosecuting her petition for criminal contempt.
Id. at 585 (footnote omitted).
But that was not the end of it. Cut to 2018. Now the language of Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-103(c) had changed from “plaintiff spouse” and “defendant spouse” to “prevailing party” and “non-prevailing party.” (See Bard of the Bar 102). It also now contains the contempt language mentioned above.
Jumping ahead to 2025: in Taylor v. Taylor, M2024-0045-COA-R3-CV, 2025 WL 899792, *11-12 (Tenn. Ct. App. March 4, 2025), the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s findings of 71 counts of criminal contempt against Mother in a divorce case and awarded Father appellate attorney’s fees under Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-103(c).
Keep in mind that the current version of the statute is narrowly confined to the context of child support, alimony, and parenting plans. I express no opinion about whether you can recover attorney fees for prosecuting or defending against a criminal contempt petition outside of the context of the above statute. But the law at present clearly allows room to recover fees for prevailing in a criminal contempt action under Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-103(c).
If that’s where you find yourself, go get your fees.
