Prenuptial Agreements, Validity of

Except as indicated, all indented material is copied directly from the court’s opinion. 

Decisions of the Tennessee Supreme Court

Decisions of the Tennessee Court of Appeals

Law v. Law, No. E2021-00206-COA-R3-CV, p. 7 (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 26, 2022).

Because this is an appeal from a bench trial [addressing the validity of a prenuptial agreement], we review the trial court’s factual findings de novo, presuming their correctness unless the evidence preponderates otherwise. See Boote v. Shivers, 198 S.W.3d 732, 740 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Apr. 24, 2006); Tenn. R. App. P. 13(d). “[F]or the evidence to preponderate against a trial court’s finding of fact, it must support another finding of fact with greater convincing effect.” Boote, 198 S.W.3d at 741. The presumption of correctness does not apply to the trial court’s conclusions of law. Id. We ascribe great weight to the trial court’s credibility determinations and will not re-evaluate those determinations absent clear and convincing evidence. Id. at 740 (citing Estate of Walton v. Young, 950 S.W.2d 956, 959 (Tenn. 1997)).