A divorce action concluded over a decade earlier gave rise to an effort to hold ex-husband in contempt. The claimed contempt arose from his conveyance of marital real property during the divorce as part of the redistribution of marital assets ordered by the Divorce Decree. Ex-wife contended by motion practice initiated in the long-closed divorce action that ex-husband failed to convey the real property in proper condition. However, the conveyance was by quitclaim deed and no issue had been raised for over a decade. Ex-wife raised an issue because she now claimed that her recent sale of the property for several million dollars brought about $250,000 less than it should have based upon the property condition. Ex-husband challenged the matter by arguing that the Family Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over a property conveyance dispute that had taken place over a decade earlier which also raised statute of limitations issues. The Family Court denied ex-husband’s challenges, further denied the motion to hold ex-husband in contempt (see Fayette Family Court Order of May 14, 2015) but awarded ex-wife approximately $3000 in fee recovery for her current efforts (see Fayette Family Court Order entered June 26, 2015). Ex-wife appealed the denial of her requested relief of the $250,000 loss from the sales price of the real estate. The matter remains pending before the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
Family court jurisdiction/subject matter jurisdiction/real estate dispute/divorce decree
