Legal Case

Shirley Jean Cupples Blankenship v. Charles Gary Blankenship, Sr. and Charles Gary Blankenship, II v. Shirley Jean Cupples Blankenship

Court

Court of Appeals of Tennessee

Decided

August 8, 2025

Jurisdiction

SA

Importance

45%

Significant

Practice Areas

Family Law
Probate Law
Property Law
Real Estate Law
Estate Planning

Case Summary

08/08/2025 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON April 23, 2025 Session SHIRLEY JEAN CUPPLES BLANKENSHIP v. CHARLES GARY BLANKENSHIP SR. AND CHARLES GARY BLANKENSHIP II v. SHIRLEY JEAN CUPPLES BLANKENSHIP Appeal from the Chancery Court for Gibson County No. H6329, H6634 Michael Mansfield, Chancellor ___________________________________ No. W2024-01248-COA-R3-CV ___________________________________ This appeal arises from the death of the husband during a divorce proceeding. While the divorce was pending, the spouses sold real property they owned as tenants by the entirety and deposited the proceeds with the clerk of the court pursuant to an agreed order. Subsequently, the husband died and the wife filed a motion to dismiss the case and to distribute the proceeds. The chancery court determined that the husband’s death abated the divorce proceedings and that the proceeds had been owned by the spouses as tenants by the entirety. Thus, the court granted the motion to dismiss and determined that the wife was entitled to distribution of the proceeds as the surviving tenant by the entirety. The spouses’ son, acting as administrator of the husband’s estate, appeals. We affirm. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed. CARMA DENNIS MCGEE, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which KENNY W. ARMSTRONG and VALERIE L. SMITH, JJ., joined. Michael R. Flynn, Germantown, Tennessee, for the appellants, Charles Gary Blankenship II and Probate Advance, LLC. Jonathan O. Steen, Nicholas B. Latimer, and Sara E. Barnett, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellee, Shirley Jean Cupples Blankenship. OPINION I. Facts and Procedural History Charles Gary Blankenship Sr. (“Husband”) and Shirley Jean Cupples Blankenship (“Wife”) were married on August 22, 1981, in Jackson, Tennessee. One child was born of the marriage, Charles Gary Blankenship II (“Son”). Son is serving as the administrator of Husband’s estate and is one of the appellants in this matter. During the marriage, the spouses obtained the following pieces of real property in Humboldt, Tennessee: 157 Pleasant Hill Road, 3855 East End Drive, and a lot adjacent to the 3855 East End Drive property (collectively “the Properties”). The spouses owned the Properties as tenants by the entirety. On March 6, 2020, Wife filed a complaint for divorce in the Madison County Chancery Court. The spouses later agreed for the case to be transferred to the Gibson County Chancery Court. Litigation ensued, and on September 30, 2022, Husband filed a motion requesting that a guardian ad litem be appointed on his behalf. The motion was granted by order entered on January 20, 2023. The guardian ad litem subsequently submitted a report explaining that Husband had experienced several health issues and recommended that Son be appointed as conservator over Husband’s person and that a certified public accountant be appointed as conservator over his property. On January 5, 2023, an “Agreed Order” was entered in which the spouses agreed that the proceeds derived from the sale of any marital property would be paid to the Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court of Gibson County. Although it is unclear from the record when this occurred, the spouses subsequently sold the Properties. The proceeds derived from the sale of the Properties were deposited with the Gibson County Clerk and Master. On August 15, 2023, Husband died prior to a final decree of divorce having been entered. Wife filed a “Motion to Dismiss and for Distribution of Funds” on September 8, 2023, in which she asserted that Husband’s death abated the divorce proceedings. Wife also claimed that the proceeds derived from the sale of the Properties had been owned by the spouses as tenants by the entirety and thus the proceeds had “vested” in her upon Husband’s death as the surviving tenant by the entirety. Meanwhile, on October 27, 2023, Son filed a verified complaint in his capacity as the administrator of Husband’s estate in the Chancery Court of Hamilton County, Tennessee.1 The complaint alleged that the funds being held by the Gibson County Clerk and Master were assets of Husband’s estate. Son further sought an order enjoining Wife from obtaining the funds pending resolution of the complaint. This case was eventually transferred to the Gibson County Chancery Court. Subsequently, the court entered an order consolidating the divorce proceeding, the above- described action filed by Son, and a “Probate Action” Son had also filed in the Hamilton County Chancery Court. The court determined that all three cases were predicated on the disposal of a single issue: “who is entitled to receive disburse

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Case Details

Case Details

Legal case information

Status

Decided

Date Decided

August 8, 2025

Jurisdiction

SA

Court Type

federal

Legal Significance

Case importance metrics

Importance Score
Significant
Score45%
Citations
0
Legal Topics
Divorce
Tenancy by the Entirety
Property Distribution
Estate Administration
+3 more

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Additional information

AddedAug 8, 2025
UpdatedAug 8, 2025

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Legal Topics

Areas of law covered in this case

Divorce
Tenancy by the Entirety
Property Distribution
Estate Administration
Severance of Tenancy
Marital Property Rights
Joint Ownership

Case Information

Detailed case metadata and classifications

Court Proceedings

Date FiledAugust 8, 2025
Date DecidedAugust 8, 2025

Document Details

Times Cited
0
Importance Score
0.5

Legal Classification

JurisdictionSA
Court Type
federal
Judicial Panel
Judge Carma Dennis McGee
Opinion Author
Judge Carma Dennis McGee

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In Re Cd Minor

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Michigan Court of Appeals
Jun 2025

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Cash-Kaeo v. Barrett

80% match
Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
Jun 2025

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In the Interest of E.T., A.T., and E.T., Children v. the State of Texas

80% match
Court of Appeals of Texas
Jun 2025

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Very Similar Similarity

Doll v. Tressler

341 Or. App. 363

80% match
Court of Appeals of Oregon
Jun 2025

No. 549 June 18, 2025 363 This is a nonprecedential memorandum opinion pursuant to ORAP 10.30 and may not be cited except as provided in ORAP 10.30(1). IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON In the Matter of the Estate of Wilbert H. Tressler, deceased. Barbi M. DOLL, Appellant, v. Donald Lee TRESSLER, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Wilbert H. Tressler, Respondent. Washington County Circuit Court 21PB05510; A180067 Janelle F. Wipper, Judge. Submitted May 20, 2025. Jennifer J. Martin, Kevin O’Connell, and Law Offices of O’Connell Hval & Martin filed the briefs for appellant. Heather Cavanaugh, Julie R. Vacura, and Larkins Vacura Kayser, LLP, filed the brief for respondent. Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, Hellman, Judge, and O’Connor, Judge. ORTEGA, P. J. Affirmed. 364 Doll v. Tressler ORTEGA, P. J. Petitioner Barbi Doll seeks reversal of an opinion and order concluding that decedent Wilbert Tressler lacked testamentary capacity when he executed a will in 2020, which made her the primary beneficiary of his estate and which also concluded that the will was the result of undue influence by petitioner. She seeks reversal of that opinion and order, which invalidated the 2020 will, and the findings and conclusions supporting it. We affirm. Petitioner has not asked this court to try the cause anew on the record under ORAP 5.40(8), and this is not an “exceptional case” warranting such review. ORAP 5.40(8)(c). Accordingly, we are bound by the trial court’s findings of historical fact that are supported by any evidence in the record and review the court’s dispositional conclusions for errors of law. See Williamson v. Zielinski, 326 Or App 648, 649, 532 P3d 1257 (2023). The trial court’s findings of historical fact are sup- ported by evidence in the record and are bolstered by its credibility findings. Those findings provide ample legal sup- port for its dispositional conclusions. We therefore conclude that petitioner has failed to show any basis for reversal of the opinion and order. Affirmed.

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Ia v. Rm

80% match
Michigan Court of Appeals
Aug 2025

If this opinion indicates that it is “FOR PUBLICATION,” it is subject to revision until final publication in the Michigan Appeals Reports. STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS IA, UNPUBLISHED August 13, 2025 Petitioner-Appellee, 8:35 AM v No. 372603 Muskegon Circuit Court RM, LC No. 2024-000894-PP Respondent-Appellant. Before: O’BRIEN, P.J., and BOONSTRA and WALLACE, JJ. PER CURIAM. Petitioner brought the present action for the issuance of a personal protection order (PPO), via an ex parte petition, alleging that respondent, the father of her two minor children, engaged in multiple instances of stalking and harassment. In response, the trial court entered an ex parte PPO. Respondent then filed a motion to terminate the PPO, arguing that the petition should not have been granted because it did not contain allegations showing any likelihood of immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage as required by MCL 600.2950(12). The court held an extensive evidentiary hearing regarding the petition, after which it issued an opinion and order denying respondent’s motion to terminate the PPO, finding that petitioner had reasonable cause to believe that respondent’s conduct constituted stalking and that evidence showed that respondent engaged in willful conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of petitioner. We affirm. I. FACTS At the time of filing of the petition in this matter, the parties had joint custody of their two minor children, ages 11 and 9, who attended school in Norton Shores, in Muskegon County. Respondent resided in Norton Shores. Petitioner had recently moved to Idlewild, just east of Baldwin, in Lake County. Petitioner filed her ex parte petition for issuance of a PPO on February 26, 2024, making various accusations of stalking and harassment by respondent, which took place between January 2023 and February 2024. -1- The court issued an ex parte PPO that same day, February 26, 2024, which prohibited respondent from doing any of the following: (1) entering onto the property at the address where petitioner lived; (2) assaulting, attacking, beating, molesting, or wounding petitioner; (3) stalking as defined under MCL 750.411h and MCL 750.411i, with the sole no-contact exception being that he could email using the “parent talking app,” only, about parenting time exchanges and emergencies, only; (4) threatening to kill or physically injure petitioner; (5) interfering with petitioner at her place of employment or education or engaging in conduct that impairs her employment or education relationship or environment; (6) intentionally causing petitioner mental distress or exerting control over petitioner via various actions involving any animal in which petitioner has an ownership interest; (7) purchasing or possessing a firearm; (8) using “location devices while [the] children are at petitioner’s for parenting time.” Respondent then filed a motion to terminate the PPO and an evidentiary hearing was scheduled by the court. At the hearing, which occurred over three sessions conducted in March, April, and July 2024, the court heard testimony from both parties, as well as petitioner’s partner of the last seven years and petitioner’s father. Following the completion of testimony on the third day, the parties gave closing statements and the court took the matter under advisement. In September 2024, the court issued an order denying respondent’s motion to terminate the PPO, finding that petitioner had reasonable cause to believe that respondent’s conduct constituted stalking and that evidence showed that respondent engaged in willful conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of petitioner. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW The granting of a PPO is “within the discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion.” SP v BEK, 339 Mich App 171, 176; 981 NW2d 500 (2021) (quotation marks and citation omitted). See also Hayford v Hayford, 279 Mich App 324, 325; 769 NW2d 324 (2008) (“We review for an abuse of discretion a trial court’s determination whether to issue a PPO because it is an injunctive order”). “An abuse of discretion occurs when the decision resulted in an outcome falling outside the range of principled outcomes.” SP, 339 Mich App at 176 (quotation marks and citation omitted). “We review

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