No Answer, No Defense in Waynesboro, Tennessee Divorce: Mathis v. Mathis

Facts: After 18 years of marriage, Wife filed for divorce. She later filed an amended complaint, and Husband was personally served with it. He did not file an answer or any responsive pleading within the 30 days required by the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.

Wife moved for a default judgment, citing Husband’s failure to plead or otherwise defend. Husband did not respond in writing to the default motion.

The trial court heard Wife’s motion for default judgment (and her divorce complaint). Husband was physically present at the hearing and voiced his opposition to the divorce, but because he had filed nothing, the trial court found him in default and did not allow him to present evidence. The trial court granted a default judgment against Husband, awarded Wife a divorce, and divided the marital assets and debts.

Husband obtained counsel and, within 30 days of the default judgment, moved to set aside the default judgment and final decree of divorce. He argued that his failure to answer was due to “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” He claimed he was unsophisticated with legal rules and believed that merely appearing in court on the hearing date would allow him to defend himself. Husband also argued that the resulting division of the marital estate was inequitable because only Wife’s evidence was heard.

The trial court denied Husband’s motion to set aside the default judgment, finding no good cause to excuse his failure to respond.

Husband appealed.

On Appeal: The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment.

Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 55.01 provides that a default judgment may be entered when a defendant “has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by these rules.” Trial courts have broad discretion to grant a default judgment when a party does not respond to a properly served complaint or otherwise engage through the procedures allowed by the Rules of Civil Procedure.

A default judgment is a severe remedy that should be used only in specific circumstances and not “wielded haphazardly.” Those circumstances include when a defendant entirely fails to appear or, as in this case, appears but fails to file any answer or appropriate defensive pleading within the time allowed by the rules.

Default judgments should be granted only when a defendant

• makes no appearance in the case, in spite of being properly served,
• appears, but fails to respond to the complaint, or
• disobeys a pretrial order directing the defendant to comply with some procedural requirement.

Husband argued that his conduct did not warrant a default because he did “otherwise defend” by showing up at the hearing and objecting orally.

The Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure do not permit a party to simply ignore the complaint and then defend in person at the hearing without any pleadings on file. By failing to answer or file any motion in response to the complaint or the default motion, Husband did nothing to defend the lawsuit as provided by the rules.

The Court of Appeals held that Husband’s mere personal appearance—without complying with the required procedural steps—did not prevent a default. Thus, the entry of default judgment was within the trial court’s discretion. The Court explained:

Here, Husband clearly failed to comply with the foregoing rules, and his mere presence at the hearing constitutes neither an answer nor a defense to Wife’s complaint. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting a default judgment against him.

Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 55.02 allows a default judgment to be set aside “for good cause” per Rule 60.02. Rule 60.02 allows relief from a judgment for reasons such as “mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect,” or other equitable grounds.

When considering a motion to set aside a default judgment on grounds of excusable neglect, courts consider three factors:

• whether the default was willful,
• whether the defendant has a meritorious defense, and
• whether the non-defaulting party would be prejudiced if relief were granted.

The first factor—willfulness—is a threshold inquiry. If the defaulting party’s actions were willful, i.e., deliberate, flagrant, or unexplained, the judgment cannot be set aside on excusable neglect grounds. Only if the conduct was not willful will the courts examine the presence of a defense, lack of prejudice, or other factors.

Similarly, the Court held that Husband

Applying these principles, the Court agreed that Husband was not entitled to relief from the default judgment. Most tellingly, evidence showed that Husband’s inaction was intentional: the day after the default hearing, he sent Wife a text message stating “SURPRISE, EVERYTHING WAS DONE ON PURPOSE,” suggesting he deliberately let the default happen. The Court found no abuse of discretion on these facts:

The most damaging evidence to [Husband]’s request to set aside the default judgment is the text message admitted into evidence at the hearing in which [Husband] told [Wife], “SURPRISE, EVERYTHING WAS DONE ON PURPOSE” (laughing emojis omitted). The Court does not know how there could even be an argument around the fact that [Husband]’s conduct was willful. Even according to [Husband]’s own statements made to [Wife] via text message, [Husband]’s decision not to participate in the case leading up to the default hearing was willful and intentional. The Court finds that [Husband] acted willfully in failing to participate in this case and in failing to file an Answer or other responsive pleading.

The Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment in all respects.

K.O.’s Comment: Never assume showing up at a hearing will save you if you haven’t filed a required response. Tennessee’s rules clearly demand a written answer or appropriate motion within 30 days of service. If you ignore the paperwork, you ignore your chance to be heard. Even self-represented parties must follow the rules; courts may cut a little slack for honest mistakes, but they won’t bend the rules for outright willfulness or deliberate “gamesmanship.”

If you find yourself served with a complaint, file an answer or seek legal help immediately. Otherwise, you might end up with a court order that says “SURPRISE” (and not in a good way).

Source: Mathis v. Mathis (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section, February 26, 2026).

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