As we have said so many times, divorce is basically the breaking of a contract. If there were a way to separate the high level of emotion that the divorce transaction stirs up, it would probably be a faster, easier process to work through. But divorce is not just about breaking a contract. Marriage represents [...]
There are many ways in which the payment of child support can be enforced, and federal law has created some uniform guidelines for enforcing child support payments. Tennessee's statutes for child support enforcement can be found here: T.C.A. § 36-5-901, and the Department of Human Services (DHS) is the state agency that is responsible for [...]
Telling your child’s teacher that you are going through a divorce might not be high on your list of priorities, but it should be. Whatever happens in your home has an impact on your child. If your family is going through a rough patch, your child may display behavior at school that is inconsistent with [...]
Depending on how long a couple has been married, they will likely accumulate various different kinds of property during the marriage. From homes and cars to boats and vacation properties, jewelry and investments. Property and assets that the couple acquires after the wedding and to which they are joint owners is marital property. Marital property [...]
Couples who marry today have a roughly 40 to 50 percent chance of getting divorced, (for first marriages) so while divorce seems like something that happens to other people, many who are married may face it at some point. While going through a divorce is usually more traumatic than you think it will be and [...]
There will come a time when divorce gets real for you and things might be a bit more challenging than you had bargained for. Divorce can be adversarial and it will bring out aspects of your spouse’s character that you may not have seen before. When you agree to divorce and you set off on [...]
When Tennessee couples with children divorce, they create (sometimes on their own, sometimes with lawyers, sometimes by ruling from a judge) a parenting plan. The basic format of the plan is supplied by the TN courts, and must be used for the creation of a new plan, or to modify an existing one. We point [...]
The decision to end a marriage is always a tough one, even if both spouses are in agreement. After all, no one gets married in the hopes of one day getting a divorce. Over the years, we’ve found that there are certain indicators that a couple is ready to divorce, or at least ready to [...]
This is the time of year when parents start planning vacations and make plans for the summer months. When you are going through a divorce, or after the divorce is finalized, the parenting plan agreement is an important document that will govern the communications between the two co-parents. Even when the co-parents have a relatively [...]
Parents who are going through a difficult divorce might think it preposterous that there might be a way for them to forge an effective co-parenting relationship after the divorce is final. You might wonder how you will be able to deal with your former spouse any better after the divorce than you did during the [...]
Although you might think your marriage is over when you and your spouse decide to divorce, it is not over in the eyes of the law until the final divorce decree has been signed by the judge. A divorce can be an emotionally tumultuous experience, and once you have decided in your mind that you [...]
While the divorce rate among younger age groups has been dropping in the past decade or so, people who are age 50 or older are twice more likely to end their marriages now than they did in years past. Divorces that occur later in life, or "gray" divorce as it is now being called, is [...]
Paying for college tuition can be a controversial topic. Depending on the child's age when their parents get a divorce, the question of how parents will cover their child's college expenses or even if they will help their child pay for their college tuition is an issue that should be included in divorce negotiations regardless [...]
You are the favorite nephew of your beloved aunt Thelma, who left you a nice inheritance when she passed away a few months ago. Now you have been served with divorce papers quite out of the blue and you are wondering what happens next. You and your soon-to-be-ex-wife were married when you received the sizable [...]
Alimony, sometimes called spousal support, is awarded to a spouse by a judge. Unless you and your spouse have worked out a plan in your Marital Dissolution Agreement, the process of awarding alimony is an entirely subjective one: a judge is not forced to award alimony to anyone. However, if you file under certain grounds, [...]