Family Law
Having a Conversation with Your Child’s Teacher about Your Divorce
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…
Read MoreHow to Prepare for Divorce
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…
Read More5 Difficult Things to Accept about Divorce
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…
Read MoreHow Vacations and Summer Travel Impact Parenting Plans
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…
Read MoreIs Your Former Spouse Unemployed or Under-employed to Avoid Paying Child Support?
The adversarial divorce is over and your former spouse has been ordered to pay child support for the child you have together; however, you believe that they are not making an effort to find a job because they want to avoid paying child support. What can a primary residential parent do when the alternate residential…
Read MoreDating During Divorce is Dangerous in Tennessee
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…
Read MoreDrugs, Alcohol & Violence: How to Lose Child Custody and Visitation in Three Easy Steps
When it comes to making decisions about child custody in Tennessee, as in every state in the United States, the best interests of the child is the prevailing consideration. When a couple who have a child is divorcing, the court must decide which parent will be the primary residential parent, and which parent will have…
Read MoreDivorce and the Rising Cost of College
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…
Read MoreWhat to do When Your Ex Denies Your Visitation Rights
During the divorce process you and your former spouse sat down and ironed out a parenting plan agreement, which contains a schedule for visitation for the parent who did not get primary residential custody. The Court reviews this document and refers to it when it issues the final custody order. The Tennessee Court as with…
Read MoreWhat Happens to My Inheritance in Tennessee Divorce?
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…
Read MoreAlcohol and Drug Abuse Can Affect Alimony Payments in Tennessee
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,…
Read MoreSubsidized Permanent Guardianship of a Minor in Tennessee
The foster care system can be a challenging and heartbreaking way for a child to grow up. Every day, young people age out of the system – that is, they grow up to the age of majority and are then left to function on their own without a family to support them, nurture them or…
Read More7 Questions Smart People Must Ask Before Getting a Divorce
When you go into a divorce fully informed about the process and the challenges you might face, you will feel more empowered. Taking the time to learn about how the divorce will affect you financially can help you plan for your future. There are seven questions you should ask yourself and your lawyer before starting…
Read MoreWhat are the Advantages of Collaborative Law?
It seems as if divorce is always associated with a lot of drama – fighting about who cheated, disagreements about money, who will get the children, and who will get the house – even when there is no drama to be found. What if there was a way that you, your attorney, your spouse and…
Read MoreWhy Don’t More Men Get Alimony?
Although matrimonial laws are not gender specific, the general trend is that if spousal support is paid after divorce, it’s a man who pays it and a woman who receives it. But that scenario does not seem to coincide with the trend of more and more women serving as the higher income earner in their…
Read MoreThe Supreme Court Will Hear Same-Sex Marriage Arguments on April 28
Tennessee has had a ban on same-sex marriage since 1996, and voters approved a constitutional ban in 2006 – but the future of this ban might be in question. On April 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear 2.5 hours of arguments on same-sex marriage in four cases from Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee. The…
Read MoreThe Future of Sonya McCaul
When David and Kim Hodgins agreed to foster a one-year old Sonya McCaul back in 2005, they could not have known how long she would stay. After all, young Sonya had been brought across state lines from Nebraska by her babysitter, and her father was in and out of jail. But even though the Hodgins…
Read MoreFight Back against Domestic Abuse with an Order of Protection
If someone you know has caused you harm, whether it is physical, mental, emotional or sexual, there are ways for you to fight back. You are not alone. Tennessee has laws and groups that can help you. In Tennessee, domestic assault is any form of abuse between adults or minors who: Are current or former…
Read MoreThe Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act and Relocation
Families with children face some different legal challenges, especially when one parent no longer resides in the same state. To help make the process easier for parents and for the courts, Tennessee (along with 48 other states) adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), which grants exclusive jurisdiction rights to the home…
Read MoreTennessee Given a “D” for Child Custody Laws by National Parents Organization
The National Parents Organization is a 501(3)(c) dedicated to promoting shared parenting throughout the country. Every year, the organization issues a Report Card that assesses the states’ laws as they relate to parenting plans in child custody. In the group’s 2014 Report Card, issued this November, Tennessee and 22 other states earned a “D.” The…
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