Divorce brings a lot of changes, but most folks I help can anticipate the majority of them. What really throws people off, however, is when things need to change after the divorce is finalized and the parenting plan is set. When there is a “material change in your circumstances,” and that change is going to affect your children (either through…
Raising a child is hard enough to do under the most ideal circumstances. When you and your spouse decide to divorce, however, it becomes even trickier. Maybe you trust your former wife or husband, maybe you don’t – all you know is that you can’t be there for every conversation and to guide your child when he or she makes…
For the last 15 years, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, or DCS, has been subjected to federal oversight. It all started with a case in 2000 involving a “9-year-old boy who spent seven months in an overcrowded Memphis emergency shelter with dangerous older boys and little access to education,” as described by The Tennessean. The advocacy group Children’s Rights,…
If you had the inclination, you could read through the entire Tennessee Code to learn the laws regarding divorce and custody. But if you’re going through a divorce, the chances are you have enough on your plate already. Besides, that’s why folks like me are here; we studied the laws and earned our degrees so that you’d have someone on…
In a perfect world, two people who don’t want to be together anymore will divide their things, shake hands and ride off into their respective sunsets with no hard feelings. Of course, this is not a perfect world, and people rarely decide to split in such an amicable way. Because tensions can run high during a divorce, Tennessee requires that…
I heard a funny joke one time, attributed to the writer Teresa Bloomingdale: “If your baby is ‘beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time,’ you’re the grandma.” And as a parent, I know it’s true: my kids were always “better” for Grandma and Grandpa than they were for…
Even under the best of circumstances, child support can be an… issue. Of course you want what’s best for your child, and of course you don’t begrudge your child anything – but does your ex-spouse really need all that money for school supplies and doctors’ co-pays? I get it, I do. In my time as a divorce lawyer here in…
In Tennessee, child support is its own separate entity. In other words, no matter what kind of plan is put in place regarding primary residence and parenting time, a person ordered to pay child support must do so – period. But a case out of New York may be influential in how other States handle such an issue, by ruling…
A couple of years ago, the Wall Street Journal published a piece called “Divorcé’s Guide to Marriage.” The title might be a little cheeky, but the contents of the article – a study of what divorcés believed were their biggest regrets – holds some weight, even now. Because the beginning of the year is the most “popular” time for couples…
As a divorce attorney in Maryville, I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of folks who were a bit unsure about how their property would be divided by a judge. Sometimes I would meet with the spouse’s attorney and try to work out an agreement; sometimes I would have to take a more aggressive approach in court…