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PRACTICE AREAS
Divorce
A divorce officially dissolves a legal marriage. There are two main subcategories of divorce cases: uncontested divorces and contested divorces. Uncontested divorces occur when the parties agree on their division of marital assets and liabilities. Contested divorces occur when the parties disagree on the division of their marital property. In Tennessee, courts are generally required to equitably divide the marital estate. However, Tennessee is not a community property state, meaning the courts are not required to split marital property 50/50 in every case.
Child Custody
Child custody cases revolve around the dispute among
guardians for physical and legal custody. Custody disputes are extremely challenging for all members of any family. Custody disputes that involve unmarried parties will be handled in the juvenile court, while custody disputes relating to children from a marriage occur in the county's Chancery or Circuit Courts.
Child Support
Child support is a payment ordered by the court that requires one parent, usually the non-custodial parent, to pay the other parent a certain amount per month. In Tennessee, child support is set using the child support worksheet in accordance with state law. While a party’s gross monthly income is the most dispositive factor in calculating child support, other factors considered by the court include the cost of work-related childcare, children’s insurance expenses, and any uninsured medical expenses. Child support payments are unrelated to alimony payments discussed below.
Adoption
Adoption is the legal transfer of parental rights from one adult to another. Similar to divorce, which is discussed above, adoption cases are usually broken into two categories: contested adoptions, and uncontested adoptions. Generally, the biggest issues for these types of cases center around serving the opposing party properly.
Prenuptial &
Postnuptial
Agreements
Prenuptial agreements are entered into between parties that have not yet been married, while postnuptial agreements refer to agreements between parties that were married at the time of signing the agreement. Both agreements are contractual understandings between the parties that divide marital assets and debts. However, previous case law precedent shows that courts are far more likely to enforce prenuptial agreements over postnuptial agreements.
Alimony
Alimony is a legal concept that requires one party to pay spousal support to another to help the financially disadvantaged spouse maintain a similar lifestyle following a divorce. Unlike child support, alimony focuses on support for the spouse, not the child. Both child support and alimony can be temporarily set by the court, while a case is still pending.