The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in a child support case. The issue? Whether an indigent party is entitled to a court-appointed attorney…
Facts: Parties divorced in 2006 after 24 years of marriage. Husband was ordered to pay child support, including a substantial upward deviation. Husband was also ordered…
Facts: A child was born to unmarried parents. Once paternity was established, Father–an attorney–was ordered to pay $235 per month for child support but “without a…
Facts: The parties were divorced in 1995. In 2001, Wife filed a petition to modify Husband’s child support obligation on the grounds of Husband’s increased…
Facts: Parents divorced in 2000 with a parenting plan providing for equal time with the children (alternating weeks) and no child support obligation for either…
A few recent decisions with very narrow holdings on procedural questions are worth noting. 1. Tuetken v. Tuetken: The Tennessee Supreme Court held that parents…
Facts: Upon divorce, Mother was named primary residential parent for Child. Several years later, Father filed petition to change custody. The trial court found Father…
Facts: Parties were married for 23 years and had two children. During the marriage, Wife was a homemaker while Husband owned a successful business. The…
Here is a brief recap of some new laws recently enacted by the Tennessee Legislature regarding matrimonial and family law in Tennessee. 2010 Public Chapter…
Facts: Mother filed a petition to increase Father’s child support. Father responded by arguing Mother was willfully underemployed within the meaning of the Child Support…
According to the Annual Report of the Tennessee Judiciary, Tennessee trial courts disposed of 298,107 cases from July 2008 through June 2009. Of those, 60,320,…
As the recent decision in State ex rel. Rickard v. Holt explains, the answer is “no.” Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-501(a)(1) provides, in pertinent part:…
In a recent post, I discussed the recent national decrease in divorce filings attributed to the current recession. I now have the statistics for Tennessee. …
In a recent post, I discussed the recent national decrease in divorce filings attributed to the current recession. I now have the statistics for Tennessee. …
Facts: Father retired, thereby entitling Child to receive a monthly benefit check flowing from Father’s Social Security account. Father asked the trial court to offset…