Legal Analysis and Commentary
Facts: Grandmother is the paternal grandmother of Child. When Child was born, Mother, Father, and Child lived with Grandmother for more than 2 1/2 years. Less than a year after Mother, Father, and Child moved out of Grandmother’s home, Mother and Father were arrested. Child was found to be dependent and neglected, and Child’s maternal […]
Read MoreFacts: Mother was designated the primary residential parent of Child when she and Father divorced. Years later, Father obtained emergency temporary custody because Mother was homeless and suffering from mental health issues. Shortly thereafter, the trial court entered an “Interim Agreed Order” providing that Child would physically reside with his maternal grandmother. A year later, […]
Read MoreOnce again, I am honored to have been selected by my colleagues in the Knoxville Bar as being among the best divorce, family law, child support, and adoption lawyers in Knoxville. CityView magazine explains: Each year, Cityview calls upon the members of the Knoxville Bar Association to determine which attorneys in East Tennessee are the best in […]
Read MoreFacts: After the children were adjudicated dependent and neglected, the maternal great-grandparents were awarded temporary custody. The children lived with the great-grandparents for the next six years. Once custody was restored to the biological parents, the great-grandparents petitioned for grandparent visitation. The biological parents opposed visitation. This is the second appeal in this case. In […]
Read MoreOnce again, I am honored to be selected by other lawyers as being among the best Divorce, Family Law, Child Support, and Adoption lawyers in Knoxville. CityView magazine explains: Each year, Cityview calls upon the members of the Knoxville Bar Association to determine which attorneys in East Tennessee are the best in their respective fields. The one criterion we most want the […]
Read More2015 was a quiet year for family law legislation in Tennessee. The Republican super-majority devoted it’s time to other issues such as preventing a floor vote on the Governor’s “Insure Tennessee” plan to expand Medicaid to low-income Tennesseans, imposing medically-unnecessary restrictions on women’s healthcare, or preventing local governments from prohibiting guns in local parks. While […]
Read MoreFacts: After the children were adjudicated dependent and neglected, the maternal great-grandparents were awarded temporary custody. The children lived with the great-grandparents for the next six years. Once custody was restored to the biological parents, the great-grandparents petitioned for grandparent visitation. The biological parents opposed any visitation and asserted the great-grandparents lacked standing to seek grandparent visitation […]
Read MoreFacts: Mother and Father are the parents of Child. Prior to Child’s birth, Father was arrested and pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for resale. Following Child’s birth, Father was arrested again and convicted of selling ecstasy. Father went to prison. Over the years, Father had little or no contact with Child. Child spent most […]
Read MoreFacts: Mother and Father are the divorced parents of Child. Father was convicted of stalking mother and has no visitation with Child. Father has been in and out of jail throughout Child’s life. Mother and Child resided with Paternal Grandparents for 12 months after Child’s birth. Father was incarcerated during much of this time. Even after […]
Read MoreFacts: Mother and Father are the married parents of several children. Mother and Grandmother, both attorneys, worked together in Grandmother’s Kentucky law firm for several years. Their relationship began to deteriorate. Mother left Grandmother’s law firm. The relationship eventually became so acrimonious that Mother forbade Grandmother from contacting the children. Grandmother petitioned the Kentucky court […]
Read MoreFacts: Mother and Father married and had three children. After nine years of marriage, they separated and never lived together as husband and wife following their separation. Four years after their separation, Mother filed for divorce. Almost two years after filing for divorce, Mother was tragically shot and killed in the line of duty as […]
Read MoreFacts: Mother and Father are the parents of Child. Mother had another child who was legally adopted by the Paternal Grandparents. Disagreements and hostilities developed between Mother and Father and the Paternal Grandparents, and Mother and Father decided it was in Child’s best interest not to have further visitation with Paternal Grandparents. Paternal Grandparents filed […]
Read MoreFacts: Child was born to the never-married Mother and Father. Well after paternity and visitation were established, Mother and Father agreed to give “temporary legal and physical custody” of Child to the paternal grandparents. Although this was never a case of dependency and neglect, the trial court found neither parent was a proper custodian for Child […]
Read MoreFacts: Child lived with his Maternal Grandparents from birth until approximately age six, at which point he lived with Mother (Father is deceased). Less than two months later, Maternal Grandparents petitioned for court-ordered grandparent visitation of 138 days per year (after initially requesting that they be named the primary caregivers). The proof showed that in the seven weeks […]
Read MoreThe Tennessee Bar Association just released the 2014 edition of The Legal Handbook for Tennessee Seniors. In addition to important information about federal benefits programs, estate planning, online security and health care, the Handbook contains some information about family law issues relevant to senior citizens. On page 174 of the Handbook, readers will find the following […]
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