Tennessee Divorce and Family Law

5 Tips to Save Money On Your Divorce

Here are a few quick tips that can save you money on your divorce if you contracted for an hourly rate.

1. Wait until you have several questions before you call your attorney. Because hourly rates are billed in increments it will save you money to ask several questions at once. You should write down your questions before you call your lawyer and be clear about what information you want to know. This makes the telephone call more efficient and saves you money.

2. Use E-mail for correspondence instead of calling. Many lawyers do not bill when reading and responding to a simple E-mail questions. I personally check my e-mail at certain points during the day and just focus on clearing my mailbox. Since that is what I am focusing on at the time I do not bill for clearing out my box. Doing so would take me more time than I have freed up for that project. If you call your lawyer to ask the same question it requires more time to handle and interrupts what he was working on at the time.

3. Come to meetings and mediation prepared. If you are prepared and organized for a meeting it will take less time. It will also allow you to get more accomplished at the meeting. Try taking a few minutes to write an agenda of what you want to discuss at the meeting.

4. Don’t fight over the blender. Remember that most items can be replaced. It does not make since to spend $1000 to fight over the $25 blender that Grandma Jones gave you for a wedding present.

5. Be willing to compromise. Agreed divorces cost less money, period. Generally, the more that you are willing to compromise on, the faster your divorce will proceed. There is life after divorce and the best revenge you can have is to live well.

Can You Date During Divorce?

Can you date while you are getting a divorce? Sure. Should you? No!

During the divorce process you are still married. If you date during divorce your spouse may sue you for divorce based on adultery. This can cause you problems with child custody and alimony.

If you have filed for divorce based on adultery, dating may destroy your grounds for divorce. Your spouse may raise your adultery as a defense. This is called recrimination. This could force you to spend even more money on legal services and court costs.

In the end your divorce will be over in a few months. You have the rest of your life to find that special someone. Do not date during your divorce. If you do date, be prepared to have it used against you in court.

Paternity Fraud Bill Has Proposed Amendments

The controversial paternity fraud bill in the Tennessee Legislature might be undergoing a change next week. House bill HB1523 sponsor representative Campfield proposed an amendment to his bill in the Domestic Relations subcommittee on March 20th.

The proposed law would allow men to stop paying child support if they can prove that they are not the biological father. To learn more about the original bill, read my article Not The Biological Father? No Child Support (Proposed Law).

The amendment that is proposed would keep in place the 5 year statute of limitations for fathers that were never married to the mother. It would expand the time on the statute of limitations if the couple had been married. Under the amendment the bill would not apply in three situations:

1. In cases of legal adoption
2. Where a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity had been made
3. If the man had actual knowledge that he was not the biological father at the time a child support order was entered.

The committee will meet again next week in order to consider the amendment.

How to Prepare for Divorce

Al Nye of the Maine Divorce Law Blog, has a great article entitled A Dozen Things To Consider Before Filing For Divorce. The article covers many of things that you should consider before filing divorce papers on your spouse. He also gives steps that you can follow that will lead to a more favorable outcome. If you are considering a divorce check out the link above.

How Can You Collect Child Support If Your Ex Stops Paying?

A petition for civil contempt is one of the most effective ways to force a parent to pay child support if they simply have stopped paying. A petition for contempt is a document that asks the court to hold the parent in contempt for failing to pay child support. The court is given the power to hold the parent in contempt under Tenn. Code Ann. 29-9-104.

You may start the process by having your Tennessee lawyer draft the petition and filing it with the court. The delinquent parent (defendant) is then served with a copy and ordered to appear in court on a certain date to answer. If the defendant cannot afford an attorney, they may ask the court to appoint one for them. The defendant will be required to complete a form called the Uniform Affidavit of Indigency. This document helps the court determine if the defendant really cannot afford an attorney. The next step is a hearing before the court.

At the hearing you must show several things in order to hold the defendant in contempt. You must show that there was an order requiring the defendant to pay child support (if you are divorced this will probably be in your final decree). You must show that the defendant failed to follow the order by not paying child support. These first two are usually fairly easy to establish. The third item that must be established is that the defendant was willful and deliberate in not paying child support. This basically means that they could have paid child support but didn't. For example, if the defendant did not pay because they were in prison, they may have a defense.

If the defendant is held in contempt, the court can fine and/or incarcerate them in the county jail. Punishment for contempt  can be up to 10 days for each count. If a defendant has missed 5 payments, then they could go to jail for 50 days. In addition, the court may award the petitioner a judgment for the unpaid child support.

Proposed Law Would Make Couples Wait One Year to Divorce

A bill has been introduced in the Tennessee Legislature that would require parties seeking a divorce based on irreconcilable differences to wait one year to divorce. House bill HB0438 and senate bill SB0428 were filed by Representative DuBois and Senator Stanley.

Under the current law there is a waiting period of 60 days for a divorce based on irreconcilable differences if there are no unmarried minor children. If there are minor children the waiting period is 90 days from the time of filing. The proposed law would increase the waiting period for parties with children. If the children are between 15 and 18 years of age, the waiting period would be increased to 180 days. If there are children under the age of 15 then the time period would be increased to one year.

Senator Paul Stanley (bill sponsor) is quoted in the Tennessean as saying "I think divorce is far to convenient in our society". The Tennessean has a full story on the proposed law and has some responses from lawmakers in the state.

One of the problems with this legislation is that it has the potential to increase divorce costs dramatically. Generally the longer a divorce goes on, the more the costs increase for the parties.

Parenting Plan

The parenting plan is a document that divides custody, visitation, and decision making between the parents. This post will go over the more common items that are included in a Tennessee Parenting plan.

One of the main items in the parenting plan is the residential schedule. The residential schedule defines who the children will reside with during the school year, vacations, holidays, special occasions, and any limitations when visiting with a parent. The plan can award holidays such as Thanksgiving to the father every even year and to the mother every odd year. The parents can even agree that some holidays will be given to one parent every year. Usually a plan will define what time a holiday begins and what time it ends. It is important to have a detailed plan to prevent problems with interpretation later.

The next step in a plan is to assign decision making between the parents. Major decisions such as education or religious upbringing can be assigned to one parent or jointly. Day to day decision making is usually given to the parent that the child is residing with at the time the decision needs to be made. If certain decisions are especially important to a parent, this is the time to make that known and reach an agreement.

The next major item in a parenting plan is child support. This area states which parent will pay child support and in what amount. Child support is calculated using the state guidelines which is based on the income shares model. This section will also explain which parent is responsible for maintaining health insurance on the child. If a parent is required to have life insurance during the child's minority, it will also be listed here.

A provision for dispute resolution is generally included in a parenting plan. Many plans provide for disputes between the parties to go through mediation before going back to court. This provision should also state who is responsible for costs of mediation or arbitration.

When Can I Get Remarried After My Divorce?

After an absolute divorce is final the parties are free to remarry under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-124. A divorce is final after the court issues the final decree granting the divorce and the period for appeal has passed. The appeal period for a divorce in Tennessee is usually about 30 days. After the period has passed the parties are free to remarry. It is best to contact the court after the period has passed just to make sure a last minute appeal was not filed.

Tennessee used to have a law that a divorced party could not marry a person they were having an affair with that caused a divorce based on adultery. This is no longer the case.

Tennessee will not recognize another states restriction on remarriage if an absolute divorce has been granted. Because a restriction on divorce is seen as penal, Tennessee is not bound by the full faith and credit requirement.

The Divorce Process

The divorce process starts with the filing of a complaint (sometimes called a petition for divorce). The divorce complaint will identify the parties, state grounds for divorce, and request the court to grant a divorce. Under Tennessee law certain statistical information must be included in the complaint. This information includes: the full names of the parties, social security numbers, date of separation, information about any children, where the parties are employed, and the number of previous marriages.

The complaint must be filed with a summons. The summons is served with a copy of the complaint on the defendant spouse. The summons informs the defendant that they have 30 days to file an answer to the complaint. It also informs the defendant who the plaintiff’s lawyer is so that they may serve a copy of the answer on the attorney.

The next step in the divorce process is the answer (or response). The answer allows the defendant to admit or deny allegations that are made in the divorce complaint. If an answer is filed, the divorce will proceed to the next step.

The third step of the process is usually discovery or settlement negotiations. If the parties decide to try and settle the divorce without trial there are several options. The attorneys for the parties can meet and discuss settlement or one of the parties can request mediation. Generally divorces that settle are far less costly than those that go to trial. If the parties do not initiate settlement negotiations, then the process of discovery begins.

After discovery, if no settlement has been reached the case will go to trial. At trial both sides will present evidence to help the judge make decisions. The judge must decide (1) If a divorce will be granted (2) How will the property and debt be divided (3) Will alimony be awarded and if so how much and what kind (4) If there are children, who will receive custody, child support, visitation, etc.

When may a child decide which parent they want to live with?

I am asked quite frequently “at what age may a child decide whom to live with after a divorce”. The answer is 18 (the age of majority). Until a child becomes an adult they may not decide on their own which parent to live with after divorce. In Tennessee, if a child is 12 years of age or older the judge must hear testimony from the child (either in court or in chambers) as to the preference of the child. However the judge is under no obligation to place the child in their preferred home. The preference of the child is merely one factor that the judge will consider in awarding custody to the primary residential parent. The main consideration that the judge uses to determine custody is the best interest of the child. The preference of the child is only one consideration in determining what is in the best interest of the child.