Tennessee Divorce Legal Questions

There isn't really enough information to answer your question.  In general, if you have reason to believe that your child support is set incorrectly, your best course of action is to consult with an attorney about filing a petition to modify child support.  In order to modify child support, you will need to show that there has been a substantial variance of at least 15% between what was originally ordered and what would be ordered using current information when calculating child support pursuant to the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines promulgated by the Tennessee Department of Human Services.  If the issue is that your employer is not withholding child support from your paycheck, you can always pay child support by making the payment yourself directly to the State of Tennessee's Child Support Receipting Unit.  The website below has information that can provide you with how to do so, and it includes options to pay electronically or by mail: https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/for-families/child-support-services/child-support-payment-information/paying-child-support.html Be sure to include both the Court Docket Number, the TCSES Number, and follow the directions set forth in the website above carefully to ensure that you get credit for your child support payment.... Read More

Purchasing a home either during the pendency of a divorce or in anticipation of a divorce can be highly problematic for a number reasons.  If a divorce complaint has already been served upon you, purchasing the home might constitute a violation of the mutual statutory injunction that automatically goes into effect upon the filing of the divorce.  Additionally, if you purchase your home prior to the divorce being finalized, the home will likely be considered marital property subject to equitable division in the divorce case.  If you commingle separate funds with marital funds when purchasing the home, you might be transmutating your separate property into marital property.  I would recommend discussing the facts of your case with an experienced divorce attorney in order to determine your best course of action moving forward given the particular facts of your case.... Read More

You will most likely want to contact a divorce attorney in your local area (or the area where your wife filed, if different). Your post doesn't give any information as to where you or your divorce action is located, but if you want to contact me to see if I can help you or provide you with a reference, feel free to do so.Lee Jackson (615) 669-3591 lee@leejacksonlaw.com... Read More

Yes, alimony is absolutley an available option for divorcing parties in Tennessee. There are various types of alimony, so the type and amount of alimony is factually driven from case to case. Unlike child support, there's no formula for calculating alimony, and it will depend on multiple factors including (but not limited to), the need and ability to pay of the parties, the length of marriage, and even who is at fault for the divorce. Most divorce cases are settled out of court but if the parties cannot reach an agreement, it will be up to a judge to determine if and how much alimony is going to be. To get more information about alimony in your specific case, you should consult with a local divorce attorney. The marital residence in a divorce is typically a part of the parties' marital assets that are to be equitably (not equally) divided between the parties. There are multiple options when it comes to dealing with marital property. Examples include, but are not limited to: the house could be sold and its equity divided between the parties, it could be granted to one party or the other as their equitable division of the marital property, and/or it could represent a portion of alimony awarded to one party. In some situations real property may be considered to be one party's separate asset. Again, this is something that is going to depend on the specific facts of your case, so you should consult with a local divorce attorney to get an analysis of your specific situation.... Read More

Many people use one attorney. Technically that attorney can represent only one of you, but both parties don't have to hire a lawyer. You could hire someone and Husband could represent himself. There are also lawyers who do "collaborative divorce," which means one lawyer can do it but with some specific rules. That collaborative divorce model is new, and I don't think a lot of lawyers use it. The problem is that if you and your husband start to disagree, the collaborative lawyer has to drop out entirely. If you hire a lawyer and he doesn't, and there are some disagreements, your lawyer just keeps representing you and husband can hire one if he needs one. If you are just 100% sure, no question, that there will be no disagreement you could Google and see who is doing collaborative law. I don't, specifically, but I have been The only attorney on probably hundreds of divorce cases at this point.... Read More

I'm not sure anyone can answer that question without carefully reviewing the actual divorce document. One way of reading your question is that you had retirement from previous employers but that now it's gone, which depending on how it "got gone" could be a problem. I don't know that she would have a direct claim to your new retirement, but if there was money she was supposed to be entitled to and it somehow vanished,Certainly any current assets or income source, like your new retirement, is going to be on her radar.I try to stay away from answers like "you need to speak with a lawyer," but you do.... Read More

The 401k is marital. I'd say the farm is marital at this point. The portion mortgages and the portion you jointly built on are clearest. The un mortgaged 25 acres would require a closer look. Being marital does not mean a court would have to award you half, though that's a starting point. ... Read More

You could try the "do it yourself" forms on the Tennessee Juducial Deoartment website. If you are able to use those, the filing fees will be a couple hundred dollars, and you are legally eligible for a final divorce 60 days after the case is filed. If you end up using an attorney, costs will vary depending on location, but I'd say average is around $2500 for a simple, uncontested divorce with a written agreement.... Read More

If you and your husband can reach a written agreement as to all issues, a court may grant a divorce as soon as 60 days after filing. If there are issues not agreed, including alimony, it will take much longer. Possibly a year or more. If you've financially supported husband since 2013, your case may be a case appropriate for alimony. Husband can waive that, but if he won't you will not have that agreement.... Read More

Most likely the financial aspects of your divorce were final when the time to appeal and/or file any post-trial motions expired. If the new evidence you have is evidence you could have obtained during the divorce, it will not be grounds to reopen your case. There are some VERY limited grounds to reopen a closed case, but a desire to put up more, or different, proof won't be one.... Read More

Lots of issues. Without reading your parenting plan my answers are general, and could change depending on the exact language. As far as your Easter trip, in most cases you could simply have made the kids available at the time and place found in your plan. If a responsible adult known to the kids (your parents/family) took kids to the exchange that should have been fine.    Whether you can relocate or change kids' school will be more complicated. That's a big old maybe and will really depend on the where, why, how, etc.    ... Read More

It depends on the exact terms. If your alimony is a ten year lump sum (alimony in solido), or transitional alimony, it likely cannot be modified or terminated. If it's periodic alimony (alimony in futuras), and the recipient cohabitates, even sat with a platonic roommate, the alimony might be modifiable or even able to terminate. Without reading your order an attorney really cannot tell you more than that.... Read More

You are allowed to negotiate for yourself. The lawyer should talk with you, but they cannot give you any kind of legal advice and they represent your husband only. They likely will not say a great deal to you, though I would say they should certainly hear you out. We are not advised on this page to tell people "you need a lawyer," but if your husband has one and you don't trust what's going on w husband, a lawyer can do things for you it's hard for a litigant to do for themself.... Read More

A Divorce Court judge can order possession of a marital asset, nobody else. If the car was purchased during the marriage, and paid for out of your income, it's marital property. It's 100% legally irrelevant whose name is on the title, loan, etc. That doesn't mean a judge can not decide to let you have the car, but until then, it's marital property. On top of that, in most cases a judge will order "status quo" until a final hearing. That means if she's had the car for eight months and you've been paying, she may well keep it, with you paying, at least until the entry of a final Divorce.... Read More

It is possible for the petitioner to set and serve a final hearing date, and if the respondent does not appear, the court certainly has the option to move forward. To answer whether they will move forward in your case would require someone to review how exactly you were served, and how exactly you were given notice of the hearing. If it was mailed to your address and you just didn't see it or open it, that would still be notice. I don't wanna read between the lines too much, but your question makes me think you have not necessarily been participating in the divorce, at least not as much as your husband.  Court can hold that against a person, especially in scheduling.... Read More

If your Husband is legally eligible for Divorce (most people are, if they want one), the Court cannot consider yourself religion in granting that Divorce. It could very likely affect the financial outcome, however. The more one spouse may be legally injured by the other, the more types of compensation might be available.... Read More

So, your post does not say what part of the great state of Tennessee is home for you. If you specifically google divorce attorney for your area, or for that matter this very website has geographic listings, you should get a number of names and numbers. Call and set up consultations with the two or three that appeal to you the most, and then hire somebody. Depending on where you live, where are your spouse is, etc. So, your post does not say what part of the great state of Tennessee is home for you. If you specifically Google divorce attorney for your area, or for that matter this very website has geographic listings, you should get a number of names and numbers. Call and set up consultations with the two or three that appeal to you the most, and then hire somebody. Depending on where you live, where your spouse is, etc. lawyers in your area will be able to tell you roughly how long this should take and how much it will cost... Read More