Legal Services and the Intersection of Business & Life.
When parents are unmarried or in the process of separating, it raises many questions, such as, Who has custody of a child if there is no court order? In Tennessee, the default rule is that both parents have custody if the child is born during the marriage. But if the child is born out of wedlock, Tennessee law automatically awards…
When people receive court papers, they often feel angry or inconvenienced. Perhaps you feel like you’ve already worked out an arrangement about your child’s custody with your ex, and you don’t understand why they’re bringing a custody case. However annoyed or inconvenienced you may feel about receiving custody court papers, do not ignore them. If you ignore these papers, a…
If you are divorcing your spouse and have kids together, the divorce process is more complicated than if no kids were involved. When you have kids, you can’t just split your property and go your separate ways. Child custody and child support need to be established. Naturally, people going through this process have questions about how child support is determined.…
Though divorce brings many stressors, child custody battles are often the most difficult. Some parents can amicably share custody of their children, while others argue over every minute of their children’s time. Hostile child custody situations require legal intervention for the physical and emotional safety of the children and parents. At Batson Nolan PLC, we’ve been helping Tennessee families resolve…
Tennessee family law courts encourage parents to work together to come up with a custody and visitation schedule that will be in the best interests of the child. When parents cannot work out an agreement, a Tennessee court must decide. In Tennessee, family law courts decide two aspects of custody. These are traditionally known as legal custody and physical custody.…
In many child custody cases, the court has to decide parenting time for two biological parents. However, over the decades, the family unit has evolved. Many children are now part of blended families and cared for by non-biological parents. This category can include step-parents, a grandparent, or close family friends. While there are rarely issues when the biological parent and…
Healthy child development requires support from both parents. In a healthy parent/child relationship, parents serve as examples for the child. They nurture their emotional development and capacity to relate to others. When one parent wages war on the other, and recruits the child to their side, that child suffers. They may experience feelings of alienation toward the targeted parent. Unfortunately,…
If you have broken up with your child’s other parent, chances are you and your ex struggle to get along. Chances are also that you want your child to experience as little stress as possible after the breakup. Often, the hope of reducing stress can seem impossible when you have to meet your ex for custody exchanges. Tennessee family courts…
Many people make the mistake of too closely associating child custody and child support. There is a common misconception that if you pay child support, your ex somehow “owes” you visitation time. Or conversely, the recipient of child support might be tempted to “withhold” the child from the other parent if that parent falls behind on child support. These misperceptions…
The state of Tennessee strongly encourages cooperation between parents when working toward an amicable child custody arrangement. Courts prefer parents to resolve domestic issues like custody plans between the parties. Judicial interference is a last resort. But if despite their best efforts, parents cannot agree, then the courts will step in and make the decisions for them—whether the parents like…