Child Custody

Tennessee, like most states, is trying to make shared custody of children the norm. There are two types of custody in Tennessee: Physical custody provides for where the child will live and sleep. It provides for the daily and weekly needs of the child such as feeding the child, seeing that the child goes to…

In Tennessee, the fitness of a parent is a factor in custody decisions. It is also a factor in termination of a parent’s rights altogether. Termination of a parent’s rights usually arises in adoption proceedings. At the core, the Tennessee courts will hesitate to declare a parent unfit to take care of their child. They…

On July 1, 2018, Tennessee’s new parental relocation statute became law. The main difference from prior law is that prior law made it easier for a parent to relocate if the parent who was relocating was spending comparatively equal time with a child as the parent who wasn’t moving. Prior law made it harder for…

In deciding how to assign legal and physical custody, judges always focus on what is in the best interests of the child. Generally, courts like to have parents share legal custody unless there are strong reasons why only parent shouldn’t have any legal custody. One parent is usually granted (primary) residential custody, and the other…

Custody battles can bring out the worst character traits in people who are supposed to be fighting for the best interests of the child. Sometimes, parents get so caught up in their desire to win that they lose sight of the facts of what “winning” a custody battle really means. Are you sure that you…

One of the more complex points of your Tennessee divorce was probably determining your child custody schedule. Coming to agreement on something that works for both parents, and is also in best interest of your child or children, isn’t easy, and sometimes requires the help of a mediator or a divorce court. Typically, visitation schedules…

One of the most important and difficult issues that come up during a divorce is child custody. Divorcing parents must decide the terms for custody, whether it will be joint or sole custody, a schedule for parenting time, and they need to do it in a way that disrupts their children’s lives as little as…

Not being awarded custody of your children, or losing custody of them, is easier than you think. The court’s priority is to make decisions in the best interest if the child. As a parent who desires to get custody of their child in a divorce, if you keep the child’s best interests – not your…

Families can be complicated and, often, parents are not the sole caregivers to their children. Grandparents often have a special relationship with their grandchildren and, in many cases, might function as a parent or legal guardian to a child for some or most of their lives. In Tennessee, there are three specific statutes of family…