No engaged couple goes into a marriage planning to get divorced—but maybe they should. As a Tennessee bride-to-be I am certainly more concerned with flower arrangements and dress fittings than I am with whether the marriage will eventually sour. Unfortunately, the romance and excitement of planning a perfect wedding often…
With the average age of marriage increasing, people are bringing more and more assets into a marriage. With that in mind, you should consider how to protect those assets in the event of a divorce. People have a tendency to scoff at the idea of a prenuptial agreement, also known…
Kids Are Expensive $!$ It is commonly said that one of the most expensive choices that can be made in life is having children. According to CBS News, the cost of raising a child from birth to age seventeen is approximately $310,000![i] In Tennessee the payment of child support is…
Suing Your Ex for Defamation Over the course of my nearly ten years practicing in defamation and privacy law, I have been asked on numerous occasions if it is possible to file suit against a former spouse for defamation. This question has recently popped up with a fervor due to…
Am I Eligible for an Annulment in Tennessee? When a couple seeks to end their marriage in Tennessee, the termination of the marriage is generally accomplished through divorce. The divorce process usually commences with one spouse filing for divorce in a Tennessee court of competent jurisdiction. Once the divorce litigation…
U.S. Military retirement benefits allow military service members to elect to purchase a Survivor Benefit Plan (“SBP”).¹ SBP was created by Congress in 1972 and has been amended several times. The SBP is a monthly annuity that, upon the service member’s death, will be paid to the service member’s designated…
Divorce Law Basics Lawyers label divorce cases according to the complexity of issues that must be resolved prior to the granting of a decree and/or to the degree of contention that exists between the two opposing parties. An uncontested divorce is one in which both spouses seek a divorce and…
In many marriages, one spouse will be the primary breadwinner. If a couple is happily married, a significant disparity in income is often not a cause for concern, but if the couple decides to divorce, the lesser earning spouse is at a financial disadvantage and may wonder if he or…
The marriage is over but the divorce lingers on. Perhaps you are one who has now reached a high level of frustration because you still can’t get on with your life, because you and your ex-spouse are deadlocked on every issue, and because your divorce is dragging along at a…
Alimony – A Primary Issue in Divorce For better or worse, nearly half of marriages in the United States end in divorce. Although the exact statistics on divorce fluctuate slightly from year to year and state to state, the residents of Tennessee are no strangers to breaking the bonds of…