2018 TN Legislative Update: Child Marriage, Grandparent Visitation, Orders of Protection, Plus More

At July 30, 2018
By Miles Mason
In Attorney's Fees, Child Support, Domestic Violence, Family Law, Grandparent Rights, Marriage, News
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Immediately apparent from this 2018 legislative update is how busy the Tennessee Assembly has been with revising family law statutes. A series of Public Chapters were signed into law by Governor Haslam earlier this year. The new legislation impacts child marriage, grandparent visitation, orders of protection, parental responsibility for a child’s health insurance coverage, testimony […]

Dad Failed to Show Evidence to Warrant Changing Last Name of Daughter

Tennessee child custody case summary on child’s name change. In re McKenzie Z. The child in this Davidson County, Tennessee, case was born to a single mother in 2008. In 2014, the mother informed the father that he might be the biological father, and this was subsequently confirmed. The mother arranged some joint outings to get […]

Sup. Ct.: Absentee TN Dad Can Sue When Mom Killed in Car Crash

Tennessee child support case summary on inheritance in family law. Kenneth M. Spires v. Haley Reece Simpson The mother and father in this Tennessee case were married, and had one son who was born in 2009. About a month after the child was born, the father abandoned the mother and child. He never returned to […]

Mom Guilty of Criminal Contempt for Disparaging Dad in Front of Kids

At April 09, 2018
By Miles Mason
In After Divorce, Child Custody, Family Law
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Tennessee child custody case summary on contempt after divorce. Sheridan Nichols (formerly Crockett) v. Richard David Crockett, Jr. The parenting plan in this Washington County, Tennessee, case provided that both parents had the right to be free from unwarranted derogatory remarks by the other party in the presence of the child. In 2015, the father had […]

Tennessee Transgender Teen Can Legally Change Name

Tennessee case summary on a minor’s name change in family law. In re Leyna A. The sixteen-year-old minor in this Tennessee case was transgender and was currently undergoing medical transition via hormone therapy from gender female to gender male. Her parents filed a petition to change the child’s name from Leyna Jane to Charlie James, […]

Name Change in Custody Case Hinges on Best Interests of Children

Tennessee case summary on name change in Tennessee family law. Nathan Z. Vinson v. Kristin Denise Ball, et al. In this Cumberland County, Tennessee, child custody case, the biological parents agreed to an order in 2010 naming the mother as the primary residential parent, with the father having visitation rights. The mother sent the two […]

TN Lawyer Sanctioned for Filing Frivolous Contempt Motion in Neglect Case

Tennessee case summary on Rule 11 sanctions against an attorney. In re Carolina M. The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services commenced this case in Williamson County with a petition to find a child to be dependent and neglected. The nonprofit agency involved in the case had in its possession a document that it believed would […]

Rights on Naming Your Child in Tennessee

Laws on naming a child in Tennessee; baby naming laws; how to change child’s last name on birth certificate in Tennessee; name change of a minor in Tennessee; baby naming law. Parents have important rights to naming their children in Tennessee law. Those rights are not without limitation, though. The child’s best interests, along with the […]

TN Supreme Court Affirms Termination of Parental Rights Despite Claim of Ineffective Lawyer

Tennessee case summary on parental rights termination. In re Carrington H. et al. The mother in this Tennessee parental rights termination case gave birth to six children between 1996 and 2004. Even before the birth of the sixth child, Carrington, both the mother and father were in court in Lewis County in a child protection […]

TN Parental Rights Judgment Can Be Upheld, Even Though Initially Void

Tennessee case summary on family law and parental rights termination. Kevin Turner v. Stephanie D. Turner The mother and father in this Tennessee parental rights case were married in 1996 and had two children, born in 1996 and 1998. The father filed for divorce in 1999, and alleged that the mother was addicted to drugs […]