Child Custody

There is a lot of advice out there on the internet about what to do and not do during a custody battle. High on the list of things not to do is "skip states with your child" while the custody battle is waging on. Not only will that likely cost you the custody that you...

What makes a parent a parent? Is it biology alone that makes the cut? A Tennessee court has made another, more final, ruling on what many people feel like should have never been an issue in the first place: whether or not married gays who have a child via artificial...

What do you do about custody if you suspect that your divorcing spouse is mentally ill? This can be tricky ground to tread, because you can't just make accusations and expect the court to believe you. At the same time, you may be genuinely worried about the safety of...

What if you and your ex-spouse simply can't agree on how exactly to raise the children? If you find yourself in constant battles with your ex over things like bedtimes and bath toys, it makes co-parenting extremely difficult. It can also make for a very stressful and...

When a married heterosexual woman is pregnant, her husband is automatically presumed to be the other parent of her child under the law -- even if there's evidence to the contrary. Overcoming that presumption is actually no little task and the subject of many legal...

If you're not the residential parent -- the parent with primary physical custody in Tennessee -- you may be faced with a difficult problem. How do you stay connected to your child when you don't live with him or her on a regular basis anymore? Unlike many other...

In a hotly contested legal divorce between a lesbian couple, the Tennessee court did what many consider the only rational decision: They granted the non-biological mother the same parenting and custodial rights and responsibilities that a man would have over a child...

In some states, having a chronic illness with severe episodes or a fatal diagnosis puts you in danger of losing your children to the state's foster care system if you become incapacitated at any point -- no matter how temporary. In Tennessee, however, the Standby...

It might surprise you to learn that the Tennessee Relocation Statute allows the parent with primary physical custody of a child to relocate more or less at will -- unless the other parent objects and can prove to the court that there's a good reason to deny the move....

After an agonizing 10-month battle to get her son returned from relatives in India, a Tennessee mother finally has her child back in her arms. The traumatic separation of mother and son started after the child's parents visited relatives in India. Since the couple was...