Therapy: Who needs it?
Tuesday, April 16th, 2019
All of us could probably use therapy at some point. As a family law firm, we suggest it to many clients as a way to cope with divorce-related life changes like adjusting to living alone, sharing custody of their children with their ex or having to find a new job. For some, there is stigma […]
Read More »State Classifications of Struggling Children
Monday, April 15th, 2019
Parenting is harder than it looks. People across the state of Tennessee often find themselves struggling to provide the care that their children need to function as members of society. When parents are unable to provide that level of care for their children, for whatever reason, the state may step in. When this happens, the […]
Read More »What the drug crisis means for grandparents
Friday, March 29th, 2019
Due to the large number of parents who struggle with drug addiction, particularly in Tennessee, many children are placed in households headed by relatives other than their parents. Nearly 8 million children across the country lived in these non-nuclear households in 2017, and many of those households were headed by grandparents. Although kids would ideally […]
Read More »First in Adoption Law Changes
Friday, November 2nd, 2018
Only a few months ago, the governor signed Tennessee’s First in Adoption bill resulting in several key modifications pertaining to adoptions and termination of parental rights in our state. The first major change is an entirely revamped surrender form. A surrender is what parties execute in order to voluntarily terminate their parental rights to a […]
Read More »Positively Putative: Fathers and Adoption
Friday, September 28th, 2018
Adopting a child, as rewarding as it can be in the end, can also be fraught with frustration and confusion throughout the enduring process. One cause of this is the over forty applicable legal rules that can make crafting an adoption petition a meticulous task, yet one often overlooked rule regarding putative fathers can derail […]
Read More »How Open Adoption Helps Children
Monday, September 17th, 2018
In Tennessee alone, there are more opioid-overdose deaths occurring on a daily basis than there are traffic fatalities – quite an alarming statistic, as most local readers are familiar with the treacherousness that is I-40 (1). Yet while most people can conceive of the variety of ways that opioid addiction wreaks havoc on a victim’s […]
Read More »My ex abandoned our child. How do I terminate their rights?
Friday, December 8th, 2017
Many parents, unfortunately, aren’t “parental material.” Some have drug problems. Some just haven’t grown up. Some have anger management issues. For many reasons, parents believe that their child should not be around the other parent. Ever. No chance. They want finality, to be able to move on with their lives, or for the other parent […]
Read More »DCS took my kids. What now?
Sunday, August 27th, 2017
DCS just took my kids. Can they at least stay with my family while all this gets sorted out? Yes. When the Department of Children’s Services takes children from a parent, they are required to find somewhere for the children to be while their investigation is underway. The law requires DCS to place the children […]
Read More »What can I do if I’m worried about my grandkids?
Sunday, August 27th, 2017
“I’m worried about my grandkids. I don’t think they are getting taken care of, and I don’t know what to do.” “I don’t know where my grandchildren’s parents are, and honestly, I don’t care. I just want to be able to take care of my grandchildren.” “The Department of Children’s Services just took my grandchildren […]
Read More »What warrants a child’s placement for adoption?
Monday, November 14th, 2016
There are three basic ways a child can get placed for adoption. The first way is if the biological and legal parent “surrender” their rights. In that case, the parent would sign a legally binding document, agreeing to make their child available for adoption by anyone. This is the simplest way to effect an adoption, […]
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