Divorce Guide

Tennessee Divorce Custody

• Judges try to determine the parent-child bond and the extent of love and affection between the child and the parent. The emotional support that a parent can provide to the child is analyzed. To whom does the child turn to when the child is upset? This question is analyzed while addressing the issue.
  
  
• The parent who can meet the needs of the child and has interests that blend with the actual wishes of the child is generally awarded custody of the child.
  
  
• For practical purposes of providing a stable home to the child, judges try to determine which parent of the two can provide a stable family unit to the child. The parent who offers a familiar community to the child is generally awarded the custody of the child.
  
  
• TN divorce custody guidelines specify that parental preferences of a child above the age of 12 can be asked by the judges if the courts find the child to be mature enough to give an opinion about his/her preference. Judges try to ensure that the child is under no pressure from either of the parent while expressing such an opinion and the reasoning is based on some logic.
  
  
• Courts also try to assess if there is any occurrence of physical violence in the family where the child is a witness or a victim. Cases of child neglect or child abuse with the parent being the offender are handled with extreme caution. Child custody guidelines in Tennessee make it mandatory that such a parent is not awarded the custody of the child but may only be given visitation rights. These visitations may also be supervised and if the child is found to be negatively impacted by the presence of that parent then the visitation rights may also be forfeited.
  
  
• In all other cases, where the presence of both the parents are necessary and suits the best interests of the child, joint custody is preferred. Here, physical custody is awarded to one parent and the other parent gets the visitation rights. The non-custodial parent is authorized to visit the child in weekends, take the child out in summer holidays and in his vacations.
  
  
• Joint custody is also preferred when the courts find that two parents are willing to cooperate with each other for child care. If a parent is found not complying with visitation orders and also alienating the child from the other parent, then the custody orders may be modified. This is of course, only when such a petition is filed by a parent in the court of Tennessee.
  
  
• TN child support laws are again based on “income shares model”, where the net incomes of both the parents are pooled in to arrive at a child support figure. This amount may vary depending on other financial obligations of the parents, special needs of the child etc. Child support may be terminated when the child reaches the age of 18 or has graduated form high school.

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