Even if you and your spouse are still on fair terms, hashing out a plan for the care and custody of your minor children can be a challenging process. In cases in which the parties cannot work together to effectively co-parent or where there are serious concerns about the parenting ability of one or both parties, disputes can become very complicated indeed. Our attorneys at Rivers Legal Services know how to determine what the real issues and motivations are during negotiation. With experience litigating child custody in Tennessee family courts, we know how the courts tend to apply the state’s highly subjective standards.

Managing any type of child custody arrangement is an ongoing process. Our attorneys provide counsel and representation to parents in the Nashville area from the initial divorce complaint to ongoing modification and enforcement matters after the divorce is final:

• Obtaining full custody — In Tennessee, there is a primary residential parent and an alternate residential parent. The primary residential parent is the parent with whom the children spend the majority of his or her time. In many cases, asking to be the primary residential parent of your children means a fight in court. As litigators, our attorneys represent parents seeking to be the primary residential parent as well as parents resisting his or her spouses’ attempts to shut them out of their children’s lives.
  
  
• Joint custody — The term “joint custody” means different things to different people. In your case, it may mean that you want to have your children 50% of the time. It may also mean that regardless of the residential schedule worked out, you want to have joint decision-making in the major areas of your children’s lives. Even when the parties can agree to joint custody, hashing out the details and deciding who will be the primary residential parent and who will be the alternate residential parent still can be a challenge. We can help willing parents negotiate comprehensive parenting plans while still remaining prepared to litigate if necessary.
  
  
• Custody between unwed parents — Outside the context of marriage, allocating custody between unwed parents raises the additional issue of paternity and other complications. Nevertheless, unwed parents generally enjoy the same rights as divorcing parents.
  
  
• Modifying child custody — While preserving stability for children is important, the law recognizes that situations change and parenting plans and other child custody orders are not written in stone. The law allows changes in the parenting plan, but only upon a showing of a material change of circumstances since the entry of the parenting plan. Proving a material change of circumstances can be a difficult hurdle. At Rivers Legal Services, we assist clients in Nashville and surrounding areas in modifying child custody orders by either negotiating changes and submitting them for court approval or litigating them for modification if an agreement cannot be reached.