Memphis attorney Vincent Perryman and Bill Jones discuss Post Divorce Litigation

Memphis attorney Vincent Perryman discusses Post Divorce Litigation with Bill Jones and what it entails. Post divorce litigation is generally more involved than the divorce itself. The main area of difficulty in post divorce litigation involves issues that arise with the permanent parenting plan. When two parties get a divorce in Memphis, TN they enter into a parenting plan. This is a document that dictates the rules of raising a child, the amount of time a child spends with each parent and the financial management of raising the child. Children aren't treated like property. In a divorce assets and debts are divided up equally, but with a child it is not as straight forward. For example, if a child lives in Memphis with their mother and the father lives in Missouri, the parenting plan may state the child will spend one week a month with the father. This is ok until the child enters school. This will be a problem for attendance in school. That is why the parenting plan needs to be adjusted. In order to change the parenting plan a petition to modify can be filed, but it is suggested to sit down with your ex-spouse and discuss a solution to the problem without involving the court. If you can agree, a contract can be drawn up to replace the existing plan and it will be filed with the court. If you can't agree upon a solution go to mediation and see if a neutral third party can come up with a solution that can replace the parenting plan. The last action to change a parenting plan, if no other solution can be reached, should be to take it to the judge. If an agreement can be arranged between two parties, the purpose of getting an attorney involved and filing it with the courts is to get it legally drafted. If it is in writing and filed with the court, in the event of a disagreement later there are no misunderstandings. This gives a third party authority to enforce the new contract.

Child support is setup based on the current situation of both parties at the time of divorce. Since these situations change, someone loses a job or remarries, the child support initially setup will need to be altered. Click here for a child support calculator. You can enter information to see if a change in your income will determine if the child support can be modified. This is something that should be done once a year. Most divorce decrees state W2 forms should be exchanged between ex-spouses no later than April 15th. Generally a 15% change upwards or downwards on either side will dictate a change on the amount of child support. Child support generally ends when a child turns 18 or when a child graduates from high school. Sometimes child support can continue beyond 18 if there is a special need for the child when they can't care for themselves. Even if you don't feel that you want child support, it is a good idea to accept it. It is for the child not for you. Another big area that involves changing a divorce decree would involve when a house is jointly owned and put on the market but never sells. Some other modifications will occur when something changes like a job loss, inheriting money, or some other change in financial standing. This will either increase or decrease the alimony or child support payments. Some divorce decrees prevent this from happening. In order to make a change proof will need to be given to show a support change is necessary.

Contempt petitions are filed to get the court to intervene if the ex-spouse is not complying with the orders of the divorce decree. Generally in the divorce decree there is an item that states if a party has to file a contempt petition in order to enforce the divorce decree the offending party will be held responsible for reasonable attorney's fees. This will help when negotiating with the ex-spouse. It is a good idea to comply with the divorce decree orders. Since it is written in a contract if you do not abide by the contract the court will almost always side with the offended party. In events that every effort is being attempted to comply with these divorce decree orders, but you are unable to successfully comply with them, the courts will look favorably on you. If the offenses are trivial, such as a tea pot was not given to you, it is better to just go buy a new tea pot. When you start tying up the courts with these trivial instances, they will not look favorable on you when it does matter. It is always good to have a good Memphis Attorney to draft a document that can be changed and also cover as many issues as possible in the divorce decree. A new provision has been enabled that states if the married party enters into a financial agreement with a lender, both parties are responsible for the debt regardless of marital status. This is something that needs to be settled in the divorce decree in order to have one of the two parties refinance the financial agreement into their name solely. Otherwise, both parties are still responsible. Read more about Memphis Divorce.