Custody-Visitation-Support-Paternity

Nashville Attorney Lisa Ewing

How does the court decide custody and child support?

Nashville Attorney Skilled in Changing Custody, Child Support or Alimony

Nashville-Area Lawyer Helping Families Establish Child Custody and Support Agreements As parents, we love our children. No one intends for children and parental rights to become a source of contention in a divorce, legal separation, or in a nonmarital relationship. At the same time, your relationships with your children are the most important issues to loving parents, and you need an attorney who will fight to protect your right to parent your child and be part of your child’s life.

Determining paternity, getting the right parenting agreements — child custody and visitation — and child support orders in place are the foundation for successful parenting after separation or when you and the other parent no longer share a home. As an attorney who practices family law, Lisa Millican Ewing is committed to protecting the best interests of your children and promoting your goal of fair child custody, visitation and support arrangements.


Why Hire a Family Law Attorney

Learn more

Do I need a lawyer if my spouse has a lawyer?  

What about using forms online? Does that work?


STEPPARENT ADOPTION

Learn more

How do I adopt my step child?

Can I terminate the other parent’s rights?

At the Ewing Law Office LLC, we provide legal services to divorcing and unmarried parents who need assistance with child custody, visitation and support issues. We encourage parents to put conflicts aside and focus on their children’s well-being when possible. When conflicts cannot be resolved, we provide aggressive, experienced advocacy.orders-of-protection/

For a phone consultation about your child custody, visitation or support issue, or to set up an appointment at our Nashville office, contact us today. We represent clients in Davidson, Rutherford, Sumner, Wilson, and Williamson Counties and throughout Middle Tennessee.

Safeguarding Children’s Interests in Custody and Visitation

Nashville lawyer Lisa Millican Ewing works closely with each client to establish positive child custody and parenting arrangements. Whether we are protecting the mother’s or the father’s rights, our goals are to promote the children’s best interests from the perspectives of our clients and to set up the arrangements with minimal conflict.

Parenting orders include both physical and legal custody. Parenting orders address decision making for the child in matters involving the child’s education, non-emergency health care, religious upbringing and extracurricular activities. The court may award joint decision making involving both parents, or sole decision making with one parent. Every family’s situation is unique, and it is possible to negotiate many different physical custody arrangements. For example:

  • Sole custody: The children live with one parent. In these situations, it is not in the children’s best interest to have unsupervised parenting time with the other parent.
  • Primary custody: The children live primarily with one of the parents and the other parent has standard visitation rights, including overnights, holidays and summer vacations.
  • Joint custody: The children split their time living with both parents. In rare cases, parents may chose to change their living situation (moving between living in the family home and in an apartment) rather than have their children move.
  • Split custody: Each parent assumes custody of a different child.

Grandparent and Stepparent Visitation Rights

A court will award grandparents and stepparents visitation rights under certain circumstances. We can help you determine whether your situation fits within the following parameters.

The court may award stepparents visitations rights if the stepparent is paying child support, has an established relationship with the child, and it is found to be in the best interest of the child to award visitation.

Grandparent visitation cases are very fact-specific. The court evaluates the importance of the grandparent in the child’s life, and it takes into consideration if the child was raised in the grandparents’ home or had a close relationship for a minimum of 12 months.

Tennessee Attorney Helping Develop Appropriate Child Support Orders

In Tennessee, child support is calculated by a standard formula which takes into account each parent’s net income and child-related expenses such as costs for day care, school and medical insurance. Attorney Ewing’s accounting background is a valuable asset for clients who need to ensure their child support is based on a fair and complete picture of both parents’ income and expenses.

When your financial or living circumstances change, you may be able to obtain a modification of your child support order. Attorney Ewing can assist you in petitioning for one.

Contact a Nashville Attorney Skilled in Family Law

If you have questions about sole or primary custody, contact us experienced Nashville lawyer Lisa Millican Ewing for guidance in your child custody case. We offer initial phone or office consultations. Same-day, evening, and weekend appointments are available at our office, which is conveniently located one block from the Davidson County historic courthouse. Our fees are reasonable and based upon the Tennessee Supreme Court rules. We accept credit cards for our services.