February 2009
MemphisDivorce.com e-newsletter
The MemphisDivorce.com e-Newsletter is a service provided by Crone & Mason PLC's Family Law Practice Group to clients, friends, and persons requesting family law updates through e-mail from: www.MemphisDivorce.com. With offices in Brentwood and Memphis, Tennessee we serve Middle and West TN, Northern Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas.
MemphisDivorce.com / / Meet the Team / / Areas we Serve
Christina Pitts: Mission Possible
As a family law lawyer, Christina Pitts, an associate at Crone & Mason PLC's Brentwood office, is a true advocate for her clients. Christina's goodwill, however, extends far beyond the courtroom. Just this past summer, Christina and her two eldest sons went on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico to minister to homeless children at Rancho De Sus Ninos.
While the economic forecast in the U.S. may appear bleak, there are an estimated three million people living in the Tijuana area with an average pay of eight dollars per day. Due to negligible legislative assistance, the poor are generally unable to improve their socio-economic status. With little hope and fewer prospects, many families end up abandoning their children.
Christina and her children soon became immersed in their morning assignment, helping build a sidewalk around a newly constructed, unfinished hospice. Their daily work consisted of mixing rock, sand and water in pits and loading the finished mixture into the wheelbarrows for pouring.
"After six days of very hard work, we didn't even come close to finishing the sidewalk," Christina says. "That, in and of itself, was a huge lesson of appreciating all that we have."
The rest of the days were spent traveling to various day cares, youth centers, churches and orphanages to minister to both the children and the adults in the community. At the end of the mission, Christina and her family had the opportunity to sponsor a child. They fittingly chose a young woman named Patricia, whose career ambition is to become an attorney someday.
"The experience not only changed the way I view my life but changed the way my boys view their world: a lesson of appreciation, generosity, and faith to last a lifetime," Christina says.
Miles Mason, Sr.: Practicing What He Preaches, Once Again
 For nearly a decade, Miles Mason has been a prolific speaker on topics such as forensic accounting and business valuation. Having just regained his CPA license, Miles now belongs to a doubly-qualified group of professionals - attorneys who are also certified public accountants.
"My early career is rooted in accounting," Miles says, adding, "Having that background gives me the opportunity to take a broader approach when representing a client. It's a particular advantage to me to be able to understand the accountant's perspective when working on family law cases with complex financial assets and issues."
Through his involvement with the American Bar Association's Family Law Section, where he serves as liason to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Miles knew having both professional designations was important to both his business and his clients.
While his main focus is devoted to practicing family law, Miles says learning and speaking about various accounting topics will continue to be an important part of his legal practice.
FYI: Credit Due
 As part of the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008”, Congress created a new, temporary federal income tax credit to provide an incentive for first-time homebuyers. The credit is up to $7,500.00 for buying a home between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009.
This tax credit is required to be repaid without interest in equal installments of 6.67% of the total credit each year for 15 years beginning the year after the tax credit is claimed.
In a divorce-related transfer of the primary residence, the former spouse that gets the home becomes liable for paying any subsequent remaining installments.
See www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq.php for more information.
Family Law Case Histories of Note
James M. Walker v. Jenny C. (Walker) Stevens - M2007-02858-COA-R3-CV View Robertson County - Father, primary residential parent of the two children of the parties, filed a petition for contempt against Mother alleging failure to pay child support and medical bills; Father also sought modification of the child support award. In response, Mother filed a counter-petition seeking to be named primary residential parent as to the daughter only, asserting that there had been a material change in circumstances justifying such relief. Following a hearing, the trial court ordered a recalculation of child support but otherwise denied the relief requested by both parties. Mother appealed the trial court’s determination that she failed to prove a material change in circumstances and the court’s exclusion of the court reporter during the testimony of daughter. Finding no reversible error, the Appellate Court affirmed the decision of the trial court.
Mary Hendon Atkins v. Gregory John Motycka - M2007-02260-COA-R3-CV View Davidson County - In this divorce action, the husband appealed the trial court’s award of alimony in solido, an upward deviation in child support, and the issuance of a permanent injunction against his mistress. The trial court awarded the wife alimony in solido in the amount of $360,000, which was satisfied with an assignment of the husband’s equity in the marital residence. The trial court made an upward deviation in child support, requiring the husband to pay more than twice the presumptive amount. The trial court also made the husband’s mistress an involuntary third party and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting her from having any contact with the wife or the parties’ children. The husband contended the assignment of his equity in the marital residence as alimony in solido constituted an inequitable distribution in the martial property, the upward deviation in child support was not justified, and the trial court lacked jurisdiction to issue an injunction against his mistress. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the award of alimony in solido, reversed the upward deviation in child support because the record failed to establish specific facts that justified a deviation from the presumptive amount of child support, and vacated the permanent injunction issued against the husband’s mistress because the injunction was void due to the fact the trial court did not have jurisdiction over her.
Angie L. Gleaves v. Gary W. Gleaves - M2007-01820-COA-R3-CV View Wilson County - In this divorce action, Wife contends that the trial court erred in ordering the marital home sold; finding Husband’s down payment on the marital home to be separate property; failing to award her alimony; and failing to award her counsel fees. The Appellate Court affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Marn Suzanne Larsen-Ball vs. William Gordon Ball - E2007-02220-COA-R3-CV View Knox Cuonty - This appeal concerned the division of a marital estate following the dissolution of an eighteen-year marriage. The principal asset at issue was a $17 million attorney’s fee received by Husband seven months after Wife filed for divorce. The trial court classified the fee as a marital asset. Husband contended this was error because he had not been awarded the fee when Wife filed for divorce and insisted that it is his separate property. Both parties also appealed the trial court’s distribution of the marital estate. The Court of Appeals found that the trial court correctly classified the attorney’s fee as marital property and affirmed the division of the marital estate.
Stephanie Jan Clifton Solima v. David John Solima - M2008-00528-COA-R3-CV View Williamson County - Father appealed a criminal contempt conviction for failure to abide by provision in Parenting Plan Order governing summer residential time with minor son. According to Father, the Parenting Plan was ambiguous so that the length of his summer residential period with his son was unclear. Finding that the provision in the Parenting Plan Order was clear, specific, and unambiguous, the Court of Appeals affirmed Father’s contempt conviction.
State of Tennessee, Department of Children's Services v. Cedric Renee Mims and Angela Brown - W2007-02436-COA-R3-PT View Shelby County - This appeal involves the termination of parental rights. The children were taken into protective custody soon after the birth of the youngest child, and were ultimately found to be dependent and neglected. The father was not appointed an attorney at this stage of the proceedings. Both the mother and father underwent psychological evaluations; both were found to be in the mild range of mental retardation and lacking the mental capacity to care for their children. DCS sought termination of their parental rights, alleging several grounds, including abandonment and mental incapacity. After a hearing, the lower court terminated the parental rights of both parents. The father appealed, arguing that DCS did not prove abandonment and mental incompetence by clear and convincing evidence. He also argued that the failure to appoint an attorney for him during the dependency and neglect proceedings was a denial of his right to due process. The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court’s finding on the ground of mental incompetence, and also found that any violation of Father’s due process rights in relation to the dependency and neglect proceedings were remedied by procedural protections in place in the termination proceedings. Therefore, the Court of Appeals affirmed the termination of the father’s parental rights.
Why Do We Pick These Particular Cases? Each month, many appellate decisions are available from which to choose. We include in the e-Newsletter all family law cases from the Supreme Court of Tennessee, most appellate cases originating from Shelby County Circuit and Chancery Courts, and a handful of cases from across the state and occasionally from across the U.S. Our goal is to provide an array of cases most likely of interest to our readers.
Upcoming Crone & Mason PLC Seminars
Miles Mason, Sr. current and upcoming Tennessee CLE opportunities:
ONLINE CLE - Intermediate Accounting for Lawyers in conjunction with the Tennessee Bar Association's TennBarU, will take place on January 21st from noon-1 p.m. CST. The one-hour webcast provides an overview of accounting practice and theories specifically for business litigators, estate lawyers, and family lawyers who handle business valuation, fraud, and income determination issues. The presentation assists attorneys prepare document discovery requests, analyze results, and plan depositions of accountants by increasing understanding of the accounting environment and its terminology. Specific topics include: Accounting Information Systems; Financial Statements; General and Subsidiary Ledgers; Audits, Reviews, and Compilations; Forensic Accountants; Understanding Accounting in Relation to the Ownership Interest. For sign-up information, please go to https://www.tnbaru.com/CLE/catalog_course_details.php?course=5824.
WEBCAST - Advanced Accounting for Lawyers, a CLE seminar given by Miles Mason , in conjunction with the Tennessee Bar Association's TennBarU, will take place on March 25 from noon-1 p.m. CST. The one-hour webcast provides an overview of accounting practice and theories specifically for business litigators, estate lawyers, and family lawyers who handle business valuation, fraud, and income determination issues. The presentation includes specific discussion of information flow from transaction detail and general ledgers to financial statements. Specific topics include: Theories Behind Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP); Cash v.s. Accrual Basis; Normalizing Adjustments; Best Places to Look for Problems in a Subject Company's Records; Reading a Tax Return to Discover Assets - Step by Step. For sign-up information, please go to https://www.tnbaru.com/CLE/catalog_course_details.php?course=5825.
Real Boston Legal - Mason to speak at NACVA's 2009 Sixteenth Annual Consultants Conference: "Mock Deposition for a Business Valuation Engagement" by Robert Vance, Miles Mason, Sr., & Brent McDade on May 27-30, 2009. Register at the NACVA's website,
Crone & Mason PLC
Clark Tower / 5100 Poplar Ave. / Suite 3200 / Memphis, TN 38137
Memphis - 901.683.1850
Nashville/Brentwood - 615.369.0640
If you received a benefit from this free service of the Crone & Mason PLC Family Law Practice Group, please consider making a donation to St. Jude's Children's Hospital: http://www.stjude.org/donate.
To unsubscribe from the MemphisDivorce.com E-Newsletter
reply to this email with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
©2009 Crone & Mason PLC
|
