May 2009
MemphisDivorce.com e-newsletter

The MemphisDivorce.com e-Newsletter is a service provided by Miles Mason Family Law Group PLC to clients, friends, and persons requesting family law updates through e-mail from: www.MemphisDivorce.com. with offices in Shelby County and Memphis, Tennessee we serve Middle and West TN and Eastern Arkansas.

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BROTHERLY ADVICE

Miles Mason, Sr. and Patrick B. Mason lent their legal and financial expertise to a packed audience at The Crescent Club in Memphis on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. The duo spoke to area professionals and lawyers on behalf of Memphis Tax Watch.

The discussion centered around prenuptial agreements, which allow persons contemplating marriage to decide in advance for themselves how they want their estates treated in the event of divorce or death. Estate planning attorney Patrick Mason discussed important estate planning concepts and uncovered several often overlooked financial planning opportunities. Divorce lawyer Miles Mason, Sr. discussed current national trends in prenuptial agreements and outlined several of the most important enforcement concerns.

Pictured, from L - R: Patrick Mason, Robert Cremerius (Cremerius Rice Financial Advisors) and Miles Mason, Sr.

Baltimore Conference

Miles was recently a co-producer of a seminar in Baltimore for the American Bar Association’s Family Law Section Spring Conference. The seminar, entitled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Reasonable Compensation (But Were Afraid to Ask)" featured nationally-known business valuation experts from around the country. The panel included Stacy Preston Collins, CPA/ABV, CFF, Bala Cynwyd, Pa.;  Sharyn Maggio, CPA/ABV/CFF, Eatontown, NJ ; and attorney Mario Ventrelli, Chicago, Ill.

The seminar provided an overview and analysis of reasonable compensation issues including: sources of data; how the data is derived; case analysis; the need for additional experts; and “double-dipping” issues.

Family Law Case Histories of Note

Melissa Graves Burton vs. David Leigh Burton - E2007-02904-COA-R3-CV View - Sevier County - In this divorce action, following an evidentiary hearing, the Trial Judge awarded primary residential custody of the parties’ two minor children to the father. The mother appealed and the Court of Appeals affirmed the Judgment of the Trial Court.

Travis Jason Webb vs. Marie Caroline Webb - E2008-00862-COA-R3-CV View - Anderson County - In this post trial divorce proceeding, Marie Caroline Webb (“mother’) and primary residential parent of the parties’ minor child, Tanner, age five, sought to relocate to the Cayman Islands. Travis Jackson Webb (“father”) filed a Petition in opposition to relocation. The trial court granted the application to relocate and father appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed. 

In the Matter of: A.C.S. - M2008-00898-COA-R3-JV View - Davidson County - The Father, C.E.S., and Mother, L.L.S., were not married at the time of the birth of their minor child, A.C.S., on September 27, 2006. The birth certificate was initially caused to reflect the child’s surname as that of Mother. On November 17, 2006, the Father filed a petition in the Juvenile Court of Davidson County, Tennessee, to establish parentage for joint custody. An Order of Parentage, reserving the issue of changing the child’s surname, was entered by the Juvenile Court, through Special Referee, on February 27, 2007. The Juvenile Court Referee subsequently ordered that the child’s surname be changed to that of Father by Order entered December 13, 2007. Following an appeal of the Referee’s decision, the Juvenile Court, by Special Judge, affirmed the Referee’s decision and ordered that the surname of the child be changed to that of Father. Mother appealed, claiming that Father failed in meeting his burden of proof of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that changing the minor child’s surname was in the best interest of the child. The Appellate Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. 

Kenneth Raymond Green v. Michelle A. Green (Reid) - M2007-01263-COA-R3-CV View - Rutherford County - Father appealed the trial court’s dismissal, in a de novo appeal from juvenile court, of his petition to find his children dependent and neglected based on evidence at the time of the hearing in circuit court. Father argued that the circuit court’s statement that the situation at the time of the juvenile court proceeding justified that court’s finding of dependency and neglect precluded further action by the circuit court and vested jurisdiction back in the juvenile court to determine custody. The Court of Appeals disagreed and found that if on appeal the circuit court finds the conditions of dependency and neglect do not exist, then the dependency and neglect proceedings must be dismissed. The Appellate Court affirmed.

John Broadbent Cundiff v. Callie Ginn Cundiff - M2007-01538-COA-R3-CV View - Davidson County - Father appealed an order allowing relocation of child after Mother secured new employment in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, alleging that the trial court erroneously applied Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-108. Finding no error, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court.

Heather Lynn Harris v. Troy Daniel Harris - M2008-00601-COA-R3-CV View - Davidson County - This appeal involved a post-divorce petition to modify transitional alimony. In the divorce decree, the husband was ordered to pay the wife transitional alimony for four years. The wife remarried during the four-year period. The husband petitioned the trial court to modify or terminate the transitional alimony based on the wife’s remarriage and the new husband’s financial contributions to the wife’s household. After a hearing, the trial court reduced the husband’s transitional alimony payments and shortened the duration of the alimony by one year. The husband appealed, arguing that the trial court should have terminated his alimony obligation entirely, rather than simply reducing it. The Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that the trial court’s decision was not an abuse of its discretion.

Donna Michele Locastro Corbin v. Richard Todd Corbin - W2008-00437-COA-R3-CV View - Shelby County - This appeal involved retroactive child support. The parties were divorced in 1996 and submitted a marital dissolution agreement that was approved by the trial court. In 1999, the parties submitted a consent order modifying the marital dissolution agreement to provide that the father would not pay child support, but he would be responsible for providing health insurance coverage and paying for one-half of uncovered medical, dental, orthodontic, and optical expenses. The consent order was approved by the trial court. In 2006, the mother sought to have the consent order set aside on the basis that it was void as against public policy, and she sought an award of retroactive child support to the date of the 1999 consent order. The trial court granted retroactive child support only to the date of the mother’s petition seeking such support. Mother appealed, claiming that retroactive child support should be awarded to the date of the 1999 consent order. The Court of Appeals affirmed. 

Ronnie Gale Martin v. Deborah Elaine Kent Martin - W2008-00015-COA-R3-CV View - Tipton County - This is the second time these parties have been before this court on matters relating to their divorce. In the first appeal, the Appellate Court rejected the husband’s argument that he lacked the financial resources to pay the wife in cash for her share of the marital estate. However, the Court of Appeals vacated the trial court’s award of alimony requiring the husband to pay the wife’s health insurance premiums because there was insufficient proof presented regarding the issue at trial. On remand, the trial court allowed the husband to sell various properties in order to pay the wife for her share of the marital estate, but the court refused to require the wife to pay half the income taxes associated with the sales or the real estate taxes on the properties. The trial court found that the husband had the ability to pay the wife’s health insurance premiums, and the wife did not, and it ordered the husband to pay such premiums. The trial court also ordered the husband to pay wife post-judgment interest on the original cash award of marital property. In addition, the court found the husband in contempt and ordered him to pay the wife’s attorney’s fees incurred on remand. The husband appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed as modified and remanded for further proceedings.

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, Davidson, and Williamson 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.

Earn and Learn

Earn CLE credits and gain practical knowledge from Miles without traveling miles by viewing the TennBarU (Tennessee Bar Association) one-hour On Line CLE courses at www.tnbaru.com. Each presentation 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.

Intermediate Accounting for Lawyers assists attorneys in preparing document discovery requests, analyzing results, and planning depositions of accountants by increasing their 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

Advanced Accounting for Lawyers  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 vs. 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

Upcoming Miles Mason Family Law Group PLC Seminars

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 NACVA's website.

TennBarU - Business Valuation in Tennessee Seminar by Miles Mason, Sr., July 29, 2009, Nashville, Tenn.

It's a small, small world - Hear Miles speak about forensic accounting issues and earn CPE credits at the AICPA National Forensic Accounting Conference from Sept.23-25th, 2009, at the Walt Disney World Swan in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Go to www.cpa2biz.com for more information.

Premarital Agreements - Miles Mason, Sr. and Patrick Mason, Financial Planners Association, on November 4, 2009, Memphis, Tenn.

AICPA National Business Valuation Conference - "Mock Deposition for a Business Valuation Engagement" by Robert Vance, Miles Mason, Sr. & Brent McDade, November 15-17, 2009, San Francisco, Ca.

Miles Mason Family Law Group PLC

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