JANUARY 2010
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 Brentwood and Memphis, Tennessee we serve Middle and West TN, Northern Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas.
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Meet the team pages updated
As part of our 2010 upgrades for MemphisDivorce.com, several of our team members’ have new and updated bios and photos. Please take a look and let us know what you think: http://www.memphisdivorce.com/team.html
justin on the web
Justin Thomas’s article “Spying Spouses Beware” appearing in The Mississippi Lawyer (Volume LV, No. 5., July - September 2009), is available here on the web.
Upcoming Miles Mason Family Law Group PLC Seminars
Miles Mason, Sr. is in demand again. He will be speaking across the country in 2010. Miles will be an instructor again with the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts’ (NACVA’s) Forensic Accounting Academy. Miles usually teaches Day 5, Matter-Specific Applications addressing how law and forensic accounting intersect. The tentative schedule is as follows:
- May 21, 2010 - New York City
- June 18, 2010 - Memphis, Tennessee
- July 30 - Orlando, Florida
- August 13, 2010 - Newport Beach, California
- September 23, 2010 - Dallas, Texas
- October 29, 2010 - Washington, DC
- December 10, 2010 - Las Vegas, Nevada
- January 28, 2011 - Tampa, Florida
Miles will also be teaching the International Business Appraiser’s (IBA’s) Business Valuator Accredited for Litigation (BVAL) Workshop, covering report writing, deposition, and testifying skills for business valuation experts. Dates should be announced soon.
Miles is also a co-chair of the Matrimonial Litigation Tack of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA) and Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA) 2010 Annual Consultants' Conference June 2-5, 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida at the Fontainebleau Hotel. For more information, see: http://cw.nacva.com/promotionimages/Miami2010.html
Finally, this year Miles serves on the Tennessee Society of CPA’s Business Valuation, Forensic & Litigation Services Committee which plans the TSCPA’s Conference on Business Valuation, Forensic Investigation & Litigation Services in October 2010 in Brentwood, Tennessee
Family Law Case Histories of Note
Joyce A. Kendall vs. Ronald W. Meyer - E2008-02756-COA-R3-CV View Hamilton County - In this divorce case, the Trial Court granted the parties a divorce and enforced an Antenuptial Agreement, designated the appellee as the primary residential parent for the parties’ minor children, and ordered the husband to pay child support in accordance with the Child Support Guidelines. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the Judgment of the Trial Court.
Michael D. Reed vs. Darla Carden Steadham - E2009-00018-COA-R3-CV View Hamilton County - The father left his salaried employment and began his own construction business, which resulted in a substantial decrease in his annual income. As a result the father reduced his child support payments to the mother, who then asked the Trial Court to find the father was voluntarily under employed and the Court should impute additional income, based upon his true earning capacity. After an evidentiary hearing, the Trial Court found the father was not willfully unemployed and adjusted the child support amount in accordance with the guidelines based on his then income. The mother has appealed. On appeal, the Appellate Court affirmed the Judgment of the Trial Court and remanded.
David Alan Thompson, Sr. v. Wendy Janette Thompson - E2009-00149-COA-R3-CV View Hamilton County - In this post-divorce action, issues regarding child support were litigated after the Trial Court modified custody. After the trial, the Trial Court sua sponte contacted David Alan Thompson’s (“Father”) employer and obtained information regarding Father’s wages and benefits. The Trial Court entered its order finding and holding, inter alia, that Father was entitled to a judgment against Wendy Janette Thompson (“Mother”) for $6,275.13 plus interest for overpayment of child support. Mother appealed to the Court of Appeals raising issues regarding the sua sponte investigation and the calculation of child support. The Court of Appeals held that the sua sponte investigation did not comply with Tenn. R. Evid. 614. The Appellate Court vacated the Trial Court’s judgment and remanded this case to the Trial Court to receive additional proof, or not, as the Trial Court deemed necessary, and then decide all issues based solely upon the evidence as presented by the parties to, and received by, the Trial Court.
Sherrill Marion Headrick vs. Peggy Irene Headrick - E2008-02284-COA-R3-CV View Sevier County - In this divorce case, the trial court granted Sherrill Marion Headrick (“Husband”) a divorce from Peggy Irene Headrick (“Wife”). As a part of its property division, the court ordered most of the parties’ real property sold at auction. After the sale, Wife objected to the sale and moved the court not to confirm it. She sought to reopen the bidding process to allow offers of ten percent above the sales price by new prospective buyers. Following a hearing, the court confirmed the sale. Wife appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
In Re Benjamin M. - E2009-00209-COA-R3-JV View Knox County - This proceeding was initiated by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (“DCS”) by petition alleging that Benjamin M. (“the Child”) was born dependent and neglected within the meaning of Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-102(b) (2005 and Supp. 2009) because his mother, Jessica M. (“the Mother”), abused drugs during her pregnancy. The same petition alleges that Mother’s drug abuse constitutes severe child abuse as defined in Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-102 (21) (now renumbered (23) in 2009 Supp.) because it was done with the knowledge that it was causing great bodily harm to the Child based on the Mother’s previous experience in giving birth to another child harmed by her drug abuse during pregnancy. The Mother conceded that the Child was dependent and neglected and the juvenile referee entered an order accordingly. The order reserved the issue of whether the same conduct constituted severe child abuse. In a later hearing, the Mother challenged the allegations of severe child abuse, arguing that what she did during her pregnancy could not constitute abuse of a “child” because, according to her, the unborn baby was not a child. The case was initially tried before a referee who made lengthy specific findings of fact and concluded that the Child was the victim of severe child abuse. The parties stipulated to the referee’s specific findings of fact at trials before the juvenile court and the trial court, both of which found that the Mother’s conduct constituted severe child abuse. The Mother appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
Brandon Webb v. Amy Webb (Hollensworth) - M2008-02039-COA-R3-CV View Davidson County - Mother appealed the trial court’s order granting Father’s petition to modify the parenting plan upon a finding that a material change in circumstances had occurred and that modification was in the best interest of the child. Finding no error, the Appellate Court affirmed.
Patricia Nicholson v. John F. Nicholson - M2008-00006-COA-R3-CV View Rutherford County - The parties married after executing a prenuptial agreement. The wife filed for divorce less than a year later. Both parties agreed that the prenuptial agreement should be enforced, but they disagreed as to whether the marital home should be sold and as to their respective ownership rights to a rental check generated by the wife’s separate property. After a hearing, the trial court declared the parties divorced pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-129, ordered the home sold, and awarded the rental check to the wife. The husband appealed, arguing among other things that the wife violated the prenuptial agreement and that the trial court should have awarded him his attorney fees in accordance with a provision in that agreement. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court.
William F. McNeal v. Betty G. McNeal - W2009-00160-COA-R3-CV View Madison County - This appeal involved the enforcement of a marital dissolution agreement, which provided that the parties would jointly own various retirement accounts after their divorce. Several years after the divorce, the wife filed a petition for relief alleging that the husband was using the funds in the retirement accounts for his own benefit and denying her access to the funds. The trial court essentially divided the retirement funds between the parties and ordered the husband to repay the wife one-half of the funds he had withdrawn since the divorce. The husband appealed. The Appellate Court affirmed.
William Alan Watermeir v. Sherry Dunaway Moss and Thomas R. Moss, III - W2009-00789-COA-R3-JV View Shelby County - This is a petition to establish parentage case. Father/Appellant appealed from the dismissal of his petition. Finding that the requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-2-304(b)(2) have not been met and that Appellant is the child’s biological and legal father, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.
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.
Family Fun
MASON KIDS OBTAINED ATHELETIC PROWESS FROM THEIR MOTHER
Miles Mason, Jr. plays goalkeeper for MidSouth Football Club and played in a national caliber tournament in Orlando over the holidays. Below is a photo of Miles making a save in that tournament. The team went 1-1-1 against outstanding competition including defeating a powerful team from Florida 3-0 on the final day.
Anne Mason’s signing with SCAD appears on their web site with a nice quote from her new coach.
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Miles Mason, Sr.
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Sharon Mason
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