9032 Stone Walk Place Germantown, TN 38138
Ph: (901)759-3489
Fx: (901)759-3479
davidw@holleywaldrop.com

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  • Memphis Divorce Attorney: As a leading Tennessee and North Mississippi trial attorney, David M. Waldrop is sensitive to the needs of his clients who are going through a divorce or family law matter and is committed to working hard to achieve the best possible result. When you retain David as your attorney, he will discuss the law with you and how it relates to your situation. As your attorney, he will provide you with information and advise so you can make informed decisions about your case.
    Practice Areas:
    • Divorce
    • Family Law
    • Child Custody
    • Child Support
    • Alimony
    • Paternity
    • Pre-nuptial
  • Issues to be Considered during Divorce Negotiations:
    • Court cost and attorney's fees - Who pays?
    • Property - Who receives the house? Who pays the mortgage? Will the mortgage be refinanced? How will the equity be divided if it is sold?
    • Personal property - How will the personal property, cars, appliances and furniture be divided? Who is responsible for debt on personal property? Will the debt be refinanced?
    • Retirement - What happens to any retirement benefits that have accrued?
    • Debts - Who pays what? Should the debts be paid off by refinancing?
    • Alimony - How much? How long?
    • Primary custodial parent - Who will have the children the majority of the time? Should the children be split? Should any aspects of custody be shared? Who makes educational, religious and medical decisions concerning the children? Will joint custody work?
    • Child support - How much? How long? Who carries health or life insurance on children? Who gets to claim the children as income tax deductions? Private school or college tuition?
    • Visitation - Do you want a specific schedule or can you and your spouse work together on it?
    • Life insurance - Who is insured? Who is the beneficiary? Term or cash value? How much?
    • Health insurance - Who is covered? In many cases an employee's spouse can be covered up to thirty-six (36) months after the divorce by the employed spouse's insurance for a small additional premium.
    • Other - Security for obligations in the agreement, for wills, for death, and for taxes.
  • Frequently Asked Questions: Answers to the following questions:
    • Do I have to go to court?
    • What is a complaint and do I have to respond to the complaint when served?
    • What is discovery?
    • What is mediation and do I have to attend mediation?
    • How do we set child support, visitation and spousal support if the parties cannot agree?
    • Am I responsible for debts which my spouse incurred before the marriage?
    • If I was only an authorized user of a credit card, I am responsible for the debt?
    • Who is responsible for debts incurred during the marriage?
  • Factors the Court Considers when Determining Custody:
    • The parent's ability to instruct, inspire, and encourage the child to prepare for a life of service, and to compete successfully in the society which the child faces as an adult;
    • The relative strength, nature, and stability of the child's relationship with each parent, including whether a parent has taken a greater responsibility for performing parenting responsibilities relating to the daily needs of the child;
    • The willingness and ability of each of the parents to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent, consistent with the best interests of the child;
    • Willful refusal to attend a court-ordered parent education seminar may be considered by the court as evidence of that parent's lack of good faith in these proceedings;
    • The disposition of each parent to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care, education and other necessary care;
    • The degree to which a parent has been the primary caregiver, defined as the parent who has taken the greater responsibility for performing parental responsibilities;
    • The love, affection, and emotional ties existing between each parent and the child;
    • The emotional needs and developmental level of the child;
    • The character and physical and emotional fitness of each parent as it relates to each parent's ability to parent or the welfare of the child;
    • The child's interaction and interrelationship with siblings and with significant adults, as well as the child's involvement with the child's physical surroundings, school, or other significant activities;
    • The importance of continuity in the child's life and the length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment;
    • Evidence of physical or emotional abuse to the child, to the other parent or to any other person;
    • The character and behavior of any other person who resides in or frequents the home of a parent and such person's interactions with the child;
    • The reasonable preference of the child if twelve (12) years of age or older. The court may hear the preference of a younger child upon request. The preference of older children should normally be given greater weight than those of younger children;
    • Each parent's employment schedule, and the court may make accommodations consistent with those schedules; and
    • Any other factors deemed relevant by the court.
  • Alimony/Property Division:
    • Types of Alimony:
      • Rehabilitative alimony - designed to be temporary and rehabilitative to the economically disadvantaged spouse to make up economic loss ground during the marriage. If temporary alimony cannot bring about rehabilitation, the court can order alimony a long term or indefinite basis.
      • Alimony in solido - a fixed amount without conditions. It is not modifiable even upon the showing of a change in circumstances including remarriage or increased fortune of recipient spouse.
      • Alimony in futuro (permanent alimony or periodic alimony) - continues indefinitely and is subject to modification upon a showing of significant material change in circumstance.
    • Property Division:
      • If you and your spouse cannot agree to the division of your property the court will divide it for you. In order to divide your property, you should divide it into categories of separate and marital property.:
        • Separate Property
        • Marital Property
    • Factors the Court Considers when Dividing Marital Property
      • The duration of the marriage;

      • The age, physical and mental health, vocational skills, employability, earning capacity, estate, financial liabilities and financial needs of each of the parties;

      • The tangible or intangible contribution by one party to the education, training or increased earning power of the other party;

      • The relative ability of each party for future acquisitions of capital assets and income;

      • The contribution of each party to the acquisition, preservation, appreciation, depreciation or dissipation of the marital or separate property, including the contribution of a party to the marriage as a homemaker, wage earner or parent, with the contribution of a party as homemaker or wage earner to be given the same weigh if each party has fulfilled its role;

      • The value of the separate property of each party;

      • The estate of each party at the time of the marriage;

      • The economic circumstance of each party at the time the division of property is to become effective;

      • The tax consequences to each party, costs associated with the reasonably foreseeable sale of the asset, and other reasonably foreseeable expenses associated with the asset;

      • The amount of Social Security benefits available to each spouse; and

      • Such other factors as are necessary to consider the equities between the parties.
    • Division of Marital Debts
      Marital debts are those debts incurred during the marriage for the joint benefit of the parties or those that can be traced to the acquisition of marital property. Only marital debts are divided.
  • Premarital Agreements: Premarital agreements operate as a contract, entered into before the marriage in order to preserve the status of each party's property as separate property after they enter into the marriage. The premarital agreement may address issues such as waiver of alimony in the event of divorce, waiver of interest in the Estate of a spouse, waiver of interest in each other's earnings and income accrued during the marriage, or waiver of interest in appreciation of premarital property.
  • Contested Divorce:

    Grounds for Contested Divorce Pursuant to T.C.A 36-4-101

    • Adultery - adultery may be proven by circumstantial evidence. Engaging in sexual relations following separation still constitutes adultery.
    • Inappropriate marital conduct (which may also be referred to as "cruel and inhuman treatment") - proof of cruel and inhumane treatment is not limited to acts of physical violence.
    • Willful or malicious desertion for one (1) full year without a reasonable cause - if your spouse is willfully absent for one (1) year without reasonable cause, you may obtain a divorce.
    • Conviction of a felony - the conviction need not be in Tennessee, but must be considered a felony in the state of conviction
    • Pregnancy of the wife by another - before the marriage without the husband's knowledge.
    • Willful refusal to move to Tennessee with your spouse and living apart for two (2) years - if one spouse refuses to move to Tennessee with his or her spouse, without reasonable cause, and willfully absents himself/herself for two (2) years, the spouse in Tennessee may sue for divorce.
    • Attempt upon the life of the other - attempting to kill one's spouse, by poison or any other means showing malice, is a ground for divorce.
    • Impotency and sterility - if either party, at the time of the marriage, was and is naturally impotent and incapable of procreation, then divorce may be obtained by the other party. Impotency that occurs after the marriage is not a ground for divorce.
    • Bigamy - Bigamy is a ground for divorce even though the marriage is void from the inception since the parties are not validly married, regardless of whether or not a divorce is granted.
    • Living separately and apart for two (2) years with no minor children - if you have been separated for a continuous period of two (2) or more years, have lived in separate residences, have not cohabited as man and wife during such period, and have no minor children, either may obtain a divorce even over the objection of the other party.
    • Habitual drunkenness or abuse of narcotic drugs that has worsened since the marriage - if your spouse engages in habitual drunkenness, or abuse of narcotic drugs and such habit was contracted after the marriage, you may obtain a divorce.
    • Abandonment - if the husband or wife has abandoned the spouse or turned the spouse out of doors, for no just cause and has refused or neglected to provide for the spouse while having the ability to so provide, this is a ground for divorce.
    • Lack of reconciliation for a continuous period of two (2) years after the entry of a decree of separate maintenance, legal separation - this makes it easy for spouses to obtain a divorce when they have been separated for at least 2 years and wish to be divorced without making any harmful allegations against one another.

    Defenses to Grounds for Contested Divorce

    • Condonation - forgiving your spouse when knowing of a ground for divorce. This is usually proven by showing you and your spouse had sexual relations.
    • Recrimination - Complainant is guilty of like act or crime.
    • Insanity - Must be to the same degree as in a criminal case. The divorce may proceed against an insane person provided the court appoints a guardian to look after his or her best interest.
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