Lawyer Bill

09/01/2026

How to Actually Enforce a Court Order

Getting a court order is half the battle. Sometimes it is the easier half. I remember a case a few years back. We spent months in litigation. Settlement conference. Failed mediation. Trial. My client won on almost every issue. The judge’s order was clear as day. And then the other side just… did...

08/25/2026

When Your Ex Won’t Follow the Parenting Plan

She was supposed to drop the kids off at six. It was seven-thirty. No call. No text. Just… nothing. He sat in his car in the parking lot of the agreed exchange location, getting angrier by the minute. When she finally showed up, no explanation, no apology; he said some things he would later regret...

08/18/2026

Set Up the Next Shift

Memphis family law attorney Bill Jones on starting the school year without a custody fight. Share the portal logins, build a joint calendar, split the duties, and know that Tennessee school zoning follows the primary residential parent address.

08/11/2026

Grandparent Visitation Rights in Tennessee

I got a call last month from a grandmother in her seventies. Her voice broke twice while she was explaining the situation. Her son had died. Her daughter-in-law had remarried. The new husband did not want the grandmother around. And now she had not seen her grandchildren in fourteen months. “Do I ...

08/04/2026

Name Changes in Divorce: Simpler Than You Think

Of all the things people worry about in a divorce, the name change question is one of the least complicated. Which is why I am a little surprised by how often it falls through the cracks. Here is what you actually need to know. You Can Include It in the Divorce Decree In Tennessee, a […]

07/28/2026

Alimony in Tennessee: Who Gets It, How Long, and Why

I spend more time explaining alimony than almost any other topic in family law. Not because the law is confusing (though parts of it are). Because everybody thinks they already know how it works. And almost everybody is wrong. The myths I hear constantly: That it is automatic. That it is always perm...

07/21/2026

When Your Spouse Owns a Business

A few years back, I represented a woman whose husband owned a landscaping company. On paper, the company was losing money. According to his tax returns, he made less than his employees. But the family lived in a nice house in East Memphis. There were two late-model trucks in the driveway. The kids w...

07/14/2026

Retirement Accounts in Divorce: QDROs and Why They Matter

Nobody walks into a divorce thinking about their 401(k). They are thinking about the kids, the house, maybe the car. The retirement account feels abstract, like something future you will deal with. Then they find out how much is in it. And suddenly it is not abstract at all. Retirement accounts are....

07/07/2026

What Happens to the House in a Tennessee Divorce

I had a client last year who wanted to keep the house more than she wanted almost anything else in the divorce. It was the place her kids had grown up. It was the neighborhood where she knew everyone. It was the only thing she felt she could control when everything else was falling apart. […]

07/03/2026