Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

support and visitation

My ex-husband left our home appx. 10 years ago when my son was about 5 yrs. old. He had become an abusive alcoholic and I told him to get out. We have not seen or heard from him since. I obtained a divorce from him about 3 yrs. later. (the kind you get when the party is not present) The decree says that I have custody of my son. It stated that child support was to be handled by the child support services or juvenile court. At the time I did not want my ex to show up and try and get any visitation with my son due to his drinking problem just because he was having to pay child support plus I was not told anything about what to do so we have supported ourselves and done nothing about it all these years. My son is almost 15 now. We now find ourselves in a position where we need some financial assistance. Can I still get child support and what do I do to get it and most importantly should the ex show up now, can we be ordered to have any visitation with him? We have heard from an old friend that he is in a neighboring state living with a girlfriend.


Asked on 3/06/04, 12:24 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Marc Reisman Rosenblum & Reisman, P.C.

Re: support and visitation

Yes, you can get child support if you can find him and get him served. You might even want to talk to your lawyer about maybe getting a retroactive child support award. Regarding visitation, yes, he can seek it and if the court does not find that it would be dangerous to your son, it might be awarded. I would hope any such visitation would be very seldom and for short periods of time at first to give your son a comfort level before visits begin to get extended. Based on the amount of time that has passed, and assuming your 15 year old does not want extended visits, the father may never get extensive visitation.

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Answered on 3/06/04, 2:04 pm


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